A Career at CBSbutler: Employee Insights from Alex Froude – Director of Engineering

At CBSbutler we’re constantly challenging ourselves to grow and improve. One of the ways in which we do this is to bring new talent to our team, bringing with them fresh ideas and distinctive skills. We spoke to Alex Froude, Director of our Engineering pillar, about his recruitment journey so far, how he’s hoping to grow his team, and the kind of people he’s keen to meet.

Alex, tell us something about your role at CBSbutler, your life before you worked here and how you came to join the team

My role here is to oversee the engineering teams. These include the defence team, the engineering and manufacturing team, the medical device team, the BMS (Building Management Systems) team and the Automation team.

Like a number of my colleagues, I started my working life as an estate agent and came into recruitment because of my transferable skills. My first role in recruitment involved ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) hires, predominantly Oracle. A former colleague who was working for CBSbutler called me and invited me to start up a new IT team within the business. A role became available within the engineering team which I took on, and subsequently I built my career from there to become a senior consultant, then a manager, then an engineering Pillar Director which included other areas too. I’ve been here for 13 years now – it may seem a long time but some of my colleagues have been here even longer. I think that’s a testament to the ethos of our company and to the incredible blend of people we have working with us. 

That’s pretty unheard of, isn’t it? For people to stay at the same company that long?

Absolutely! You know it’s a good company if recruiters are willing to stay for that length of time. I think the average length of tenure in my team alone is around six years which is great for recruitment. I think people stay for so long because of the culture at CBSbutler. Personally, I live around an hour and twenty minute drive away and the reason I’m happy to get in the car and come into work each and every day is that I genuinely enjoy the people I work with. From the moment I stepped through the door it’s been the same – everyone’s got time for you, there’s a lot of advice and experience available to tap into, but equally people get on well and want the best for each other. It’s quite a unique environment.

Tell us about the industries that you work in and how they’re growing

We’re seeing a lot of growth in the defence sector, which is what I specialise in, thanks to increased investment both in the UK and internationally. We’re particularly well-positioned to be able to provide talent within the sector because of our reputation and we’re finding demand increasing continually. The reason we’re looking to hire consultants is to capitalise on this success and demand.

What kind of people are you looking for?

We’re looking to grow the team by adding two new members who will be involved in the critical hiring that we’re seeing at the moment across a variety of different technical skill sets within the marketplace. So that means people with 360° experience of mechanical design, electronic design, programme management, etc., but not necessarily within the defence sector – that’s something they can pick up. They need to be comfortable speaking to both existing and potential new clients and build on our established reputation.

What will they get in terms of rewards and career progression?

Firstly let’s talk about remuneration – we pay very well! We have an uncapped commission scheme so there’s potential to earn a very nice salary.

From a development point of view, CBSbutler is a very progressive company to work for and everyone who comes on board is encouraged to progress in their career – some of my former consultants are now either Senior Team Leaders or Pillar Directors, so progression is very achievable and I’d love to see someone come in, get up to speed and create a name for themselves within the defence sector, then potentially head up a sub-sector or team of their own, potentially in an area that’s new to the business. Development is something we’re very hot on and we’re always looking to grow individuals’ skill sets and help them achieve their ambitions.

Finally, I’d say that despite us working hard, it’s a great environment to work in – we all enjoy a laugh. But there’s always someone to support you if you’re having a bad day and the phone calls just aren’t paying off, so we do get the best out of each other. It’s a great team ethos.

Alex’s story of his progression within CBSbutler is just one example of many, and if you’re looking to work for an organisation that encourages personal and professional development, while offering you the support you need to succeed, we’d love to hear from you.

For more information on career opportunities at CBSbutler, please contact us.