38 Degrees: Recruiting A Team And Leader To Drive Change

In 2021, the online campaigning organisation, 38 Degrees, came to Green Park with a major recruitment project: find a new Chief Executive to take their unique movement forward. With a freshly minted five-year strategic plan, the successful candidate would be taking 38 Degrees through a crucial period of evolution that would shape the entire organisation. Green Park’s shortlist yielded the perfect person – and led to a volume recruiting campaign to hire a raft of talent.

• Green Park won the pitch against three tough competitors based on our expertise in diversity and inclusion and our deep understanding of the campaigning landscape.
• An exciting Chief Executive recruited for a hugely influential campaigning organisation.
• Eight key hires made via an extensive volume sourcing operation.
• All hires are set to shape the 38 Degrees of the future and implement a new five-year strategic plan.
• Green Park provided a holistic service offering to satisfy clients end-to-end talent needs.

The Challenge

 38 Degrees is a British not-for-profit that’s one of a kind. Founded in 2009, its aim is to “hold the most powerful to account and stand up for a fairer society.” As of October 2021, the organisation could mobilise two million people across the UK to support all manner of progressive causes through powerful online campaigns. Highly agile, 38 Degrees’ online petitions can be launched in an instant and have brought many victories in areas as diverse as healthcare and the environment. Much of this success is down to the organisation’s unique status – positioned outside the highly regulated charity, private and public sectors, 38 Degrees is able to operate with speed and autonomy. 

Heading up this potent force for change is no small responsibility: such a dynamic and high-profile role required a special kind of leader who could define the campaigning landscape. The Chief Executive also had to be capable of leading the organisation through the throes of transformation, following recent upheaval on a cultural and leadership level. 38 Degrees needed a Chief Executive who could inspire and unite the team to deliver a bold, new five-year plan and convince large swathes of the British public to get involved in campaigning for change.

In 2021, Green Park won an extremely rigorous and highly competitive four-way pitch to deliver this exciting and complex assignment. Ultimately, Green Park’s extensive knowledge of the sector and value alignment with 38 Degrees itself proved to be the deciding factor.

Appointing The CEO

The first step was to get under the skin of this unique organisation. Green Park arranged conversations with an extensive range of stakeholders, from team members and supporters to the outgoing interim Chief Executive. Little by little Green Park built up a detailed picture of 38 Degrees, its culture and the kind of leader it required.  Green Park worked with the client to create a tailored time frame to ensure they could fully leverage their extensive network. The result was a shortlist of formidable talent, from which 38 Degrees were able to choose an outstanding individual.

Following a rigorous selection process, an innovative and highly respected veteran of the campaigning world was chosen to be the new Chief Executive. A former Director of Campaigns and Communications at HOPE not hate and Director of Digital Rapid Response on Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, Matthew McGregor brings 20 years’ experience in politics, campaigns and digital activism. This includes more than five years as a director at Blue State Digital – the digital strategy firm that revolutionised the way elections are fought. McGregor has also worked on headline projects and campaigns for political parties and NGOs across the world, including overhauling the UK Labour Party’s digital strategy and playing a key role in the campaign against repealing Obamacare.

Appointing Eight Additional Roles

The success of this campaign led 38 Degrees to approach Green Park with a further brief to recruit eight more roles at various levels. To deliver this volume recruiting project, Green Park’s People Solutions Practice stepped in.

Working closely with Executive Search, the Green Park People Solutions team interviewed the 38 Degrees team to establish what they needed from their new colleagues. Using this data, Green Park went out to market with a nationwide campaign. The key was to present a shortlist with individuals who would remain impartial, effective and objective, whatever their personal views. 38 Degrees deals with issues that often provoke passionate responses and it was vital that the team would be professional and open.

Throughout the recruitment process for all eight roles, Green Park remained in close contact with 38 Degrees, reporting at every stage. The volume recruitment campaign drew hundreds of responses, with 80 people going through to the shortlist. Feedback from candidates and 38 Degrees was positive throughout and resulted in eight successful placements.  

Take the next step: find out more about our Executive Search expertise and People Solutions consultancy.