How to hire an executive & general management team
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Hiring in executive & general management starts with the work your team cannot leave uncovered.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Manufacturing only
- We reach people who aren't on job boards
- Replacement guarantee on standard searches
Start with responsibility
Hiring in executive & general management starts with the work your team cannot leave uncovered. Related jobs can require different judgment about an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities. Decide which decisions about a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity this hire must own and which stay with a manager or specialist. That distinction keeps an impressive title from becoming the wrong answer to a vacancy involving an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities.
Build the executive & general management brief with the manager who will use the hire's judgment. Agree the operating conditions and approval limits around an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities before interviews. The roles below help separate responsibility for an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities from responsibility for a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity. Use those differences to design your team, not to assume every executive & general management position must be added.
EVP / SVP Operations
In the EVP / SVP Operations opening, establish who owns an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities. A candidate can contribute to an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities without being accountable for the decision. Ask for an operating review that led to a difficult resource decision and identify the part they personally controlled. That helps you choose the independence needed for an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities, instead of using seniority words as a substitute for the remit.
The important boundary for EVP / SVP Operations is authority over commercial commitments versus manufacturing execution. Explain authority over commercial commitments versus manufacturing execution in the interview and in the offer. Someone working in divisional operations executives with accountable plant networks may be familiar with similar work but have different authority. Ask what support they would need for an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities, then check whether that support exists rather than assuming the transfer is automatic.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Division / Business Unit General Manager
In the Division / Business Unit General Manager opening, establish who owns a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity. A candidate can contribute to a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity without being accountable for the decision. Ask for a pricing decision tied back to capacity and contribution and identify the part they personally controlled. That helps you choose the independence needed for a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity, instead of using seniority words as a substitute for the remit.
The important boundary for Division / Business Unit General Manager is a business P&L rather than a production cost center. Explain a business P&L rather than a production cost center in the interview and in the offer. Someone working in business unit leaders who have owned customer and factory decisions may be familiar with similar work but have different authority. Ask what support they would need for a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity, then check whether that support exists rather than assuming the transfer is automatic.
Director of Manufacturing
In the Director of Manufacturing opening, establish who owns production performance and manufacturing standards across assigned plants. A candidate can contribute to production performance and manufacturing standards across assigned plants without being accountable for the decision. Ask for how a process standard survived different equipment and supervisors and identify the part they personally controlled. That helps you choose the independence needed for production performance and manufacturing standards across assigned plants, instead of using seniority words as a substitute for the remit.
The important boundary for Director of Manufacturing is manufacturing execution rather than ownership of every supply chain function. Explain manufacturing execution rather than ownership of every supply chain function in the interview and in the offer. Someone working in manufacturing directors and plant leaders with cross-site process responsibility may be familiar with similar work but have different authority. Ask what support they would need for production performance and manufacturing standards across assigned plants, then check whether that support exists rather than assuming the transfer is automatic.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Integration / Transformation Leader
In the Integration / Transformation Leader opening, establish who owns operating changes after an acquisition or business separation. A candidate can contribute to operating changes after an acquisition or business separation without being accountable for the decision. Ask for a cutover plan that kept production and customer shipments working and identify the part they personally controlled. That helps you choose the independence needed for operating changes after an acquisition or business separation, instead of using seniority words as a substitute for the remit.
The important boundary for Integration / Transformation Leader is temporary change authority and the permanent leaders who inherit it. Explain temporary change authority and the permanent leaders who inherit it in the interview and in the offer. Someone working in plant integration leaders from acquisitions, carve-outs and operating-system changes may be familiar with similar work but have different authority. Ask what support they would need for operating changes after an acquisition or business separation, then check whether that support exists rather than assuming the transfer is automatic.
Senior Director of Operations
In the Senior Director of Operations opening, establish who owns a larger or more difficult operating remit than the site's director role. A candidate can contribute to a larger or more difficult operating remit than the site's director role without being accountable for the decision. Ask for an operating decision made through other plant leaders and identify the part they personally controlled. That helps you choose the independence needed for a larger or more difficult operating remit than the site's director role, instead of using seniority words as a substitute for the remit.
