Our client is a privately owned business that is seeking to recruit an MD to drive all aspects of the business during a significant evolutionary phase. The business is well established with a very strong focus on creating a positive impact on its community and its people. It operates within a particular niche within the food industry which narrows the relevance of many general manager candidates.
- Salary: Strong base salary and supporting package.
- Location: North
The Role
The Managing Director will have responsibility for leading the leadership team and business. In conjunction with the Board, the individual will contribute to the shaping and ultimate enactment of strategic business plan. Fundamentally, this commercial success must be delivered within a culture that is, and remains, open, of high integrity, and ethically and morally sustainable. Key headlines include:
- Agreeing the vision and enacting the business plan to achieve long term, sustainable profitable growth for the business.
- Leading the management team to deliver commercial & operational targets, profit contribution and market share.
- Creating a resilient and high performing collegiate leadership team with a clear and focused values agenda. Ensuring the senior management team
- continue to be developed and coached to become even more effective leaders.
- Ensuring that the business culture, with people at its cornerstone, remains safely embedded within its DNA even as the organisation further develops.
- Driving a wide breadth and depth of profitable distribution.
- Continue the international expansion of the business, working closely with their key overseas partners.
- Working with the Board to ensure the business is capable of delivering the very highest quality standards, continues to innovate way ahead of its competitors and is seen as the clear aspirational choice of customers.
- Being a highly visible Managing Director for the business, both for the workforce but equally across the wider stakeholder population, such as the shareholders and investors and other third-parties.
- Encourage the use of consumer insight to deliver an innovation pipeline capable of ensuring successful Category and channel development.
- Ensuring that the business, and all of its products, exceeds its customers’ credibility and trust expectations.
The Person:
We are seeking an individual with substantial leadership capability, someone who is already an established leader. This person would ideally offer direct experience of a successful period in a family-centric business. It is essential that they have the capability and experience to operate as a key player at Board level, bringing challenge, rigour and pace to the senior team.
- Substantial general management experience; an expert in leading and inspiring sizeable teams, preferably within a fast-paced, ethically oriented, food environment.
- A commercially astute, highly strategic leader with a detailed and intimate focus on the customer and consumer.
- Strong financially, with excellent budgetary, forecasting, cash-flow management, and future planning skills.
- Experience of managing growth and investment programmes, supported by a solid project management mind set.
- Sharp intellect and well-developed analytical and critical reasoning skills. Natural self-confidence and awareness, combined with extremely high levels of emotional intelligence.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. A willingness to roll-up-the-sleeves, when appropriate, and lead from the front.
- They will need to be able to flex their approach, shifting from providing a hands-on approach at times through to developing strategic plans in the boardroom. Individuals are almost certainly going to be currently working in a well-respected food or drink business.
- The right character for this role will be able to quickly win the respect of the wider team and broader stakeholder group with their energy, knowledge and ambition.
- It is possible that an individual may be stepping up in to the role from a Commercial Director position.
If you have the skills and experience and are looking for a new challenge, we would be delighted to discuss this opportunity further.