How Halton attracted a highly sought-after Technical Product Owner without headhunting – by turning a business challenge into a compelling career opportunity

A global industrial company preparing for its next digital chapter

For nearly six decades, Halton has built its reputation as a global leader in ventilation  solutions for demanding environments. Operating internationally with most of its revenue generated outside Finland, the family-owned company has grown steadily through strong focus on customer experience, technical excellence, long-term thinking, and  on wellbeing and sustainability.

At the same time, software had become increasingly important to Halton's future competitiveness.

Over the years, the company had developed multiple internal digital tools supporting sales, product configuration, engineering, and operations. While valuable, many of these solutions had evolved independently and needed better ownership and more consistent development practices.

As Halton accelerated its digitalization efforts, the company saw an opportunity to move beyond individual tools and begin building a more connected digital ecosystem supporting the entire business.

This was no longer just an IT initiative. It was a business transformation.

"Software is becoming a much more visible and important part of how we operate, sell, and serve our customers globally. We wanted to strengthen our capability in a way that creates long-term business value, not just additional development capacity," says Mika Nieminen, SVP IT & Digitalization at Halton

The challenge wasn't finding a developer – it was finding the right person to take ownership

The recruitment need emerged from several strategic business priorities.

Halton wanted to improve sales efficiency, reduce manual work, increase transparency in pricing and costs, and create a stronger foundation for future automation and AI-driven initiatives.

The company needed someone who could bridge business and technology.

Someone capable of writing code, making technical decisions, collaborating with stakeholders across countries, and taking ownership of a business-critical software platform.

Finding this combination is notoriously difficult.

Many candidates lean either toward software engineering or product and stakeholder management. Very few operate comfortably in both worlds.

But there was another challenge → How do you convince a senior software professional to join a company that doesn't look like a traditional software company?

Looking beyond the obvious candidate market

Halton was introduced to TalentBee through a consultant who had previously worked in a similar role within the company.

The company had already experienced the benefits of external software expertise but wanted to bring the capability in-house and build long-term ownership around the solution.

When evaluating recruitment partners, TalentBee's experience in identifying and attracting niche technology profiles stood out.

However, instead of immediately focusing on sourcing candidates, the project started with a deeper question:

Who is the person that would genuinely see this as their ideal next career move?

Together, Halton and TalentBee spent time understanding the business context behind the role.

The discussions focused not only on responsibilities but on why the role existed, what business challenges it would solve, and what kind of future the selected person could help create.

According to Halton, this profile definition phase was more comprehensive than anything they had experienced in previous recruitment projects:

"The amount of work that went into understanding our business, goals, and the strategic importance of the role was exceptionally thorough. It created a much stronger foundation than we had seen before,” says Mika.

The surprising discovery: Halton was far more attractive than anyone expected

At the beginning of the project, the assumption was straightforward. This was likely going to require headhunting.

After all, the target profile was highly specialized, and Halton wasn't a software company competing with SaaS businesses for talent.

But something interesting happened. Once the role was carefully positioned around ownership, impact, autonomy, and business influence, candidates started applying.

And they kept applying.

Instead of presenting the opportunity as another developer position, the messaging highlighted:

• Ownership of business-critical systems
• The ability to influence company-wide digitalization
• Freedom to shape solutions and ways of working
• Direct visibility into business impact
• Long-term responsibility rather than short-term project work
• The opportunity to build something foundational inside a global organization

Halton clearly inspired confidence among candidates. As a financially stable Finnish company with nearly 60 years of history, it combines long-term success with a strong ambition to keep evolving. Many candidates saw the opportunity to join an internationally successful company that is actively shaping its future through digitalization and innovation.

The response exceeded expectations:

• 91 applications were received.
• 549 professionals visited the job advertisement.
• LinkedIn generated over 8000 impressions.

Most importantly, the quality of applications remained consistently high throughout the process. No headhunting was needed.

"Receiving over 90 applications for a role like this was genuinely surprising. We expected to rely heavily on headhunting. Instead, the right candidates came to us because the opportunity itself resonated so strongly, “ says Linda Nguyen, Talent Acquisition Strategist at TalentBee, who was closely working with Halton’s team in this project.

What candidates saw in Halton

Throughout the process, candidates were not primarily motivated by technology stacks or compensation. They were motivated by ownership.

Many senior professionals described frustration with being a small part of a much larger machine.

Halton offered something different:

• A chance to influence meaningful business systems end-to-end.
• A chance to work closely with decision-makers.
• A chance to see the direct impact of their work across a global organization.
• The company's culture also resonated strongly.

Candidates repeatedly highlighted:

• Trust-based leadership
• Freedom with responsibility
• Meaningful business challenges
• Long-term thinking
• Stability combined with transformation
• The possibility to shape the future direction of the role

Several candidates specifically mentioned the company mission and sustainability focus as reasons for applying.

"The company's mission of sustainable business and environmental responsibility appeals to me personally." -Candidate feedback

"This was one of the best recruitment processes I've participated in. The communication, transparency, and timeline management were excellent throughout." -Candidate feedback

"The role felt genuinely different. It wasn't just another software position. It was an opportunity to build something meaningful." -Candidate feedback

A recruitment process built around candidate experience

The recruitment process combined thorough evaluation with transparent communication.

The project included:

• Detailed profile definition and business analysis
• Candidate-centric role positioning
• Job advertisement creation and messaging strategy
• Recruitment marketing through LinkedIn and Duunitori
• Structured screening interviews
• Interview support and evaluation templates
• Ongoing advisory support until contract signing

The process moved from kickoff to signed contract in approximately 10,5 weeks.

Throughout the project, candidate communication received consistently positive feedback.

This mattered.

Strong inbound candidates arrive already motivated by the opportunity. Maintaining that motivation requires clarity, responsiveness, and respect throughout the process. As a result, candidate engagement remained exceptionally high from first application to final interviews.

The outcome: a strategic hire and an important market insight

Halton successfully hired a Technical Product Owner, with a start date scheduled for August 2026.

Beyond the successful hire, the project revealed that industrial companies undergoing digital transformation often underestimate their attractiveness to technology talent.

Many software professionals are interested in hearing about opportunities where they can own meaningful business problems, influence strategy, and create visible impact.

The challenge is not always the opportunity itself, but how to communicate it.

When companies understand the real business problem they need to solve, identify the right profile, and position the role around what candidates truly value, they can compete successfully for top talent – even against well-known software companies.