The Challenge
A Saskatoon-area potash mining operation facing mounting pressure from institutional investors, regulatory bodies, and customers to reduce their environmental footprint embarked on an ambitious sustainability transformation requiring new executive leadership. The company sought an Engineering Director who could lead the technical aspects of their green transition, including implementing renewable energy systems for mining operations, reducing water consumption and improving tailings management, and exploring carbon capture technologies applicable to mining contexts. The challenge was finding a leader who possessed the rare combination of traditional mining engineering expertise essential for credibility with existing operations teams alongside genuine clean technology experience that could drive meaningful environmental improvement. The talent pool was exceptionally narrow: most mining engineers had spent their careers optimizing extraction efficiency rather than environmental performance, while clean technology professionals typically lacked the mining sector knowledge to implement solutions in this unique industrial context. Additionally, the Saskatoon location, while offering excellent quality of life, required finding candidates willing to be based in Saskatchewan rather than major urban centers.
The Solution
Lock Search Group deployed a search strategy led by our Saskatoon office with support from Calgary’s industrial practice, targeting the overlapping zone between traditional mining engineering and emerging clean technology. We identified four primary candidate pools: mining engineers who had led environmental improvement initiatives within traditional mining companies; clean technology professionals from the energy sector, particularly those with experience in oil sands emissions reduction, which shares some characteristics with potash operations; environmental engineers from adjacent heavy industries who had implemented decarbonization programs; and academics with applied mining sustainability research who might be attracted to an industry leadership role. Our assessment approach evaluated candidates across three dimensions: technical credibility including understanding of mining operations, environmental engineering expertise, and specific clean technology knowledge; leadership capability including change management experience and ability to influence skeptical operational teams; and values alignment ensuring genuine commitment to sustainability rather than performative environmentalism. We arranged site visits for finalist candidates to ensure they understood both the operational complexity and the environmental challenges specific to potash mining before finalizing offers.
The Outcome
The specialized search generated 26 candidates whose backgrounds suggested relevant expertise at the intersection of mining and clean technology. Through rigorous screening including technical assessments and stakeholder interviews, we presented four finalists representing different pathways to the role. The successful placement was a former Environmental Engineering Manager from a major oil sands operator who had led their carbon capture pilot program and had earned her mining engineering degree before specializing in environmental applications. Her oil sands experience, while in a different extractive industry, provided directly transferable knowledge of large-scale industrial emissions reduction, and her original mining engineering training gave her credibility with the operations team. Originally from Saskatchewan, she was also personally motivated by the opportunity to return home while working on meaningful environmental challenges. Within her first year, she completed feasibility studies for solar power installation at two mine sites, implemented a water recycling system reducing freshwater consumption by 25%, and developed a five-year decarbonization roadmap that became central to the company’s investor communications. The placement demonstrated Lock Search Group’s ability to source talent at the intersection of traditional industries and emerging sustainability imperatives.