You headhunt someone from a competitor in EV charging by defining the business outcome you need before you name a target, mapping people whose public record shows they can deliver it, and approaching them with a role that genuinely improves on what they have now. Keep the conversation on their experience and the new remit, set confidentiality boundaries from the first message, and get any non-compete or non-solicitation terms checked before you agree a start date.
We build operations, sales, engineering and executive teams for EV charging companies, and a good share of that work is exactly this: going direct to someone who is doing the job well somewhere else and giving them a reason to do it for us instead. Here's how we run that process.
What are you actually trying to hire?
A job title at a competitor is a starting point, not a brief. Someone who has worked for a charge point operator, an EVSE hardware manufacturer, an installation business or a charging software platform can have genuinely different experience, even if their LinkedIn headline looks the same.
Before you think about who, write down what the hire needs to own:
• The outcome they're responsible for
• Their first priorities and what resources they'll have to work with
• Who they report to and what they can decide without sign-off
• The technical, operational or commercial background the role actually requires
• Location, travel, compensation range and your timetable
EV charging splits into distinct capability areas, and the split matters more here than in most sectors. A network operations hire needs deployment and utility interconnection experience. A platform hire needs OCPP or OCPI exposure, cloud and payment systems background. A hardware hire needs power electronics and embedded software depth. Decide which of these you're solving for before you decide which competitors are relevant.
Where do you look for the right person?
Once the segment is clear, map the employers who operate in it, then look for the people whose public record shows the capability you need. LinkedIn profiles, conference talks, company announcements and technical publications all tell you something real about what someone has actually done, as does a mutual contact who's worked alongside them.
For each person worth a second look, we keep three things on record:
• The public evidence that points to them being able to solve your problem
• What about the role would plausibly make a move worth their while
• What's still unproven and needs testing in conversation
This is the piece of the process we spend the most time on before a brief is ever signed off: mapping the live candidate landscape across charge point operators, EVSE OEMs and installers so the shortlist is built on evidence, not a guess about one person. Keep more than one name live. A shortlist of one turns into building a role around an assumption.
Does adjacent experience count?
Sometimes, and it's worth being precise about when. If you're hiring for a charging software role, OCPP or OCPI experience is material: it tells you the person has worked inside the actual interoperability standards the role depends on. If you're hiring for site deployment, that protocol experience tells you almost nothing; permitting, utility coordination and project delivery are what matters there.
Adjacent experience, such as someone who's worked in smart-grid integration or general embedded systems rather than EV-specific hardware, can widen a search usefully. Treat it as a reason to have the conversation and confirm specialist capability in the technical screen, rather than a substitute for that screen.
What makes a good candidate actually move?
A credible move needs more than a new employer name on their title. It needs a real improvement in the work: ownership of something defined, more decision-making authority, better resources, a clearer path forward, or compensation that reflects the value of what they'd be bringing.
Be exact about what's confirmed, including funding status, equity, team size and delivery resources. A strong candidate from a competitor is evaluating your offer against a job they already have, and they will notice the difference between a concrete remit and a hopeful one.
How do you make the first approach?
Short, honest, and tied to something real you've seen them do. A warm introduction helps where one exists. Otherwise, a private message that names the role, the outcome it owns, and the specific public reason you're reaching out works better than a generic pitch.
A first message should give someone:
• An accurate line on who you are or who you're searching on behalf of
• One genuine, specific reason you're contacting them
• The role and the outcome it owns
• Enough on location, work pattern or travel to judge if it's worth a conversation
• A request for a brief, confidential chat, not a decision
There's no need for the first message to ask about anything happening at their current employer. The invitation is about the opportunity in front of them, not information behind them.
What should the first conversation cover?
Find out what would need to be true for a move to make sense to them, then test whether your role can actually offer it. Questions worth asking: what would a next role need to give you that this one doesn't? Which responsibilities do you want more ownership of? What would need to be in place for you to deliver what we're describing? What would make this opportunity a bad bet for you?
