FEATURED CASE STUDY
From ChatGPT recommendation to hire in under 4 weeks.
Drova is an Australian AI-powered platform that simplifies risk, compliance, resilience and sustainability all connected to business objectives so companies can run with confidence and control. Rachel Riley, their Co-founder, hired a Customer Success Manager in under 4 weeks without the agency premium and without slowing down a growing business.
The situation
One of Drova's key team members was going on maternity leave. Rachel needed cover. Drova was growing, so the replacement potentially needed to stay long-term.
Traditional recruitment agencies, with their 18-20% placement fees, simply weren't going to work for Drova. Not on top of paid maternity leave already running in parallel.
And there was a third complication. Maternity-cover roles are notoriously hard to fill. Fixed-term contracts scare off the strongest candidates, who'd rather hold out for permanent work. So Rachel wasn't just looking for someone cheap and fast, she needed a recruiter who could attract genuinely good people to a role most of the market avoids.
Cheaper. Faster. Harder-to-fill role. Pick three.
How she found SuccessEngine
Rachel didn't find Huey through LinkedIn or a referral. She asked ChatGPT.
She described what she needed 'A CS-adjacent GTM hire, fast, without the typical agency premium and asked for three options. Alongside "traditional recruiter" and "DIY hiring," ChatGPT surfaced SuccessEngine by name, citing its track record on Customer Success roles and its different commercial model.
That was the first time she'd heard of the business.
Why she gave it a go
Two things tipped her over the line:
A trusted reference. Huey had recently placed someone Rachel knew well from a previous business and that hire had worked out.
A genuinely different model. Capped fees and weekly progress instead of the 18-20% placement standard.
The outcome
The search closed in under four weeks. The shortlist was so strong that Rachel reached the offer stage with two candidates she would have been equally happy to hire, a situation she says is extremely rare in her recruiting career.
She made the hire. No drop in candidate quality, despite the maternity-cover constraint that usually scares strong candidates off.
What Rachel said about working with SuccessEngine
"They'll make sure you're looked after. They actively understand who you're looking for, and if it's not on their books, they go and headhunt. They're flexible and if they're not finding candidates that suit you, they'll work with you on the terms. It's fast, not cost-prohibitive like some recruiters are, and way cheaper and easier than trying to do it yourself."
"I actually think it's a really disruptive model. Traditional recruiters can't do that, they're locked into the 18-20% of base plus super. You're not."
The takeaway
The roles agencies tell you are hardest i.e fixed-term, fast turnaround, cost-sensitive are exactly the ones this model is built for.
Rachel got the hire she needed, in the timeframe she needed saving $18-22K.
Book a free 15-minute call. No pitch. Just a useful conversation about the role in front of you.
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THE SIMPLE PROMISE
Start with a single search or plug me into your hiring rhythm. Either way, the fee stays transparent.
TRUSTED BY STARTUPS, SCALEUPS AND ENTERPRISES
WHY SUCCESSENGINE
The specialist depth of a former SaaS leader.
01
GTM fluency
Customer Success, Sales and Marketing searches handled by someone who has actually sat inside the function.
02
Fewer, better candidates
You see a focused shortlist, not a pile of fifty resumes. The process stays visible from day one.
03
Capped accountability
A flat fee aligns the work with the outcome. No percentage, no stretching the search, no surprises.
WAYS TO ENGAGE
One clear fee. Two ways to build your team.
SPRINT
One active role.
Capped at $10,000.
For the role that can’t wait. A focused search with candidates worth meeting inside five days.
• Dedicated search
• Weekly progress rhythm
• 50% upfront payment to start your search
• 180 day replacement guarantee
EMBEDDED
Multiple roles.
A genuine hiring partner.
For GTM teams that need specialist hiring coverage without building a full internal team.
• Up to five concurrent roles
• Dedicated hiring channel
• Weekly pipeline reviews so nothing stalls
• Quarterly market mapping for your GTM roles
FEATURED CASE STUDIES
Hiring outcomes that speak for themselves.
