E-COMMERcE GENERAL MANAGER
Location Impact: United States
THE CHALLENGE
While our team is renowned well-known for our work in highly regulated manufacturing sectors, this particular venture took us into the realm of a well-established box manufacturer. Owned by a private equity firm, this Midwestern company, known for its traditional manufacturing prowess, set its sights on expanding its operations nationwide. A crucial element of their growth strategy was to venture into the e-commerce sector, aiming to democratize their custom box solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, akin to what they offered major clients like Walmart. The search was on for the company's inaugural E-Commerce General Manager, a role pivotal for transitioning this traditional manufacturer into the digital marketplace. The challenge was multifaceted, requiring a leader adept in marketing strategy, pricing, team building, and reconfiguring production processes to cater to a new segment of customer demand.
THE STRATEGY
Our team spent significant time early in the search with both the PE team and Senior leaders to ensure expectations of this new role were aligned and the ideal candidate profile was consistent. After gathering their input and recognizing where differences existed, we arranged a candidate calibration session with all key stakeholders to discuss a variety of candidate profiles who all met the qualifications technically, but came from a variety of backgrounds and had differing strengths.
After achieving initial alignment, we met weekly with the CEO and CHRO of the business to share market reaction and interested candidate profiles. After a long-list presentation, we helped the CEO and CHRO conduct a round of virtual and in-person interviews to arrive at a three finalists who would be presented to the PE partners.
Our initial phase involved extensive discussions with both the private equity team and senior leaders to align expectations and crystallize the ideal candidate profile. Recognizing variances in their perspectives, we orchestrated a candidate calibration session with all key stakeholders, showcasing a range of candidate profiles, each technically qualified but diverse in background and strengths.
Following this alignment, our weekly engagements with the CEO and CHRO focused on market reactions and candidate profiles. Through a meticulous process involving both virtual and in-person interviews with the Senior Leadership team, we narrowed down to three final candidates for presentation to the private equity partners.
INDIVIDUALS CONTACTED ACROSS THE US
STATES CANDIDATES WERE IDENTIFIED
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES EVALUATED BY THE SEARCH COMMITTEE
OF PRESENTED CANDIDATES RECEIVED A CLIENT INTERVIEW
THE RESULTS
The culmination of our collaborative effort with the client was the placement of an exceptional leader, possessing expertise in consumer e-commerce marketing and product development. This individual, seasoned in creating successful solutions from scratch, was ready to tackle this new, challenging assignment.
What set this leader apart was not just technical prowess, but a strategic, patient, and methodical leadership style. This approach was instrumental in facilitating collaboration with private equity partners focused on product and financial metrics and guiding a team new to e-commerce through a steep learning curve.
Today, the impact of this placement is evident. The leader has successfully established a high-performing, competitive online box solution, so effective that even our firm is a client.
Next Up: Chief Operating Officer