Case Study: Wood Mackenzie

Wood Mackenzie is the go-to source of commercial intelligence for the world’s energy and natural resources sector. For nearly 50 years, they’ve been providing quality data, analytics and insights, establishing them as the global research and consultancy business powering the natural resources industry.

They have dedicated oil, gas and LNG, power and renewables, chemicals, and metals and mining sector teams, which provide critical data and analysis such as climatology reports and carbon emission measurements, as well as holistic advice for clients across all energy sectors.

Wood Mackenzie inspires strategic decision making, ultimately helping customers to accelerate the world’s transition to a more sustainable future.

The backstory

When Wood Mackenzie first approached Cathcart Technology, they needed to ramp up their data engineering department to work on their expanding product offerings. There was a need to bring in quality people, and quickly.

But that wasn’t their only goal. Despite being a leading expert in their field, Wood Mackenzie remains relatively unknown in comparison to Edinburgh’s billion-dollar tech companies such as Amazon and Skyscanner. With this in mind, they were keen to boost awareness around their brand and improve their industry presence.

The process

One of our main goals was to hire the data engineers Wood Mackenzie needed in what’s currently a candidate-short market. Working alongside their Director of Engineering, Tom Parkinson, Cathcart made the decision to search for data analysts with a technical background who would be willing to transition into data engineering – along with established data engineers.

Once Wood Mackenzie had provided Cathcart with their specific profiles for candidates, they then assigned a dedicated account manager to the project. It was their role to pre-vet candidates and guarantee that they were a good fit. This included managing salary expectations – eliminating the risk of any surprises further down the line.

The outcome

Of course, Wood Mackenzie wasn’t just looking for candidates with the skills and experience relevant to the role. To combat employee turnover, it was important for Cathcart to source candidates with a good knowledge of the Wood Mackenzie mission, and who were excited to contribute towards it.

The speed and efficiency of the recruitment process allowed Cathcart to effectively double the number of pre-vetted candidates interacting with Wood Mackenzie – placing 18 successful candidates within a swift turnaround.

These hires have gone on to vastly exceed Wood Mackenzie’s expectations. So much so, in fact, that Wood Mackenzie continues to partner with Cathcart Technology to fulfil their recruitment goals and carve out their brand presence in the industry.

“Data engineering is a specific profile to hire for, but Cathcart Technology has a breadth of experience across disciplines and easily tailored their recruitment to meet our needs. Their team was extremely quick and efficient in their approach – effectively doubling our capacity for pre-vetted candidates.

“They did an excellent job of briefing candidates on our company mission and the specifics of our Data Engineering department too. This attention to detail ensured maximum buy-in from the candidates on our Tech For Good purpose – particularly with our renewables and carbon emissions roles.

“With this being a job seeker’s market, the candidate is interviewing us as much as we’re interviewing them, and Cathcart Technology has been a real benefit in helping to articulate what’s great about working here. We’re confident that, with their expertise, they can help us grow the Wood Mackenzie brand as we enter our next hiring phase.”

– Tom Parkinson, Director of Engineering at Wood Mackenzie

What it’s like to work at Wood Mackenzie

The Wood Mackenzie mission is simple: to transform the way we power our planet. No matter what stage of the Wood Mackenzie funnel you’re operating at – from researching trends to sharing data via the cloud – you’re influencing decisions that could change the world.

Wood Mackenzie’s diverse global teams are made up of industry trailblazers who consistently push boundaries to champion fresh ideas and technologies. Of this, Co-President Mark Brinin says, “In this era of rapid change, we’re investing in creative thinkers and innovators – people who will challenge the status quo.”

By combining structured learning and on-the-job mentoring, Wood Mackenzie is committed to fostering the growth of its employees – making sure every individual is challenged to grow their skills and feels empowered to do so. They also provide an attractive benefits package to support staff beyond the workplace. You can learn more about their company values here.