Case Study: Strengthening Leadership for an integrated E-Mobility Market

Insights
Mar 1, 2024
6 min read

How a capability-led search helped E.ON Drive identify senior talent across consumer growth, commercial development and the evolving e-mobility ecosystem.

E-mobility is not simply an infrastructure challenge. As electric mobility becomes increasingly integrated with consumer energy products, charging networks and commercial partnerships, organisations need leaders who can operate across traditionally separate markets.

Supporting E.ON Drive in early 2024, Friis+Børgesen was engaged to identify a senior commercial leader capable of connecting B2C customer growth, B2B business development and the broader e-mobility ecosystem.

The mandate was successfully completed within nine weeks.

On this page:

The Challenge

The Solution

The Impact

Key Leadership Insights

The role required an unusual combination of capabilities. B2C customer acquisition and B2B business development are typically developed in different commercial environments.
E-mobility added a third layer of complexity. The successful leader needed to understand the interaction between customers, charging infrastructure, locations and energy products.
The search was built around capabilities rather than job titles. The objective was to identify where the required experiences had already converged.
The existing professional network created immediate market access. Relevant contacts and referral pathways complemented the broader search.
The job advertisement was designed to qualify rather than maximise volume. Four structured questions helped identify relevant experience before the formal assessment process began.
AI-supported capability mapping broadened the search beyond obvious competitors. Target companies were identified based on the likelihood that they would contain the relevant combination of capabilities.
The result was a stronger signal-to-noise ratio. Fewer applications entered the process, but a greater proportion were relevant to the underlying commercial challenge.
The mandate was completed within nine weeks. The final appointment combined the commercial, consumer and mobility-related experience required for the role.

At a glance:

Placement within 9 Weeks	B2B & B2C Market combined	87% Requirement match*
To a senior appointment A senior commercial leader with relevant experience across consumer markets, business development and the broader mobility ecosystem was identified and appointed.	One integrated capability challenge The role required experience across two fundamentally different commercial models—and the ability to connect them.	The appointed candidate matched 87% of the defined role requirements. *Based on a structured comparison of the appointed candidate's demonstrated experience against the role's defined requirements.

Client Introduction

E.ON is one of Europe's leading energy companies and a major provider of energy solutions, with a strategic focus on energy networks, customer solutions and the transformation of the energy system.

Within this environment, E.ON Drive operates at the intersection of electrification, customer demand and charging infrastructure. The growth of electric mobility creates opportunities that extend beyond the deployment of charging stations. It creates new commercial questions around customer acquisition, energy products, tariffs, location strategy and business partnerships.

For private households, the transition to electric mobility can create closer links between vehicle charging, electricity consumption and longer-term energy relationships.

For commercial partners, charging infrastructure depends on access to suitable locations and the ability to develop viable partnerships across different environments—from high-traffic transport locations and retail destinations to urban spaces and other customer-facing locations.

Against this backdrop, Friis+Børgesen was engaged to support the search for a Senior E-Mobility Manager.

The mandate sat directly at the intersection of these two commercial worlds.

The Challenge

Two commercial models. One leadership role.

The first part of the mandate was consumer-facing.

The successful candidate needed to understand B2C growth, customer acquisition and the development of relevant propositions for private households.

This included the commercial logic behind electricity tariffs, energy supply relationships and the use of customer insights to develop more targeted offerings.

The second part was business-facing.

The role also required the ability to develop commercial relationships and identify opportunities for charging infrastructure across a range of locations. This included evaluating potential partnerships, understanding different location models and supporting the commercial development of charging infrastructure.

Relevant environments included:

Service and transport locations
Retail and shopping destinations
High-traffic commercial areas
Urban environments
Other strategically relevant locations

The challenge was that these requirements rarely exist within one conventional candidate profile.

B2C growth requires an understanding of customer behaviour, acquisition, propositions and consumer economics.
B2B development requires commercial relationships, partnerships, negotiation and the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments.

The broader mobility context added another dimension.

“Given the unusual combination of B2B and B2C capabilities required, we did not expect to see relevant results this quickly. Friis+Børgesen was a true partner throughout the process.”, Senior HR Manager, E.ON Drive

The candidate needed sufficient understanding of electric mobility and customer behaviour to connect the commercial opportunity with the realities of how people use electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Finding experience in one of these areas was achievable.

Finding the combination was more difficult.

The central question therefore became:

How do you identify a leader capable of connecting consumer growth, commercial partnerships and mobility within one integrated commercial role?

The Solution

Building access before building volume

The search was structured around a simple principle:

Increase relevance before increasing volume.

Rather than relying on a single sourcing channel, Friis+Børgesen combined three complementary routes to the market:

Professional network access
Structured digital qualification
AI-supported capability mapping

The objective was not to generate the largest possible candidate pool.

It was to create access to a smaller, more relevant group of potential candidates.

Three access routes were combined

Network activation

The first route to market was the existing professional network.

The mandate required a combination of commercial depth, mobility insight and experience across both B2B and B2C environments. Direct market access was therefore particularly valuable.

Relevant contacts and referral pathways were activated across adjacent commercial and mobility-related environments.

The network was not used as a substitute for search.

It provided an additional layer of access—particularly to professionals who were unlikely to enter the process through a conventional job advertisement.

Structured digital qualification

A targeted job advertisement was launched as a second access route.

The advertisement was deliberately not designed to maximise application volume.

Instead, candidates were asked to address four relevant qualification questions before entering the broader assessment process.

The questions were designed to establish early evidence around the core requirements of the role, including:

Experience in B2B commercial development
Exposure to B2C customer acquisition or consumer markets
Relevant experience within mobility, charging or adjacent environments
Leadership or commercial implementation experience

By introducing structured qualification early in the process, assessment efforts could focus on candidates whose backgrounds already showed a meaningful connection to the mandate.

The objective was not more applications. It was better evidence.

AI-supported capability mapping

The third route focused on identifying relevant talent environments beyond obvious job titles and direct competitors.

The requirements of the role were translated into a capability profile. This profile was then used to identify companies where relevant combinations of experience were likely to exist.

AI-supported research helped accelerate the analysis of potential target companies and adjacent talent pools.

The question was not simply:

Which companies employ Senior E-Mobility Managers?

It was:

Which organisations are likely to develop leaders with experience across B2B commercial development, B2C customer growth, mobility and leadership?

This created a more focused longlist of target organisations before individual candidate research and direct engagement began. AI accelerated the mapping process. Human judgement determined relevance.

The Impact

From market access to appointment

The mandate was successfully completed within nine weeks.

The result was more than a completed search.

The process demonstrated how a complex leadership requirement could be addressed without limiting the market to candidates holding an identical title or coming from a narrow group of direct competitors.

Close collaboration between Friis+Børgesen and company's stakeholders ensured efficient decision-making throughout the engagement while maintaining a disciplined and highly selective assessment process.

The engagement illustrates how Executive Search in E-Mobility can contribute to organisational effectiveness when leadership appointments and team design are treated as interconnected strategic decisions rather than isolated recruitment activities.