Gavin Savage on Joining the Software Engineering Practice at Zeren

By Gavin Savage, a Senior Consultant within our Engineering team, based in Zeren‘s London Office.

Throughout my career, I have always loved technology, and having spent the last four years within this space, it has been amazing to see how technology trends, especially in the realm of Software Engineering, have evolved and become part of many Client strategies.

From working at both the Individual Contributor level up to Engineering Leadership, I have always loved the cool, ‘edgy’ start-up space, especially businesses that are making a real difference in the world with their products. This scope of experience has offered me real insight into the overall Software Engineering landscape, and the challenges that start-up businesses go through, both of which have always seemed to resonate well with the Candidates and Clients I partner with.

Prior to joining Zeren, I had experience working with some of the leading, Tech Management Consultancies, high-growth start-ups and digital agencies across the UK and Europe, which really opened my eyes to the world of technology; this made for a simple decision in joining a company like Zeren, who are fully immersed in the technology and start-up ecosystem.

I have always been interested in Executive Search, but ensuring that a business still specialised within the technology space was really important to me. I wanted to couple my experience of Software Engineering, with Executive Search, and thankfully Zeren became part of that conversation. After struggling to find a comprehensive list of firms that had this offering, it was clear to me that Zeren offered something that was very unique in the market, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, what really appealed when making the move to Zeren was its relationship with its sister business, Renovata & Company. I was very impressed with the quality across both brands, and the extensive experience they have within Search and the Tech ecosystem. Renovata & Company have deep relationships with many Private Equity and Venture Capital funds at the Executive-level, which formed a huge selling-point for me, as something that no other business within the market seemed to offer.

Secondly, the strategic elements of how Zeren conducts searches was important to me. I quickly learned that Executive Search is by no means just recruitment at C-Suite level; it is far more advisory, strategic, and more akin to Management Consultancy, which is what makes Search that much more fascinating and, undeniably, value-added.

Thirdly, the people I now work with were a huge selling-point to me, and the various team members I met during the Zeren interview process were incredibly impressive. From the CEO, Chris Preston, to members of the Leadership Team, such as Chris Batters, Harry Lewis, and Paul Nicholls, all the way through to Zeren‘s high-performing Consultants, I felt that everyone simply possessed the same level of drive, wealth of experience in their sectors, and genuine humbleness, all of which resonated with me. Finally, coupling this level of Recruitment with being able to work with the world’s “change makers” in the Technology sphere, I truly believed in such an exciting proposition, and it was a ‘no-brainer’ for me to join this exciting journey.

I am very much looking forward to embarking on this adventure with Zeren, and helping to build world-class Engineering teams for some of the world’s leading VC and PE-backed start-ups.

If your business could benefit from the skill-set a Software Engineering leader would bring, or if you have a desire to move into the world of high-growth Tech, please contact me: gavin.savage@zerenglobal.com

Zeren exists to empower the world’s change makers. We do this by building high-performing teams in the world’s most innovative businesses, to accelerate growth by connecting visionary leaders and ambitious talent.

We are a leading global Executive Search & Recruitment Firm with offices in New York, London and Frankfurt. We partner with both high growth, investor backed businesses and ambitious corporate brands around the world.