TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.

I've been in the recruitment industry, focusing specifically on the construction and infrastructure sector for 20 years.  My background is mainly focused on setting up and/or leading executive search businesses.  Around half of my career has been leading recruitment companies within major construction groups, specifically Mace Group (UK and UAE) and Laing O'Rourke (UK and Australia).  I moved to Sydney from the UK in 2014 with my wife Tash and our five children and we've never looked back...

WHAT INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE & NETWORK DO YOU BRING TO QA?

My industry experience is across all aspects of the construction and infrastructure sector, but with a focus on executive level business leaders and leaders for multi-billion-dollar projects and programs globally.  I've been lucky enough to have supported clients delivering some of the most challenging projects globally and have placed leaders in North America, UK, UAE, SE Asia and Australia.  I see this as very much a global talent market so I'm able to now bring that experience to my clients here in Australia.  One other area I really enjoy is around key roles that support destructive innovation within the industry and I've appointed a number of global leaders in that space spanning specialist engineering, emerging technologies and digital engineering.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU BRING TO THE QA TEAM?

I'd like to think I bring comprehensive industry knowledge to the team combined with a firsthand awareness of how our clients actually operate having spent half my career reporting directly to boards of major construction and engineering companies.  Beyond that, I've had a good deal of success building high performing teams that share my passion for delivery and operating in a way that sets us apart from our peers ethically, so that's now something I'm looking forward to delivering here at QA. 

HOW DO YOU SEE THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH MARKET IN SYDNEY?

I see it as a very competitive market which is largely populated with generalists.  The scale of the market here has historically required businesses to diversify with infrastructure a component of a larger, say, 'industrial' practice that also includes industries such as Manufacturing and Logistics.  Given the challenges the industry is facing locally to deliver what is an unprecedented economic and social infrastructure pipeline, I believe we are now in a place where clients will see real value in working with trusted partners who are purely focused on that market. 

WHAT ARE THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE QA?

Connected. Respected. Trusted. 

WHAT INITIALLY ATTRACTED YOU TO JOIN QA?

I had been aware of QA for some time and its strong reputation in the market.  The key was meeting with Sergio (our Managing Director) to discuss his vision and aspirations for the business and where I might be able to add value.  It was clear from these discussions that we share many of the same fundamental values and opinions as to how we can improve our industry whilst having complementary skill sets and networks. 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF WORKING AT QA?

We work with a really interesting and diverse mix of clients, doing quality work.  The environment here is driven by a keen focus on delivering assignments to the very best of our ability without all of the politics and posturing you get in really large corporates.  It's just a really positive and fun place to spend your day!  We also get a range of great benefits such as unlimited paid annual leave, but for me, the main thing is working with like-minded people in a great environment.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR QA & THE NORTHERN REGION IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

I'm focusing on supporting the business to further develop and elevate its capability to deliver to its clients.  This includes how we access candidate suitability, what systems and resources we use, how we present our work to clients, what partners we may be able to work with and what people we have in our teams to provide the best possible outcomes to our clients.  The team here have been very receptive to new ideas and we are actively implementing a number of new initiatives as well as looking to grow our Professional Search, Executive Search and Research teams in Sydney and Melbourne. 

WHAT DOES BEING A 'TRUSTED ADVISOR' MEAN TO YOU?

For me, it's operating as a peer to our clients.  A major part of what our industry should be doing is helping clients better understand what 'good' looks like within a rapidly changing industry and to give them the confidence to think creatively.  We are in the midst of an unprecedented infrastructure boom, so identifying talent from different cultural and industry backgrounds is essential, otherwise all we are doing is creating an escalation in costs to clients by facilitating movement from one organisation to another, rather than adding real capacity and diversity to the industry.  Our approach should enable our clients to make bold decisions because they trust our judgement and our motives. 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE QA?

I was attracted to the idea of being in a business that offered the opportunity to be entrepreneurial and think differently, a bit like a start-up, but still be able to leverage a respected brand and work with a great group of like-minded people.  I've also spent the past 10 years working in organisations where executive search was not core business, which meant the direction and performance of the wider business could impact my team in a way that was outside our control.  QA has given me the opportunity to take a leadership role and drive performance within executive search as core business which is fantastic.

WARREN'S PROFILE

Warren is Managing Partner, Northern Region for Quinton Anthony and leads our Infrastructure Executive Search and Professional Search teams in New South Wales and Queensland.  He has comprehensive construction and infrastructure experience and a proven track record of launching new businesses, securing high-value clients and delivering executive search services in Australia, South East Asia and the UK. 

A construction management graduate, Warren has more than 20 years' experience in delivering executive search services to global clients spanning corporate leadership positions to board level and critical major projects related roles.  He has also launched and led commercialised recruitment and executive search businesses as subsidiaries of global construction and engineering groups, Mace Group and Laing O'Rourke.

View Warren's full profile on Linkedin or for further information, contact him at warren.rushbrook@quintonanthony.com.