Recruiting the Next Executive Director for the Department of Environment and Science

Gerard Kerr

About Department of Environment and Science (DES)


Queensland boasts one of the most diverse and beautiful environments in the world. Without even counting the Great Barrier Reef and its cultural and economic significance to Queensland and Australia, over 64 million visitors flock to Queensland's national parks, forests, and arts and cultural facilities every year. The Department of Environment and Science (DES) exists to protect Queensland's environment so that future generations can enjoy its beauty.


Working closely with local government, stakeholders, and communities, the DES works to achieve a better environmental, economic and social future for Queensland. To continue its vital work of protecting Queensland's beautiful, delicate environment, the team at the DES reached out to Kingston as one of their executive recruitment partners.


The DES wanted to make sure they partnered with an executive search firm that used both traditional and contemporary recruitment techniques. In addition to traditional executive search, they saw the power of video and understood how contemporary social media talent attraction campaigns would benefit their recruitment project.

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The Hiring Requirement

Kingston Human Capital was appointed by the Department to recruit for the role of Executive Director.

Role We Hired

Executive Director, Science Delivery and Knowledge, DES

Channels We Used

YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, microsite, Science Monthly, Australian Science Network.

The Challenge

Finding the Right Executive With a Rare Skill Set.


The central challenge with the DES project came from the unique nature of their organisation. Due to the requirements of the role, the right executive would have to possess a rare and distinct skill set.


In fact, this skillset was so rare that our initial projection identified there would be fewer than 70 people in Australia with the necessary qualifications and experience.


The search required access to a highly specialised talent market while ensuring the successful candidate aligned with the department's culture, stakeholder expectations and long-term strategic objectives.



Our Objective

Kingston Human Capital was engaged to identify and secure an Executive Director with the rare technical expertise, leadership capability and stakeholder engagement skills required to support the Department of Environment and Science.


The objective was to access a highly specialised executive talent market, engage passive candidates and deliver a recruitment process capable of attracting the strongest talent nationally and internationally.


The successful candidate needed not only the required qualifications and experience, but also the ability to contribute to the department's mission of protecting Queensland's environment for future generations.



Our Strategy

Talent Mapping and Needs Analysis


As the talent pool was so small and the necessary qualifications and experience particularly rare, it was our experience in talent mapping, combined with our research and algorithmic search capabilities, that truly made the difference on this project.


Additionally, we completed a comprehensive needs-analysis with all stakeholders involved.

Supporting Interstate Talent

As a high number of potential candidates were based interstate, Kingston Human Capital developed a Living in Brisbane report to help these candidates assess life in Brisbane.


Examples of what was featured in this report included:

  • Economic data
  • Local school information
  • House prices
Traditional and Contemporary Recruitment Techniques


Kingston Human Capital approached the recruitment project using both traditional and contemporary techniques. To find the right talent, we created a recruitment video and used attraction campaigns to engage the right talent.

How Kingston Human Capital Helped the DES Find the Right Candidate

  • We established a social media attraction campaign and developed a highly effective recruitment video campaign to communicate the DES requirements and engage passive talent.
  • We formed a needs-analysis for the role and met with the internal candidates to discuss the project and its timelines.
  • We activated our referral networks and deployed our executive search and algorithmic search teams who searched both nationally and internationally.
  • We completed relevant reporting, presented the candidate shortlist to the panel, and facilitated interviews while acting as scribe.
  • We supported the panel with pre-interview diversity awareness and unconscious bias training, designed a comprehensive set of interview questions and hosted the interview panel debrief and discussion.
  • We supported the client to extend the offer to the successful executive and completed Candidate Evaluations, providing feedback and coaching to those executives that were not successful.

Key Results Achieved

Qualified Candidates Identified Nationally

Executive Director Appointed

Weeks to Appointment

Executive Search Conducted

<70

6

1

National & International

The Appointment

The Right Executive Hired Within 6 Weeks



Not only did our client make the right executive hire at the end of the executive recruitment project, but we also received feedback from both internal and external candidates who commended our customer service and the frequency of our communication.


The campaign successfully delivered an Executive Director capable of supporting the Department's scientific and environmental objectives while aligning with its wider organisational mission.


What the client valued most?

The Department of Environment and Science valued an executive with the right culture fit and the ability to deliver great outcomes. Kingston Human Capital worked tirelessly to fill this role to the requirements of the DES.


The department also benefited from a recruitment approach that combined traditional executive search with modern attraction techniques, expanding access to specialised executive talent.


Impact Delivered

✅ Successfully appointed a world-class Chief Executive Officer

✅ Delivered a well-designed recruitment strategy that produced a diverse shortlist

✅ Combined contemporary recruitment methods with traditional executive search practices

✅ Leveraged digital media and recruitment video content to expand candidate reach

✅ Applied psychometric testing and customised candidate evaluation processes

✅ Supported onboarding and conducted a 12-month follow-up post-placement

✅ Helped advance Screen Queensland’s vision for the future of the Queensland screen industry

Ready to Appoint Your Next Executive Leader?

Gerard Kerr, Co Founder and General Manager of Search and Selection at Kingston Human Capital, Queensland Government Executive Recruitment Services

Meet Gerard Kerr

Gerard Kerr is Co-Founder and General Manager of Search and Selection at Kingston Human Capital.


With more than 20 years’ experience in recruitment, Gerard has deep networks and extensive expertise managing complex search and selection projects across a range of sectors including local state and federal government, statutory authorities, government-owned corporations and ASX-listed companies.

We work as an agile team across retained recruitment projects, ensuring we can commit the time and effort of our entire search team. This allows us to reach further into the market, which means we get to evaluate more candidates and get high-quality results.

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