Innovation in Hydrogen: How CLM helped build the teams behind a Clean Energy Pioneer

Posted on August 22, 2025 by - Energy

Scaling Hydrogen Production & Innovation Through Talent

As the global energy transition accelerates, hydrogen is emerging as a critical pillar of clean energy infrastructure. But scaling hydrogen from innovation to industrialisation requires more than technology — it demands the right leadership and technical expertise.

We partnered with a fast-growing hydrogen company on a plant scale-up project on the West Coast USA, where they needed to rapidly expand their team to meet urgent commercial goals and deliver on major funding commitments.

The Challenge:
The company faced an ambitious hiring plan:

  • 20 business-critical hires within two months

  • 22 urgent hires within four months

  • 10 further hires within 12 months

Our Approach:
To deliver at speed without compromising quality, we:

  • Appointed a dedicated account director and search team of four

  • Deployed a global talent mapping strategy with passive candidate targeting

  • Leveraged industry-specific expertise to identify niche skills in hydrogen and manufacturing

  • Delivered shortlists within 10–15 days

The Results:
In just 12 months, we secured 52 hires, including:

  • 31 engineers and engineering managers (quality, equipment, manufacturing, controls, mechanical, electrical, welding, factory design, industrial & project)

  • Project managers and HR site leaders

  • EPC leaders and automation specialists

  • Document controllers and technical writers

The Impact:
Our support enabled the company to:

  • Scale operations in line with Series B funding and a nearly $40M DOE grant

  • Deliver a major agreement to provide over 320MW of electrolysers to one of the world’s largest oil refining companies

  • Commission a 2MW electrolyser plant on the West Coast, now with over 18,000 operational hours in commercial settings

This partnership demonstrates the role that executive search and specialist hiring strategies play in accelerating the clean energy transition. By aligning people with purpose, we help companies bring breakthrough technologies to scale and shape a more sustainable energy future.