Launching a new Power Systems Engineering function
Hiring to fill a vacancy and hiring to build something new are different jobs. One needs a like for like replacement. The other needs a partner who understands where the business is trying to go. Partum Engineering was firmly in the second camp.
New function
Built from leadership down
2 key hires
National Manager & Senior Engineer
Ongoing
Partnership extended team-wide
Here is how a new Power Systems Engineering function was built from the leadership down, and why understanding the why mattered as much as the what.
The challenge
Partum Engineering's existing agency had been working across its Transmission and Distribution business with limited results. The unfilled positions pointed to a deeper issue. The agency lacked the specialist depth to credibly compete for candidates in a highly technical, relationship driven sector.
When Partum's Executive General Manager began considering a brand new Power Systems Engineering function, a genuinely strategic move, he recognised that building it properly needed a different kind of recruitment partner.
The approach
Our engagement with Partum was built on process discipline and genuine curiosity. It started with a detailed job brief, followed by weekly touchpoints that went well beyond a standard status update. We used those sessions to understand not just what Partum needed, but why. The strategic intent behind the function, the team chemistry required, and the long term direction of the business.
Transparent, real time candidate feedback meant we could keep refining our understanding of fit, for both capability and culture, and carry those lessons into each stage of the search.
The result
A National Manager and a Senior Power Systems Engineer were placed, giving Partum the leadership and technical foundation to launch the new function.
As confidence in our understanding of the business grew, the relationship extended to supporting the wider Engineering team's expansion. That is the measure we care about most. The work that continues after the first hire.
Enemix found excellent candidates in the market that suit our requirements, and have maintained excellent communication with both the candidate and employer throughout the recruitment process. Their understanding of what we were building, and why, made a real difference to the quality of the shortlists we saw.
What this tells you about building a new function
- Strategic hires need a partner who understands intent. A brief that captures the why produces a better shortlist than one that only lists requirements.
- Regular, honest feedback sharpens a search. Treating touchpoints as working sessions, not status updates, keeps everyone aligned.
- The first placement is the start, not the end. Build the foundation well and the function, and the partnership, can grow from it.
