Building the Future with People at the Center

When Timma began looking for a temporary replacement for its Marketing Director on parental leave, the company didn’t want a clone. It wanted someone who would bring new expertise, grow into leadership, and continue shaping the company’s growth story even after the original leader’s return.

Timma, a fast-growing booking service for beauty, wellness, and hair professionals, lives by one of its core values: Build the Future. Staying true to that spirit, the company decided to turn a maternity leave cover into a permanent growth role.

“When our Marketing Director returns, we’ll be a different company than we are today,” says Maija Volotinen, responsible for HR and company culture at Timma. “We’re expanding our skills with that future in mind.”

Together with our team, Timma set out to find a Content Marketing Lead: a role designed not only to ensure business continuity, but to accelerate what comes next.

Business, Culture, and Recruitment Start from Values

Today, Timma’s booking platform serves over 17,000 professionals and 230,000 consumers across Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The company employs nearly sixty people, guided by a simple principle: put people first, inside and out.

“Whatever helps people, helps the company move forward,” Volotinen explains.

In the first meeting, we took a deep dive into Timma’s business goals, skills needs, and company culture.

“We weren’t just looking for competence. We wanted a culture fit,” Volotinen says. “I really appreciated how deeply the recruitment consultant got to know us as a company.”

Timma’s team had already done thorough groundwork defining the skill profile, and after the first discussion, the role began to take its final shape.

Transparent Pay Model That Attracts the Right Talent

Timma wanted to strengthen its growth through content marketing and designed a model that not only filled a short-term need but also created new long-term opportunities.

The Content Marketing Lead position was set as a permanent role. During the leave period, the selected person would get the chance to step into a leadership position for the first time, supported by HR throughout the journey.

Defining the role required clear prioritization.

“Instead of chasing unicorns, it’s important to know what skills are critical, where a solid foundation is enough, and what can be supported or even let go,” the recruitment consultant explains.

Once the role was finalized, attention turned to compensation.

Timma uses an open pay model, where roles and responsibilities are scored, and the total defines the salary.

Encouraged by our team, Timma decided to publish the salary range in the job ad, a move that paid off.

“It helped us attract the right kind of applicants,” Volotinen says. “No surprises, no mismatched expectations, and it reinforced our brand’s credibility.”

Quality Recruitment Strengthens the Employer Brand

After publishing the ad, we began direct search outreach and quickly saw that Timma’s employer image was strong.

“People were genuinely happy to hear from us, and we received excellent applications even outside direct search,” the recruitment consultant notes.

The carefully crafted candidate materials reflected Timma’s tone and brand identity.

“We got positive feedback on those, too,” Volotinen says. “It was clear that our recruitment consultant wasn’t an external player but part of our team.”

An important part of the process was a tailored, one-hour assignment designed for the role. It offered valuable insights beyond the interview.

“It revealed not only a candidate’s skills but also how well they understood our brand, values, and business, and what truly motivated them,” Volotinen explains.

The talent market is competitive, and the process came with its share of surprises. But thanks to a well-defined starting point and shared determination, the team stayed on course.

In the end, one candidate stood out: a content marketing expert who felt like the perfect match.

“This process really showed that direct search isn’t just about recruitment,” Volotinen reflects. “When done well, it’s also powerful employer branding. Commitment grows, and people start to see who we are as an employer.”