Supporting XOCEAN's influx of projects.
XOCEAN is a global leader in ocean data services, utilising Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) to support sectors such as offshore wind, environmental monitoring, and geophysical surveys. Since September 2024, Matchtech has been a trusted PSL partner in delivering permanent recruitment services to XOCEAN across the UK.
XOCEAN's challenges.
As a prominent player in the offshore renewable energy sector, XOCEAN faced mounting pressure due to a surge in projects. They required a recruitment partner who could provide security and stability in sourcing highly specialised talent, quickly and effectively. Having previously relied on generalist agencies to fulfill their hiring needs, they faced the following challenges:
Specialist talent shortage
A lack of available and high quality talent. The niche market for offshore geo-wind physicists is exceptionally small, with fewer than 200 qualified professionals globally.
Ineffective recruitment partners
XOCEAN engaged a number of generalist agencies who lacked the expertise to deliver high-quality candidates, resulting in extended lead times, low-quality talent pools, and high turnover of new hires due to unsuitable matching.
Ineffective internal sourcing
With an entirely internal approach relying solely on job postings, their strategy proved ineffective in attracting suitable candidates quickly. The lack of proactive engagement with passive talent hindered their ability to meet hiring goals, delaying the team's planned growth for scaling up in 2024.
Although project milestones remained unaffected, several projects had been pushed back by months. To prevent stalled timelines, XOCEAN urgently required an active partner to identify and engage passive talent, ensuring a steady pipeline of qualified candidates to meet their growth objectives.
How we helped.
To address these challenges, Matchtech devised a targeted strategy, leveraging industry expertise, proactive sourcing, and high-touch communication to deliver results efficiently. We actioned this strategy by:
Appointing a dedicated account manager: Bradley Elliot was appointed as XOCEAN’s dedicated seconded recruiter, managing and delivering all of their permanent requirements and ensuring seamless communication with hiring managers and candidates.
Providing specialist market knowledge: Leveraging our in-depth understanding of the offshore geo-wind industry and existing networks we identified and engaged top-tier talent rapidly, alleviating pressure on XOCEAN’s HR team.
Utilising market insights: We provided frequent updates on market conditions, including salary benchmarks and insights into the availability of active candidates and their backgrounds. These insights ensured XOCEAN made informed decisions about the transferability of skillsets before we initiated precise headhunting.
Precise headhunting: Our headhunting strategy focused on engaging passive candidates, ensuring we capture high-quality individuals which are often overlooked by generalists or internal teams.
A comprehensive screening process: We ensured alignment between client requirements and candidate profiles, leading to a 100% of submitted candidates being progressed to the next stage.
Ensuring a rapid turnaround on shortlists: We delivered initial shortlists of highly qualified candidates within two to three days of role receipt, significantly reducing XOCEAN’s typical hiring timeline.
By combining these tailored strategies with proactive engagement and market insights, Matchtech helped XCOEAN overcome their hiring challenges and set a strong foundation for their 2024 scaling objectives.
The results.
By embedding ourselves as an extension of XOCEAN’s internal TA team, Matchtech were able to create a more efficient and responsive recruitment pipeline, ensuring a seamless hiring experience for all parties. As a result of our support, XOCEAN experienced several key improvements including:
Accelerated hiring outcomes.
Within the first month of engagement, we had arranged 20 active interviews and secured 3 placements spanning senior, main-grade, and junior roles.
Critical hiring achieved.
We successfully placed 7 out of 7 individuals required across Geophysics and Survey roles within 3 months, enabling XOCEAN to meet project demands without delay.
Enhanced HR support.
By alleviating recruitment pressures, we provided XOCEAN’s HR team with the capacity to focus on other priorities.
Proven quality.
All shortlisted candidates progressed to the next stage of the hiring process, underscoring our precision and understanding of client needs.
Maintained project momentum.
XOCEAN avoided potential project delays, secured long-term hires, and gained confidence in their ability to meet growth objectives.
Through our adaptive and proactive approach, Matchtech ensured that XOCEAN’s immediate and evolving hiring needs were met by addressing skills gaps and transitioning to recruiting senior-level candidates to oversee the increased workload, enabling them to scale effectively while maintaining project momentum.
Below are key metrics that demonstrate the success of our support to XOCEAN:
interviews booked within the first month of engagement
successful hires across Geoscience & Survey roles within 3 months
of shortlisted candidates progressed to the next stage
Find out more about our wider sector, skill and service provision in our company booklet here.