Austability

Two Senior Hires, Shortlists Cut From 16 to 3, and Over $40,000 Saved on Agency Fees.

Industry: Defence and national security, basecamp and life support services

Size: 7 full-time staff in Australian office

Location: Parramatta, NSW

Website: austability.com

Positions filled: Finance Manager, Director of Operations

Austability is a defence and national security contractor and one of 18 Austability companies worldwide, part of a group headquartered in Fulham, London. The business provides basecamp operational support to Five Eyes nations and their allies deployed overseas, covering everything outside combat: power, water, sewage, accommodation, laundry, gyms and more. Austability takes on the toughest jobs in the industry, stepping into contracts that are behind schedule or over budget and getting them back on track.

Ben Khandan, Governor General at Austability has been involved since December 2023, when he was tasked with setting up Austability’s first Australian office. To build his team, he turned to Recruit Shop.

“My time is worth something. That worth is money. Whichever way you cut it, it’s value for money.”

The Challenge

Standing up a new Australian office meant filling senior roles fast, with no revenue yet coming in and no room for a costly misstep.

Building a local footprint from scratch: with Austability’s work based overseas, there had never been a need for an Australian office. Shifts in how the Australian Defence Force positions itself changed that, and Ben needed a director of operations and a finance manager in place quickly.
A rare combination of skills: candidates needed strong business acumen plus a military background, or the ability to pick up defence language, systems and processes quickly. They also had to handle multiple time zones, overseas contracts and complex legal terms.
The cost and risk of traditional agencies: agency fees of 10 to 25% of salary weren’t possible for a business with no revenue coming in yet. The risk of a hire not working out was also large, and there was no guarantee if it did.
Job boards full of the wrong applicants: from past experience, Ben knew platforms like Seek attracted high volumes of irrelevant applications, including people without the citizenship or residency the roles required.
Limited time to manage it all: Ben didn’t want to spend his time interviewing 16 people to find the right one.

The Solution

Recruit Shop was engaged to fill the two senior roles for Austability’s new Australian office, a director of operations and a finance manager. Setup was quick and low effort: Austability sent through its existing job descriptions, and Recruit Shop’s consultants helped set salary ranges, defined the must-have criteria and turned it all into an advert.

As the brief was refined, Recruit Shop took on every adjustment without pushback, and each round brought stronger candidates and a shorter list. Austability decided what the filter looked like and Recruit Shop applied it, cutting out unsuitable applicants before they reached Austability.

Austability added the Employee Guarantee, so if a hire didn’t work out, the campaign would run again at no additional cost. Together with the $1,000 Money-Back Promise and a flat fee well below traditional agency costs, the value for money was undeniable. Pre-employment police and reference checks were also added, which made onboarding seamless.

The Results

2 senior roles filled within a very short time: a finance manager and a director of operations.
1 hire promoted to CFO, with Austability’s finance manager stepping up into the top finance role.
Interview lists cut from 16 candidates to 2 or 3, Austability only met with suitable candidates
All roles filled for a flat fee of $2,995+GST per role, compared to traditional agency fees of 10 to 25% of salary.
An estimated saving of over $42,000, based on an average agency fee of 15% across two senior roles.

“I think I got every dollar of value out of that fee. James (Recruitment Consultant, Recruit Shop) didn’t shy away from all the adjustments I kept making, and I could see the resumes getting better and the list getting shorter. My time is worth something, and that worth is money. Whichever way you cut it, it’s value for money to have someone capable and competent do the thing you need done, for a reasonable fee. It was no pressure, just genuine collaboration. I’ve been telling everyone ever since.”

Ben Khandan, Governor General, Austability Pty Ltd

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   Dave Russell 
 
 
 
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 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We worked with James from Recruit Shop who helped find very suitable candidates for our role. The process was great and we will use these services again when hiring for similar roles.
  
 
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   Melissa Carroll 
 
 
 
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 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Very easy process, saving lots of time and stress. Tom was very friendly, efficient and easy to work with. We quickly found a great candidate.
  
 
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   Marne Puls 
 
 
 
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   James Catchpole 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Very polite and service driven. Communicated excellently and kept me well informed of all things happening. Even when they swapped people I got the same attention and quiality.
  
 
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 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dealing with James from the Recruitshop was a great experiance James went above and over what someone would expect to fill the role of a spare parts interpreter, James kept in touch with updates and progress, his dedication to fill the role was excellent.
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