It took several attempts to even get my application submitted. Because the HR function seemed largely performed by part-time contractors and consultants, it was almost dysfunctional in the way my application was lost, handballed, overlooked and finally routed to the appropriate hiring manager. Eventually, after several calls to HR, I secured a preliminary phone interview with a manager from the hiring team. I was then invited to what I was told would be an initial chat with the MD, which was in fact conducted more like a formal interview (which luckily I was prepared for). It was a wide-ranging and interesting conversation, but it was clear that the MD had a concern about my "seniority" (based on previous roles) as I was asked (in various ways) how willing I would be to "get your hands dirty" in the new role. I think he felt that I would simply expect to direct traffic, whereas I was more than prepared to be hands on, as well as take a leadership and influencing role. The successful candidate was also expected to bring deep expertise across the subject matter, the market, sales, commercialisation, technology and project management. While I would have had to familiarise myself with some aspects of the subject matter, I reckoned I had more than enough experience to cover all the other bases and I had performed the same function in another subject area in a previous role. 3 weeks after the interview with the MD, I still had not heard anything. It was only after I again contacted HR that I was informed my application had been unsuccessful.