Associate, Technology, Media, Telecommunications Practice (Semiconductor)

Spencer Stuart • San Francisco, CA

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

Spencer Stuart is seeking to recruit an Associate for the Semiconductor team within the broader TMT Practice. This position offers the opportunity to work directly with Al Climent and his dedicated team on senior-level searches across a broad range of functions, including Board Directors, CEOs, General Managers, CFOs, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and Operations leaders. The team works at the center of the semiconductor and broader technology ecosystem, partnering with leading companies and supporting clients globally, with significant engagement across North America, Europe, and Asia, and offers exposure to a wide range of industry segments, including chip design, fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), semiconductor capital equipment providers, and emerging technology companies. This Associate will be a core member of the team, engaging with clients and candidates throughout the search process, with primary responsibility for identifying and developing highly qualified and diverse candidate slates, and will be encouraged to develop direct client relationships as part of their long-term career development. This position combines candidate and client advisory, strategic and critical thinking, research, and exceptional project and relationship management to deliver outstanding results to Spencer Stuart’s clients. Successful candidates for the Associate position will be driven, resilient, and proactive, with strong project management ability, writing skills, results orientation, rigorous attention to details, intellectual curiosity and ideally, an understanding of the Semiconductor industry. The Associate will ideally be based in the San Francisco Bay area, but we may be open to other cities with a Spencer Stuart office for the right individual with specific experience in the semiconductor space. The firm values an apprenticeship culture and being present in the office is expected for close collaboration with the core team. Particularly during the early stages, it’s helpful to spend extra time in the office to build relationships, engage with colleagues and participate in the local office community.

Requirements

• Ideally of 4+ years of progressive business experience in executive search, strategy consulting, or a relevant professional services environment with significant time spent in client service
• Advancement of skills and knowledge evidenced through promotion or tenure
• Superior project management skills demonstrated through experience working in a high-performance environment where multiple projects and competing demands are the norm
• Excellent communication skills shown through clear, structured and concise written and verbal presentation
• Undergraduate degree required
• Plans, manages and drives own efforts to identify and develop a slate of quality candidates as measured by consultant, client and candidate feedback.
• Takes an end-to-end view of each project and the required resources; works at pace and with attention to detail while managing competing deadlines and priorities; has a sense of urgency.
• Understands the search process (from internal kick-off to referencing); asks questions to understand; and is proactive.
• Works on multiple projects; meets deadlines and is resilient under pressure; delivers on commitments on time or notifies as early as possible if deadlines will slip.
• Demonstrates enthusiasm, tenacity and intellectual curiosity; action-oriented; deals with problems immediately.
• Is results focused and flexible; demonstrates a strong work ethic.
• Develops qualified and interested candidates for portfolio of searches.
• Observes and asks questions to fully understand the issue; synthesizes information from a variety of internal/external sources, despite possibly having ambiguous or incomplete information.
• Gathers relevant data from a variety of sources, including views gathered through Third Party Sourcing (TPS), to help determine broad capabilities, gaps, qualifications/fit; articulates reasons for fit to spec in a succinct manner.
• Determines priority of which potential candidates to approach.
• Adds meaningful notes on Quest, diligently uses the initial assessment feature.
• Communicates effectively both in writing and verbally; has "gravitas" (executive presence) and is able to build relationships.
• Able to hook candidates and convince consultants to meet them, building a strong internal brand:
• Interacts with a range of internal and external stakeholders and candidates with differing styles and egos, understanding and appreciating what is important to each.
• Becomes a credible and authentic professional by observing colleagues and emulating role models.
• Adapts verbal and written communications according to expectations for role and audience, specifically how to be confident, succinct, concise, prepared and professional.
• Obtains and incorporates knowledge to enhance client work in a meaningful way.
• Knows how to get information, effectively uses the available firm resources, developing and sharing candidate pool knowledge:
• Identifies executive movements in the market and updates Quest (ideally in real time) and colleagues; asks questions and shows interest in networking.
• Has a genuine interest in/curiosity about people and businesses; and has an understanding of businesses and their interrelationships.
• Understands how to identify and navigate the various relevant sources available (Quest, Passport, Global Information Services, Hoovers, LinkedIn, etc.).
• Develops self and others; seeks and provides feedback, modifies own performance or behavior based on feedback.
• Seeks and is open to feedback from colleagues, placing value on self development efforts; seeks opportunities for growth.
• Is self-aware and open to changing one’s own behavior.
• Champions the Firm’s values, culture and Code of Conduct; engages, participates and collaborates with others.
• Accepts others’ opinions and encourages teamwork.
• Brings cultural awareness and sensitivity to each interaction with colleagues.
• Participates actively and contributes to internal activities; engages with office and practice.
• Represents Spencer Stuart well by speaking positively about the Firm and aligning behavior to Firm values.
• Conducts themselves in a way that is consistent with the Firm’s values.

Nice To Haves

• Postgraduate degree a plus
• Ideally, an understanding of the Semiconductor industry

Responsibilities

• Contribute actively to the start-up phase of each search by participating in client kick-off meetings with the Consultant and assisting in the development of the position specification, search strategy and target list of companies.
• Gather relevant information regarding the appropriate industries and target companies.
• Identify potential prospects and sources and represent the client effectively in the marketplace, discussing the opportunity with relevant executives.
• Validate potential candidates through reference and source calls.
• Partner with the Consultant to develop and present a slate of qualified candidates to each client.
• Anticipate what needs to drive the search to closure and be prepared to supply additional information, such as related industry/segment trends, market findings, reaction to the opportunity, compensation data, etc., gained during the course of a search.
• Contribute to the preparation of position specifications, candidate presentations and reference reports adhering to the Firm’s assessment methodology.
• Communicate effectively with the Consultant and Executive Assistant, and remain fully abreast of search developments, in order to communicate accurately and credibly regarding the assignment.
• Prepare organized information for the client progress reports/meetings by teaming with the Consultant and the Executive Assistant.
• Provide an informed perspective on prospects/candidates and how they match against the key selection criteria.
• Be aware of activities and management changes in the relevant industry’s sector; keep team members apprised of relevant developments in the marketplace.
• Add to the firm’s candidate pool expertise by continually identifying and introducing new talent to the firm.
• Ensure that up to date assignment, company and candidate information during the course of an assignment is always available for colleagues, by leveraging technology and information from the firm’s state-of-the-art, proprietary database.
• Contribute to responses to inquiries for new business, as well as business development initiatives.
• Be willing and proactive about contributing to local, practice or firm-wide initiatives.
• Coordinate and share practice related information with colleagues for potentially broader distribution.

Benefits

• Retirement savings plan with discretionary profit sharing contribution and employer match
• PTO (minimum 15 days per year, increases with tenure)
• Paid sick time (10 days per year)
• Company holidays (12 days per year)
• Paid leaves of absence when applicable
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and healthcare flexible spending account
• Life Insurance, and short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Wellness benefits, including an employee assistance program, virtual mental health program, and mindfulness program
• Voluntary benefit options, including supplemental life insurance, identity theft protection, and whole life insurance with long-term care and critical illness coverage

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level