Industry · Manufacturing
Recruitment for industry and manufacturing.
For manufacturing, technically driven and owner-led companies. Small, medium and larger organisations — as long as the role carries a clear mandate and leadership is more than a title on paper.
Functional fields
Six fields — led by the problem, not the title.
Operations & Production
Plant, line, shift — roles where value is created and leadership quality becomes visible.
Procurement & Supply Chain
Supply chains, price pressure, availability — responsibility with a direct link to results.
Engineering & Technical
Design, development, process and manufacturing engineering — often sitting between technology and leadership.
Technical Sales & Commercial
Products that need explaining, industrial customers, complex proposals.
Finance, Controlling & Commercial Leadership
The link between operational reality and business steering.
Managing Director, Plant / Site Leadership, Succession
Entrepreneurial responsibility — for a site, a unit, or the whole business.
Occasions
When industry and manufacturing companies call me.
- Growth — the old structure no longer carries the new responsibility
- Succession in family or leadership, prepared with time and discretion
- Transformation of processes, systems, or the business model
- Building a new site or plant in a new region
- A critical leadership or interface role after an unexpected vacancy
Fit in the Mittelstand
What really matters.
Decision-making paths
Short, direct, often personal — anyone who doesn't like that won't move into a family-owned business.
Proximity to value creation
Leadership happens on the ground — on the shop floor, in the plant, with the customer.
Culture & family character
Values, loyalty and generational perspective often shape collaboration more than the title does.
Location reality
Proximity to home, willingness to travel, willingness to relocate — issues that need clarifying early.
Mandate for change
What needs to change? How much continuity, how much disruption can the business bear?
Understanding of leadership
Views on results and on people need to align — that means numbers as much as culture.
Role radar
Function × company phase × responsibility.
A working logic for framing a role — illustrative working view, no client data.
Function
Company phase
Responsibility
Operations
Growth · scaling
Site or plant responsibility
Engineering
Transformation
Technical leadership / specialist responsibility
Procurement / SCM
Cost pressure · crisis
Division or functional leadership
Finance / Controlling
Maturing · professionalisation
Commercial leadership / close to CFO
Sales / Commercial
New markets
Division leadership / key account
Managing Director
Succession
Sole or shared leadership
Executive Search
For managing director, plant leadership and succession roles, where discretion and a targeted, confidential approach matter most.
Professional Recruitment
For qualified specialist roles in engineering, procurement, controlling or technical sales, filled through a structured, well-targeted process.
Questions
Frequently asked questions from industry and manufacturing.
Let's talk about the role.