Our partner is a leading developer of mobile and browser games, renowned for its high-quality projects in the strategy and RPG genres.
Task
An international game developer approached us with a request to find a Lead User Acquisition specialist to coordinate user acquisition activities and manage marketing efforts. The challenge was not only the extremely tight deadline— the position needed to be filled within a week as the company was about to launch the department—but also the seniority level required. A Lead is a highly skilled professional with significant experience, capable of both managing a team and executing tasks independently, like a player-coach. These professionals are in high demand and are quickly hired by companies. Additionally, there are very few specialists proficient in PPC, with most focusing on Facebook and similar platforms.
Key requirements
Experience in a leadership role, with the ability to both lead a team and independently perform tasks, embodying the "player-coach" model.
Deep knowledge and hands-on experience in managing and optimizing advertising campaigns, with proven results in increasing ROI.
Significant experience in user acquisition, with a focus on PPC campaigns, particularly Google Ads.
Process&Result
For every search, we build a tailored strategy: selecting the right resources for recruitment, planning the stages of candidate selection, and choosing the interview methodology. In this case, simply using open and internal sources was insufficient, as we lacked the time for a multi-stage selection process. We reached out to our network of recruiters and specialists from the community, but despite forming useful new connections, this method proved unfruitful.
Next, we turned to our candidate database, searching for professionals we had previously considered but hadn’t worked with. We found one promising candidate and contacted him on LinkedIn, but he didn’t respond.
Giving up isn’t our approach: we reached out to his connections, explaining our search, and eventually managed to get in touch with him. At the time, the candidate had just started a new job and wasn’t actively seeking a change. However, we decided to schedule a call to introduce ourselves for future collaboration, as he was a highly qualified professional. During the conversation, our recruiter mentioned the company we were hiring for, to which the candidate exclaimed, “Wow, that’s my favorite game! But unfortunately, I’ve already found a new job.”
In the interview, we learned about the candidate’s motivations and expectations from work and projects. The conversation was so effective that his interest in the company outweighed his current situation, and we immediately began the hiring process. Despite the tight timeframe, our persistence and diverse recruitment methods helped us find a highly experienced professional. The candidate quickly took charge of setting up the marketing department and dove into his new role.
We successfully met this challenge, a feat not every recruitment agency can achieve: finding a qualified senior professional with substantial experience and team management skills, all within 7 days. The key to this success was persistence and utilizing a variety of recruitment methods. It wasn’t just about finding the right candidate— it was about conveying the value of the position and the company. Thanks to our recruiter’s ability to highlight this effectively, we were able to secure the hire, despite the fact that the candidate had recently started a new job and wasn’t actively looking. His interest in the company ultimately became the decisive factor.