The Problem
The company needed senior engineering leaders who could own safety and assurance for software that helps autonomous aircraft operate in shared airspace, a profile combining deep aviation-certification-standard fluency with the seniority to lead. That combination is scarce, passive, and heavily competed for.
The requisitions landed while the internal talent function was lean and already carrying roughly three VP-level roles and 26 other open positions. Both searches needed to move meaningfully faster than a standard cycle, without cutting corners on a safety-critical hire.
The searches also ran against a moving backdrop: the company was mid-integration with a larger strategic partner, a context that later reshaped its near-term hiring priorities.
What ALAC Did
ALAC ran both searches full-cycle under a contingency agreement, engineering an outbound funnel built for a narrow, passive market rather than posting and waiting.
Intake and realignment
ALAC scoped both roles directly with the client’s people-operations team and technical principals, then recommended a realignment session with the hiring lead to sharpen selection criteria mid-search.
Engineered outbound sourcing
Against a narrow, passive talent pool, ALAC engaged 119 candidates on the Chief Engineer search alone, well past what a standard post-and-wait search would surface.
Structured screening and prep
ALAC ran structured candidate screening and preparation so finalists arrived ready for technical and panel-level scrutiny.
Full interview and logistics ownership
ALAC owned scheduling for panel and onsite interview loops across both roles, including travel logistics for finalists.
Disciplined debriefs and candidate care
ALAC delivered structured post-interview feedback and next-step recommendations, and managed professional candidate communications, including declines, to protect the client’s employer brand.
By the Numbers
119 → 2
Candidates engaged to final-round interviews, one search
90 → 45 days
Technical time-to-hire cut roughly in half
2 searches
Senior safety-critical leadership roles run in parallel
~6
Finalists advanced to onsite or panel interviews
The Result
ALAC engineered a real funnel in a scarce, passive market: 119 candidates engaged, narrowing to 28 interested, 13 scheduled, 5 shortlisted, and 2 reaching final-round interviews on the Chief Engineer search, with a parallel slate advancing for the Director of Assurance search. Multiple finalists traveled onsite for panel interviews.
Across both searches, ALAC compressed the client’s technical time-to-hire from roughly 90 days to 45, while running the full interview and logistics loop for two senior roles at once.
Hiring a Similar Role?
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The Strategic Impact
A disciplined, engineered search protected the client’s momentum during a demanding scale-up: senior technical leadership searches kept moving at speed while the internal team stayed focused on a broader load of roughly 26 open positions. The finalist slate and compressed timeline gave the hiring team real, vetted options for two of its hardest seats.
Built to Protect a Safety-Critical Bar
Speed on a safety-critical search only counts if it doesn’t cost quality. Here’s how ALAC held both at once.
Speed without lowering the bar
Compressing time-to-hire from 90 to 45 days didn’t come from relaxing the screen. It came from engineering the top of the funnel so more of the right candidates entered it.
Employer brand protected at scale
Professional, timely communication, including declines, was maintained across a 119-candidate funnel, not just the finalists.
Two senior searches, one disciplined process
Running both roles in parallel under the same structured intake, screening, and debrief process kept the bar consistent across both seats.
Have a Role That Has Defied Every Other Search?
Book a call and ALAC will tell you within 24 hours whether the search fits our network and delivery model.