Case Study | St Catharine's College

St Catherine’s College, University of Cambridge, sought to appoint an Alumni Engagement Manager - a new, permanent position within their Development Team. This strategic role required a well-defined skill set to align with the College’s long-term vision for alumni relations.

The position called for a dynamic individual with expertise in communications strategy and execution, proven experience in event management, and exceptional written content skills to effectively connect with the diverse St Catz alumni community.

After encountering challenges in attracting the right talent independently, the College turned to finding a recruitment partner with a strong track record of success in the higher education sector.

The solution:

We began by meeting with the Development Director for a comprehensive briefing, ensuring we fully understood the requirement and could design a targeted recruitment campaign aligned with the College’s engagement objectives.

By reviewing their previous hiring efforts, we identified key gaps and shifted focus beyond the immediate university network to access a broader and more diverse talent pool.

A clear timeline was shared with the client, allowing for a thorough exploration of the market. Within 10 days, we presented a strong shortlist of four highly skilled managers - all of whom were invited to interview.

The outcome:

With full ownership of the campaign, we were able to conduct a comprehensive market appraisal and identify the strongest candidates available, via a combination of our talent tracker, database and headhunting. All shortlisted candidates were interviewed on the same day, resulting in an offer being made - and accepted - the very next day.

The successful candidate had a three-month notice period. To ensure no time was lost, we recommended a trusted interim professional to bridge the gap. The client’s confidence in our ability and counsel was further reinforced when they engaged our interim to maintain their alumni engagement strategy during the transition.

Ricky was fantastic and a specialist supplier in my area of need. He was easy to deal with and understood our needs immediately. I was impressed at the way be interacted with us and with the candidates. If he said he would follow up, you could be sure he would. The short-listed candidates were all people we wouldn't have come across through our usual channels.

Catherine Twilley – Development Director

Ricky Angell

Senior Executive Consultant

rangell@venngroup.com

07441 916206