Finding a Food Technologist – Non Profit Corporate Staffing

Our client was an independent NGO whose focus is strengthening the farm-to-table value chain across Africa by expanding and increasing the competitiveness of the food processing sector. As part of their mission, the client was looking for a Food Technologist whose job would be to provide high level technical support to food processors in Uganda and was referred to PPA to support this recruitment process.

Case Study Detail

The Recruitment Challenge

This particular position played not only a vital role for the client to deliver on their mission, but also on the wider Ugandan society as the Food Technologist would play a vital role in improving food quality and security in Uganda.

When the client reached out, we knew we needed to do three things;

Build our understanding of the current food processing industry in Uganda and the East African region, from a business and people perspective enough to adequately advise the client.
Ensure we ask the right type of questions to candidates to identify the right level of technical talent to be able to deliver on the client’s objectives.
Find a candidate who could commit to the role for the long haul to build long-term relationships between the client and the food processors.

Before we had the meeting with the client, we made sure to speak with industry experts based in Uganda and Kenya, who we identified through our networks. The industry experts were able to give us an understanding of the landscape as well as give us insight in how to identify the capabilities of the people we interviewed. Arriving at the meeting, we were able to exchange information and come up with a solid recruitment plan based off our pooled knowledge.

The recruitment plan considered:

  1. The likely source of talent and what channels we needed to use to reach them.
  2. A recruitment timeline, with clear milestones set to accommodate the hiring team’s planned trip to Kenya and Uganda.
  3. The key characteristics that were needed in the ideal candidate.

The Process

Within a one-month period, we were able to identify the right calibre of talent, who were interviewed before the clients flew in for in-person interviews. We coordinated all the interviews, which took place in Uganda and Kenya, handled the negotiations and the client was able to hire their candidate!

What has happened since

  • Not only has the candidate remained at the client’s organization, they’ve been promoted!

  • We went on to conduct two further recruitments in Kenya and Tanzania for the same role.

Corporate Staffing Insights