The important boundary for Senior Director of Operations is senior scope proven by authority rather than the word senior. Explain senior scope proven by authority rather than the word senior in the interview and in the offer. Someone working in operations directors already responsible for complex manufacturing portfolios may be familiar with similar work but have different authority. Ask what support they would need for a larger or more difficult operating remit than the site's director role, then check whether that support exists rather than assuming the transfer is automatic.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Choose the handoff and hiring sequence
A move from an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities to a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity is not automatically a seniority ladder. Your organization may need both an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities and a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity, or may divide the work differently. State the handoff for an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities before deciding which vacancy goes first. A candidate should understand who decides when an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities conflicts with a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity. That is a executive & general management team-design question, not something to answer by choosing the more impressive title.
Find the relevant background
The executive & general management search should use a different qualification discussion for each remit. For EVP / SVP Operations, start with an operating review that led to a difficult resource decision. For Division / Business Unit General Manager, start with a pricing decision tied back to capacity and contribution. Then ask whether the person wants responsibility for an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities under your working conditions. Moving from divisional operations executives with accountable plant networks may bring useful experience, but it does not automatically establish a business P&L rather than a production cost center. Investigate the gap around a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity rather than stretching the candidate's title.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Agree the interview before outreach
Before starting the executive & general management search, agree the practical interview your team will use. Choose a decision about an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities and let the person explain the evidence behind it. Check credentials relevant to a business unit's margin, customer commitments and operating capacity, rather than collecting unrelated certificates. Keep confidential plant information out of the an operating division's plant leaders and capital priorities exercise. We approach people doing comparable executive & general management work now and discuss whether the actual remit and working conditions make a move sensible.
Discuss the role you need to fill
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Executive-search discipline, on every assignment
What do you get from the Six-Step Search?
Plant leaders, engineers and skilled technicians receive the same care in defining the work, researching relevant backgrounds and understanding the individual. Pulling a list and sending messages is not the hard part. The value is doing the research and qualification well enough to support a sound hiring decision.
Calibrate the work and the decision
We start with the operating problem, what the hire must improve and the decisions they will own. We agree what experience matters, who supports the role and what you can realistically offer. A maintenance leader inheriting reactive breakdowns needs a different brief from one building a reliability program.
Research relevant plants and people
We research manufacturing environments where people have handled comparable work. Process, equipment and decision authority matter more than a matching title. We look for relevant professionals, including people who are not applying, rather than treating an exported list as a completed search.
Make respectful, targeted contact
We explain why the work may be relevant and invite a conversation without pressure. We agree what information may be shared on a confidential search. Contact is the start of qualification, not evidence that someone wants the job or fits it.
Discuss the work they personally performed
Our conversations separate an individual's decisions and responsibilities from the team's results. We explore judgment under pressure, reasons for considering a move and practical expectations. For technicians, that includes equipment background, shift, commute and the support available. Candidate accounts are identified as such; a conversation is not a technical certification.
Write down fit, gaps and open questions
You receive a written candidate brief connecting the person's background to your operating problem. It explains motivation and practical fit, the gaps we have identified and what remains to assess. We distinguish candidate-reported information from supporting evidence rather than presenting every statement as independently verified.
Stay involved through interviews and offers
We use your interview feedback to clarify gaps and keep both sides informed about the work and expectations. We help address offer questions, counteroffers and practical concerns without promising an acceptance. Your team makes the hiring decision and assesses technical capability and site-specific requirements. A shortlist is an output of this work, not the whole service.
Questions before starting a search
When do you pay a recruiting fee?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The signed recruiting agreement sets the fee basis and payment terms. Sending an opening does not itself commit you to a fee or an exclusive arrangement.
How long does it take to see a short list?
We discuss the search conditions before describing a realistic next step. Shift, location, equipment match and the candidate's reasons for moving all matter. We do not promise a shortlist date before understanding the opening.
How do you handle counteroffers?
We ask what is driving the move before introducing a candidate. We discuss what might change if the current employer offers more money or a different job. Your team still decides whether that person's motivation fits the opening.
What replacement terms apply?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What do you not do?
We do not bill hourly for a standard permanent search, repost a job-board ad as a search, or supply high-volume general labor. Retainers are not the default. Any different arrangement must be agreed in writing.
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