Amici Chief Operating Officer

Written By Oakstone International

Background

Amici Procurement provides a purchasing and supply chain management service, allowing biotech organisations to focus on discovering life-changing innovations.

  • Amici is a specialist procurement-managed services provider supporting the biotech sector. The CEO had previously partnered with Oakstone to hire several senior leaders, including their Chief Revenue Officer, Head of Sourcing, and Customer Success Director.

  • Amici CEO Caroline Briggs turned to us again to assist with hiring a Chief Operating Officer.

  • The need for a COO was a long-standing part of Caroline's vision for the business. However, she prioritised revenue and sourcing leadership roles before moving forward with this critical delivery-focused hire.

  • Once the initial foundations were in place, she was ready to bring on someone who could scale and manage the operational delivery of Amici's platform and professional services.

 

Requirements

  • Initially, the COO specification focused heavily on candidates with a procurement background, where domain expertise was essential.

  • There was an initial misconception that only someone from within procurement would understand the model of Amici; however, as we progressed, it became clear that the essential requirement for this role wasn't pure procurement expertise but executive-level delivery leadership, ideally within similarly sized and staged SaaS and managed services businesses (typically 100 people or fewer, £10M in revenue).

  • Cultural understanding, adaptability, and founder-led company experience were also critical qualities.

 

Our Approach and Solution

  • Oakstone initially launched the search with a narrow procurement lens. We refined the brief after thorough interviews with over 50 professionals and shortlisting over 20 across two separate searches.

  • Throughout the process, we worked closely with Caroline, who personally conducted 3–4-hour interviews with each candidate in the later stages. These extensive discussions allowed her to test assumptions, sharpen the brief, and recalibrate priorities.

  • Ultimately, we adjusted the search strategy to prioritise delivery leadership, founder-led SaaS/managed services experience, and adaptability to a niche, transactional procurement environment.

  • We also emphasised cultural fit, critical in the tightly knit, female-centric team.

  • This resulted in two final interview rounds (each concluding in Glasgow).

 

Challenges

  • Evolving Requirements: The ideal profile evolved multiple times through the search. We adapted quickly to changing expectations without disrupting candidate experience or momentum.

  • Cultural Fit: The importance of team compatibility meant we had to go beyond CVs and track records, deeply assessing values, leadership style, and dynamics.

  • Geography: Amici is based in Glasgow, and travel expectations were a barrier for many London-based candidates.

  • Procurement Misalignment: Many procurement professionals came from large-scale, strategic environments, the opposite of Amici's SME-focused, hands-on delivery model.

 

Results

  • We successfully placed Stuart Mills, an experienced operator with a strong track record in founder-led SaaS and service businesses. His hands-on delivery expertise, balanced background of successes and learning experiences, and pragmatic leadership style made him the ideal fit.

  • Stuart was chosen over a more "polished" finalist due to his diligence, substance-over-style approach, and ability to operate effectively in successful and challenging scale-up environments, qualities aligned with Amici's current phase and long-term vision.

  • While the search demanded significant time investment (50+ candidate interviews, two complete search rounds), the result was a high-impact hire with long-term potential.

  • Oakstone will continue to support Amici's leadership when making future strategic hires.

Oakstone International

Oakstone International is a SaaS and Fintech specialist executive search firm.

https://www.oakstone.co.uk/
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