Case Study: Agrium
Identifying an ETL Architect for a Critical
Data Warehouse Initiative
The Background
Agrium took on a global data warehouse initiative and lacked the technical expertise around ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) architecture and development which was an urgent need. They reached out to The Doyle Group at the recommendation of a former Doyle Group Data Warehouse Architect, and The Doyle Group immediately identified two qualified consultants from its prescreened network. Agrium made an offer to one of the candidates two days later.
Subsequently, they added three additional ETL resources to their team including a Data Modeler. One consultant converted to full time, and the original senior ETL Architect/Developer resource is now serving as Agrium’s ETL Lead.
The Stats
Location: Loveland, CO
Description: Filled an ETL Architect role quickly to ensure the client could complete a global warehouse initiative.
The Challenge
With corporate offices in Loveland, Colorado, Agrium is a global leader in agricultural products and services, helping growers around the world increase crop yields sustainably. Agrium was integrating the operations of a major, recently-purchased Australian company. Justine Cleary —responsible for database management in North America and Australia— was staffing up for the related data transition activity. “We needed a contracted senior ETL professional who could jump in and hit the ground running,” she recalls.
The Solution
A data architect consultant on Justine’s team recommended she contact The Doyle Group, which had placed her at another company several years earlier. Justine contacted The Doyle Group with details about the ideal candidate she needed.
“Justine also said she didn’t want to waste time with candidates that were not perfect fits. She only wanted to talk to people who truly could step in right away,” says Andrew Doyle, CEO of The Doyle Group. “That fits our model—we pre-screen our people up front and when an opportunity comes up, we review them again based on the specifics of the job. We don’t flood a client with resumes.”
The Doyle Group had 15 pre-screened ETL professionals in its local IT network. Andrew checked in with all of them that same day. “There were two that not only were interested but were exceptionally good fits, based on the criteria Justine gave me. The next day, Andrew sent Justine information on the two, one of whom, “John,” was considering an offer from another company through a different staffing firm. After a quick round of phone interviews, Justine quickly made John an offer. John accepted and his contract was extended three times over two years. He eventually accepted an offer to join as Agrium’s Senior ETL Developer
The Value
Justine was very pleased with The Doyle Group’s service. “They were very communicative—they listened carefully to what I wanted,” she says. And the service was, “really, really quick— especially to get that kind of quality.” She also appreciated the fact that The Doyle Group referred only highly qualified candidates. “I’m a very direct person,” she admits. “If you don’t have any candidates for me, you have to tell me, and I can move on. In fact, [since then] there have been other times, I’ve
asked [The Doyle Group] for candidates with specific skillsets and they were not able to help, but they told me that right up front. I don’t have time to look at resumes from people who aren’t qualified!”
Over the next two years, The Doyle Group placed four additional people with Agrium’s IT team, including one person who went contract-to-hire.
The Doyle Group Difference
IdentifyING what is important to clients beyond certain skills, like personality, work-style and workforce diversity, enables the team
at DG to find and present a short list of the most qualified candidates who will be able to start doing transformative work
immediately. From researching your organization’s culture and technology needs, to sourcing, vetting and
presenting candidates, The Doyle Group offers a full-service and customized
consultant search experience.