Where you need to assess judgment, use a hypothetical built from your own company's situation. The question to put to them is about how they'd think through your problem, not what they know about a rival's pricing, customers, product plans, code, designs or operating methods.
How do you keep the hire clean?
Hiring from a competitor is a normal part of how this industry grows. The legal position on what a candidate can and can't do, given any non-compete, non-solicitation or confidentiality agreement they've signed, depends on the jurisdiction and the specific terms. Get that reviewed by employment counsel before you commit to a start date or finalize the role's scope, rather than assuming a restriction will or won't hold up.
Set the expectation plainly with the candidate: no confidential documents, customer lists, pricing information, source code, product designs or other proprietary material from their current or former employer. Build the onboarding plan around what they bring legitimately, keep any manager contact or reference check to what the candidate has approved, and redirect any conversation that drifts toward their current employer's confidential territory.
What about background checks?
If you use a third-party background-reporting company as part of a US hiring decision, that's a separate compliance track from the headhunting process itself. The FTC requires employers to follow federal anti-discrimination laws when using background information, and Fair Credit Reporting Act procedures apply whenever a background-reporting company is involved. State and local rules can add further requirements. Treat this as standard hiring compliance, not as a way of looking into a competitor's business.
The process, in order
• Write the role around a business outcome and define the charging-segment experience it needs
• Map competitor and adjacent employers by segment, not by job title alone
• Build a shortlist from public evidence
• Set a real proposition: remit, resources, location, reward
• Approach candidates privately and specifically
• Test motivation and judgment in a confidential conversation, using your own scenarios
• Check applicable restrictions before offer and start date
• Onboard around what the person actually brings, not around their old employer
We run this process end to end for EV charging companies that need a capability someone else already has. If you've got a specific role in mind and want help mapping who's out there, that's the conversation to start.
FAQ
Is hiring someone away from a competitor legal? Yes, it's a normal and recognized part of how hiring works in EV charging. What can complicate it is any non-compete, non-solicitation or confidentiality agreement the candidate has already signed, and whether that agreement is enforceable depends on the jurisdiction and its specific terms. Get those reviewed by employment counsel before you agree a start date or finalize the role's scope.
What should you avoid asking a candidate from a competitor during interviews? Avoid asking for a competitor's pricing, customer lists, product plans, code, designs or operating methods, even if the candidate is willing to share them. If you need to assess judgment, build a hypothetical from your own company's situation instead and ask how they'd think it through. Anything that drifts toward their current employer's confidential territory should be redirected.
Does OCPP or OCPI experience matter when hiring for EV charging roles? It depends on the role. For a charging software or platform hire, OCPP or OCPI experience is material because it shows the person has worked inside the interoperability standards the role depends on. For a site deployment or network operations hire, that protocol experience tells you very little; permitting, utility coordination and project delivery matter far more there.
How do you approach a passive candidate who isn't looking for a new job? Send a short, specific message that names the role, the outcome it owns, and one genuine public reason you're reaching out to them, then ask for a brief confidential conversation rather than a decision. A warm introduction helps where one exists, but a well-targeted direct message works on its own. There's no need to reference anything about their current employer in that first message.
What makes a competitor hire actually worth it for the candidate? A real improvement in the work itself: ownership of something defined, more decision-making authority, better resources, a clearer path forward, or compensation that reflects what they'd be bringing. Be exact about what's confirmed, including funding status, equity and team size, since a candidate already employed elsewhere will notice the gap between a concrete offer and a hopeful one.
Do background checks work differently when hiring from a competitor? No, background checks are a separate compliance step from the headhunting process itself. If you use a third-party background-reporting company as part of a US hiring decision, the FTC requires employers to follow federal anti-discrimination laws and Fair Credit Reporting Act procedures, and state or local rules can add further requirements. This applies to any hire, not specifically to one sourced from a rival.
Who does AYM Recruitment place?
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Commercial, product, infrastructure and leadership people across EV charging and grid infrastructure, in every state.