The Hidden Cost of Hiring Too Late in the Energy Transition
In the cleantech and energy transition sectors, senior hiring is often approached as a tactical response to growth. Executive appointments are delayed until a pressing need emerges, a funding milestone is reached, or operational strain becomes visible.
While this approach may appear prudent, it frequently results in significant missed opportunities. Delaying the appointment of senior leadership can slow commercial progress, reduce strategic flexibility, and narrow the available pool of qualified candidates. In short, late hiring compromises the very growth it is intended to support.
This challenge is magnified by the structural talent constraints in the sector. In 2023 alone, the global energy industry added nearly 2.5 million jobs, pushing total employment above 67 million, with clean energy segments growing nearly five percent year-on-year¹. Yet, despite this momentum, leadership supply remains critically constrained. A recent survey found that 68% of employers in renewables cite talent shortages as their single biggest barrier to growth².
Firms that wait until a role becomes critical often find themselves with limited options, condensed timelines, and increased risk of misalignment between candidate capability and company need.
Why Leadership Hiring is Often Delayed
Many organisations delay executive hiring for understandable reasons. A founder may wish to demonstrate progress before bringing in a COO. A board may prefer to see traction before authorising a commercial lead. A funding round may need to close before the next phase of expansion begins.
In principle, these are rational considerations. In practice, they can delay access to the strategic leadership required to unlock the very outcomes being waited on, such as funding, traction, and scale. It becomes a circular problem: growth is held back by the absence of leadership, and leadership is postponed until growth is achieved.
These delays now carry greater risk than ever. According to McKinsey, the energy sector is facing two overlapping forces: accelerating demand for new skills in low-carbon markets, and the retirement of experienced executives from legacy energy businesses³. This combination is creating a structural leadership gap that cannot be solved by recruitment alone — particularly not when searches begin too late.
As one renewable energy CEO recently remarked, “We are spending two to three times the normal effort and, subsequently, expense to attract new talent”⁴.
What “Early” Actually Looks Like
Hiring early does not mean overextending the team or acting prematurely. It means initiating the search process while there is still strategic headroom: time to define the brief carefully, to engage the market with discretion, and to build alignment around the appointment.
Examples of well-timed hires include:
Appointing a COO before operational inefficiencies materialise.
Hiring a commercial director before a go-to-market strategy begins to stall.
Bringing in a Chair with relevant sector experience ahead of institutional capital engagement.
Each of these examples reflects an understanding that senior leadership is not a reactive fix, but a proactive enabler.
In Germany, one of the most mature energy transition markets, green-sector job openings have more than doubled since 2019. Yet nearly half of these roles cannot be filled due to a lack of qualified applicants⁵. Across global markets, these hiring windows are narrowing, which is precisely why search processes must begin earlier.
The Consequences of Delay
When executive hiring is delayed, several risks compound:
The talent pool narrows. Senior candidates in high-demand sectors do not remain available for long.
The brief becomes constrained. Instead of asking, “What does the company need to scale?”, the question becomes, “Who is available now?”
The business may be forced into compromise. With urgency rising, search timelines compress, and selection criteria may soften in favour of speed.
In some cases, the wrong hire is made under pressure, leading to further disruption and the cost (both financial and reputational) of repeating the process.
A More Effective Approach
Net Zero Search has supported senior hiring across the energy transition since 2010. Our experience suggests that the strongest appointments are rarely made under pressure. They are the result of deliberate, timely processes that begin before the need becomes acute.
By engaging the market early, i.e. when there is space to think clearly and strategically, organisations gain access to stronger candidates, build better alignment between role and requirement, and give incoming leaders the runway they need to deliver.
This approach is not only more effective; it is more efficient. It reduces long-term cost, improves retention, and enables better outcomes.
Next Steps
If your organisation is approaching a period of growth, transition, or capital deployment, it is worth considering whether your leadership team is positioned to support that next phase.
The optimal moment to begin a senior search is rarely when the situation becomes urgent. In most cases, it is when the conversation first arises.
To learn more about our work in executive search for the energy transition, visit netzero-search.com/sectors, or contact us to start a conversation.
Sources
¹ IEA World Energy Employment Report 2024
² Global Bioenergy Report – Renewable Hiring Trends
³ McKinsey – Talent Squeeze in the Energy Sector
⁴ Heidrick & Struggles – The Next Energy Crisis: Talent
⁵ Reuters – Germany’s Green Jobs Boom and Shortage