Building a Shared Services Centre From the Ground Up with Project RPO

A global chemicals business was setting up a shared services centre (SSC) in Malaysia and needed to hire more than 120 people within 18 months. Most roles sat in finance, as the aim was to move core accounting activities from Europe into the new hub. Here’s how we helped them with a Project RPO program.

As the SSC grew, so did the scope. What started as a finance‑focused project quickly expanded into procurement and IT, creating new hiring pressures in a competitive market where language skills, niche experience, and international capability were hard to find.

The Solution

We built a dedicated team to support the SSC’s launch and ongoing growth. This included an account manager and on‑site consultants who ran the full recruitment process — from role briefing and sourcing to hiring and onboarding.

To bring the right people in at pace, we used a varied sourcing approach designed to reach candidates across different skill sets. Roles were advertised across all PageGroup channels, supported by graduate fairs, internal referrals, and targeted outreach through digital platforms.

This approach helped widen the talent pool and fill roles that needed specific language capabilities. Over time, the SSC team grew in finance, procurement, and IT, supported by a consistent recruitment model and strong local market insight. 

The Outcome

The recruitment partnership created a stable, scalable pipeline for the SSC and delivered strong results:

• 152 finance professionals, strengthening the SSC’s core operations.
• 110 IT roles filled as the centre’s scope expanded.
• 37 procurement hires, supporting the shift of key sourcing processes.
• Reduced time to hire, with many finance roles filled within a week.

The partnership helped the SSC grow quickly, stay flexible as its remit expanded, and build a strong reputation in the local hiring market.