CXM Platforms
CRM, Marketing Cloud, and customer data platforms: the systems of record for how a business understands and engages its customers.
Specialist search · UK & Europe · CXM · MarTech · Revenue Technology
Finding the people who actually know how to make your technology work.
We work with consulting partners, ISVs, digital agencies, SIs and enterprise businesses across the UK and Europe. Whether you are filling one specialist role or building a team across multiple markets, every search starts in the same place: understanding exactly what you need and why it has been difficult to find.
Salesforce Ecosystem·
Agentforce·
Data Cloud·
Snowflake·
Databricks·
Adobe Experience Cloud·
Microsoft Dynamics 365·
HubSpot·
Oracle CX·
Sitecore·
Bloomreach·
Braze·
Salesforce Marketing Cloud·
commercetools·
Shopify Plus·
AWS·
Google Cloud·
ISVs·
SIs·
Public Sector
The category
Customer Experience hiring is a business problem, not just a vendor skillset.
A Salesforce, Adobe or Oracle specialist may know the platform. The harder hire is someone who understands how customer experience, marketing technology, data, commerce and revenue operations connect. That understanding is what determines whether a hire works out, not just at the point of placement, but twelve months later. That includes the technical and AI-enabled roles that build and run these platforms, not only the commercial roles that sell them.
Marketing & Commerce Technology
Personalisation, journey orchestration, content and commerce platforms: the layer that turns customer data into experience.
Platform Engineering & AI
Architects, developers, data engineers and AI/ML specialists who build, integrate and automate these platforms.
RevTech & Go-to-Market
The commercial layer: sales, pre-sales, partnerships and the people who sell and deliver these platforms.
Who we work with
Who we work with
Whatever the hiring situation, this is where we work.
Consulting partners and SIs
You have the work. Now you need the people to deliver it. We work with Salesforce and Adobe partners, Microsoft specialists, system integrators and digital agencies on single specialist hires and multi-role team builds. We know what credibility looks like in a client environment and we hire for it.
ISVs and technology vendors
Building a product on Salesforce, Microsoft or another CRM platform creates a specific hiring profile that most agencies misread. Alliance managers, ISV-experienced architects, AppExchange-specialist sales leaders. We understand what these roles actually require.
Digital and marketing technology consultancies
Adobe, Sitecore, Bloomreach, HubSpot, Braze, Salesforce Marketing Cloud. These platforms need people with real client delivery experience, not people who are certified and available. We recruit across the full MarTech stack at every level.
Enterprise and mid-market businesses
Hiring a Head of CRM, deploying Agentforce for the first time, or building an internal team to bring platform delivery in-house. Whatever the situation, the people worth hiring for these roles are not on job boards. We find them through direct research.
Building internal capability
Bringing CRM and MarTech delivery in-house is a team build, not a single hire. The shape depends on what the platform needs to do. We have supported this transition across retail, financial services, hospitality, professional services and the public sector, from individual contributor through to leadership.
Cross-border and expansion
A first office in Germany. A UK commercial lead for a US firm entering this market. A team build for a council replacing an outsourced delivery model. These are not standard searches. We understand what makes them different and we hire accordingly.
How we work
Search, not sourcing. There is a real difference.
The people worth hiring for most specialist roles are employed and not looking. Finding them takes direct research, a specific approach and a conversation that is worth having. That is where every search starts.
01
Brief & market map
We build a picture of the realistic candidate market for your specific role before approaching anyone. You see the map, not just the shortlist.
02
Direct outreach
We approach candidates directly with a researched, specific conversation. That is why we reach people who are not responding to job postings.
03
Honest shortlist
Three to four candidates, each assessed against the brief with a written summary that includes where we have reservations. Not padded to look thorough.
04
Involved beyond the offer
Structured check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days after every placement. Standard on every search, not an optional extra.
Example searches
Example searches
The kind of searches we support
A representative view of the specialist searches we take on. Client names are kept confidential.
