A global consumer products company known for promoting from within its corporate tax department knew it had a major challenge on its hands in the upcoming retirement of its Chief Tax Officer. The company had not focused enough on succession planning and the situation was complicated by the realization that all the internal candidates either lacked the capability or the interest in potentially assuming the CTO role.

Adding to the complexity of the search was the company’ strong preference for diversity, its tax department’s location in a small mid-western town and the reality that the ideal candidate would need to serve as a quasi head of the department for 2-3 years before the company would formally award that title. Tax Search consulted with the company to map out the mechanics of a high-level search as well as a longer-term integration and succession strategy that would move the new hire from rotations in its tax planning function, then to its tax reporting and compliance team and ultimately to the audit unit.

The ability for TaxSearch be a consultative partner paid real dividends for the client when a diverse candidate accepted an employment offer within 90 days of the search being launched. The value in the succession planning strategy proposed by TaxSearch has become even more apparent since the placed executive has thrived and remains on-track to assume the client’s top tax role.