DROVA
Two candidates worth hiring.
“I ended up with two candidates I would have hired. A situation that is extremely rare in my recruitment career.”
Rachel Riley — Co-Founder, Drova
PAINCHEK
A partner who delivers in the timeframe.
“SuccessEngine definitely ticked the box on quality candidates, within the right timeframe.”
Ida To — Head of Operations, PainChek
CLIENT VOICES
Trusted by the people doing the hiring.
“Huey is a professional recruiter who presented excellent candidates quickly. He was responsive and a pleasure to work with.”
Rachael Ward
VP, People & Culture, EFTsure
I have been in Customer Success for a very long time, and thought I had the time and capacity to be able to source my own network and LinkedIn to move fast, but nobody beats Huey.
Huey provided a near-perfect end-to-end experience for Komo Technologies. His industry knowledge, and ability to ask great questions to get to the root of the challenge, allowing him to source great quality candidates was simply fantastic. I was able to trust Huey to work autonomously to provide me with a number of candidates that we were able to find a perfect addition to our business, in double-quick time.
The final candidate was far and away the best of all the candidates we had sourced ourselves. During and after the hiring process, Huey stayed in close contact, never pushing the hiring manager to choose his candidates, and trusted the process. He always maintained high levels of integrity and transparency throughout, and I didn't hesitate to sign on for a longer agreement with Huey and Success Engine.
10/10 - Strongly Recommend.
Niel Isdale
Chief Customer Officer, Komo Technologies
Huey worked closely with us to understand exactly what we were looking for in a candidate. He kept us informed at each stage of the process, and we were able to hire an exceptional team member as a result.
Josh Suntup
Head of Customer Success, Lessn
As our CX team expanded rapidly from two to nine members, we encountered the typical challenges of scaling up. Huey came highly recommended to help mature our CX processes and develop a more targeted onboarding experience for our users. He excelled in researching and formulating strategies, but crucially for our time-strapped team, he was hands-on in implementing his recommendations. I greatly valued his advice; he was consistently accessible and prompt in providing thoughtful responses - an absolute pleasure to work with!
Zoe Lowres
Co-Founder, eGuarantee
“Huey really understood the type of candidates we were looking for and provided only profiles that matched.”
Laura Rod
Head of Operations, eGuarantee
MEET HUEY
I've spent my career on both sides of the hiring table. I started in internal talent acquisition, then crossed into LinkedIn where I trained internal TA and external agency recruiters on using Linkedin Recruiter. From there I joined Zoom as the third employee and first Customer Success hire in APAC and was part of the founding team that built the region from zero. I hired and developed the CS team across Australia, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore as the company scaled. That's the difference between a recruiter who's read the job description and one who's done the job.
WHO IS THIS FOR
Embedded recruitment built for founders and TA leaders who are tired of waiting.
Founders & Hiring Managers
You’re moving fast and need GTM hires now. Skip the pile: your first shortlist arrives within five days from someone who has sat inside the function.
Talent Acquisition Teams
Specialised GTM coverage for the roles where deep market knowledge matters: Customer Success hires, senior sales roles, and GTM leadership.
POSITIONS WE RECRUIT
GTM roles we recruit
Customer Success & Support
Customer Success Manager · Senior / Enterprise CSM · CS Team Lead · Director / VP of Customer Success · Chief Customer Officer
Sales & Account Management
Account Executive · SDR / BDR · Account Manager · Renewals Manager · Senior Account Manager · Director / VP of Sales · Solutions Engineer
Marketing & RevOps
Head of Marketing · Demand Generation Manager · Product Marketing Manager · Revenue Operations Manager · CS Operations Analyst · Partnerships Manager
FAQs
Book a free 30-minute call. No pitch. Just a useful conversation about the role in front of you.
Contact Details
Phone: +61 401 370 265
Email: huey@successengine.com.au
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