RP-014
Head of CRM Practice, Consulting Partner, London
Practice Leadership
RP-015
Alliances Director, Marketplace ISV, Remote (UK)
Alliances & Partnerships
RP-016
VP Customer Success, Commerce Platform, Netherlands/UK
Customer Success
RP-017
Solution Architect (Multi-Cloud), CRM Platform Partner, Manchester
Platform Specialist
Why this matters
Why the right search partner matters
For a senior CXM, MarTech or RevTech hire, the difference between a search firm and a CV mill shows up directly in the outcome: who you actually get to see, and whether the hire lasts.
Scarcity is concentrated at the senior end
The general talent pool has grown, but demand for senior architects, Data Cloud and AI-adjacent specialists continues to outstrip supply. Recent labour-market research continues to show that UK employers face persistent difficulty finding skilled talent at this level.
The best candidates are rarely active
Senior platform specialists and practice leaders are usually not browsing job boards. Reaching them takes direct, researched outreach, not a posted vacancy.
The wrong hire costs far more than the salary
Industry estimates regularly put the cost of a poor senior hire well above the salary cost alone, once wasted training, lost productivity and the cost of re-hiring are accounted for. For a GTM or delivery leadership role, the cost of delay is on top of that.
Every search started the right way
Whether it is one role or a team build, we start with a market map. Who exists, where they are, what would move them. That groundwork is what makes the difference between a shortlist that works and one that does not.
Direct outreach, not a database
The people worth hiring for most specialist roles are not applying. We approach them directly, with a specific and researched conversation. That is the only way to reach someone who is not looking.
Involved until it is working
We stay in the process through offer, onboarding and the first months in role. If something is not landing as expected, we would rather know early.
Free download
The UK & Europe Hiring Guide for CXM and RevTech Teams
Salary benchmarks, time-to-fill realities and market dynamics across the UK, Europe and the markets businesses are expanding into. Written for hiring leaders and CxOs.
Before you get in touch
A few common questions
What does Rivendale Partners do?
We help companies identify, engage and introduce high-quality leadership,
commercial, sales, technology and specialist talent. We support clients
with targeted search, candidate introductions and recruitment advisory
services, with a focus on quality, relevance and long-term fit, not volume.
Who do you work with?
We work with growth-focused businesses, scale-ups, mid-market companies
and established organisations hiring senior, strategic or hard-to-find
talent across the CX, MarTech and Revenue Technology ecosystem. We also
speak with experienced professionals exploring their next leadership,
commercial or specialist move.
How are you different from a traditional recruitment agency?
We take a more targeted, consultative approach. Rather than forwarding
CVs, we focus on understanding the role, the business context, the
candidate market and what a successful hire actually looks like. Our aim
is fewer, better-matched candidates, presented discreetly, rather than a
high volume of loosely relevant ones.
What kind of searches do you run, retained, contingent, or RPO?
All three, depending on the role. Retained search suits senior, confidential
or hard-to-replace hires where we work exclusively and stay engaged through
offer and onboarding. Contingent search suits roles that are well-defined and
need broader candidate reach. For clients hiring at volume across a function
or a region, we can also work on an RPO basis, embedded alongside your team.
We'll recommend the right model for the role when we scope the search, fees
and terms in writing, before anything starts.
Do candidates pay anything?
No. Candidates never pay Rivendale Partners for being considered for an
opportunity. Our role is to understand your experience, ambitions and
preferences, and introduce you to relevant opportunities where there's a
genuine potential fit.
How do we start working with Rivendale Partners?
Get in touch through the contact page with the role or hiring challenge
you're working on. Before any search begins, we agree scope, process,
fees and terms of business in writing, so both sides are clear on what
to expect.
Get in touch
If this is the kind of search you need, let's talk.
We'll come back with next steps and a realistic timeline, and if it's not the right time, we'll keep you in mind for the future.