BSG From the Boardroom

• Chief Executive Officer
• Reporting to: Board of Directors
• Location: Open

BSG has commenced an executive search for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for our client, a top manufacturer of aerospace and life support products.  The CEO will be responsible for all P&L activities of the company..

Opportunity Overview

Chief Executive Officer

THE COMPANY

Our client, established in the late 1880’s, is a top manufacturer of aerospace and life support products. Our client’s founder patented automated machines that mass produced products for the horse powered transport industry and later began collaborating with the United States government to develop specialized products for the military. To be able to respond the rapid demand for products needed by the military, our client acquired similar type companies. Our client’s engineers are respected experts in their industry and have deep knowledge in product design, analysis, safety, quality control and work with a wide variety of materials.

The Position

Reporting to the company’s Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer will be responsible for the day-to-day management and leadership of the organization and will partner with the leaders and scientists in managing all operational aspects of the company and ensuring the aggressive and successful growth of the business and commercial success.

Specific Responsibilities

The CEO for our client will report to the Board of Directors, and be responsible for all P&L activities of the company. The CEO’s core responsibilities will include:

Strategy & Product Marketing Direction:

Establishing a short and long-term business direction that drives the company to become an industry leader and maximize the penetration of the markets served. The CEO will bear primary responsibility for refining and carrying out the company’s strategy. This will include such activities as monitoring our client’s current markets and its standing within them; assessing current and potential competitive activity; and evaluating opportunities for growth (new but related products, entirely new initiatives which leverage our client’s relationships, intellectual property and intellectual capital, possible acquisitions, etc.).

Marketing:

Ensuring close symbiotic relationship between product development and customer market needs, creating demonstrable competitive differentiation and performance benefits of our client’s products vis-à-vis industry alternatives popular in the market.

Sales & Business Development Leadership:

Setting the approach to commercialization, including direct sales, distributor agreements, and independent representative networks. First and foremost, the CEO will play a hands-on role in building the company by acting as its most-senior business generator and evangelist. He or she must understand both our client’s capabilities and the market’s needs, and combine those understandings to identify and pursue specific new opportunities.

Manufacturing & Operations:

Oversight of manufacturing and production teams responsible for commercializing the technology, establishing build/buy/outsource decisions, etc. Working with the rest of the team, oversight of quality assurance, working with the technical team to ensure that product development meets various domestic and international multi-regional market-driven specifications, ensuring smooth and on-schedule product roll-outs.

Staff—Team Building, Development, Mentorship:

The CEO is responsible for human capital planning and hiring. As important, the position will actively be responsible for developing new and existing staff to help prepare them for company growth and increased leadership responsibilities at all levels. Finally, the new CEO will serve as leader and mentor to the founding team and as a complement to their existing skills. He or she will do this through personal interactions with colleagues, as well as by maintaining management practices which reinforce a positive internal culture and help the company establish a reputation as a rewarding place to build a career. This individual will be expected to set high standards and hold people accountable, and to create an environment in which people work cooperatively and focus on building the long-term value of the enterprise. When management slots open up, the CEO must be able to hire executives who can make significant contributions, not only as individuals, but also by building effective teams in their own areas of the business; he or she will also have to upgrade the organization when necessary by replacing underperformers with strong new recruits.

Investors/Shareholders & Board — Milestone Management, Follow-on Fundraising, and Liquidity Strategy:

The new CEO is primary liaison to the board and will aggressively manage milestone deliverables, be a key leader at board meetings and to board/investor communications. The CEO will be responsible for developing and managing against an annual operating plan and in addition to possible follow-on fundraising, will be accountable for optimizing the liquidity for all shareholders. This includes continuous improvement of operational efficiency and effectiveness by assessing, upgrading or installing new operational systems, processes and methodologies. In addition, the CEO will continually review activity reports and financial statements to determine progress and status in attaining objectives and revise tactics in accordance with current conditions. Combining these, the CEO will execute and achieve annual growth targets, while gaining increased leverage on costs and operating expenses.

Ideal Candidate Profile

A summary of key competencies required to be successful in this role include the following:

• Full P&L responsibility with prior roles as CEO, President or GM
• Business development, go-to market, strategic marketing and sales
• Global market distribution/channel strategy and international market and customer development
• Operating and capital budget creation/ management
• Lender and Bank Covenant Management
• Successful M&A and/or public exit experience
• Product pricing, modeling, and structure creation
• KPI dashboard creation and management
• Structured product management and development
• Field customer training and field service organization creation
• Experience bringing new/novel products into established industries
• Durables + consumables business models
• Establishing new industry sector beachheads in multiple sectors (chasm-crossing)
• Evangelical vision-selling experience to both customers, partners and investors

• Building scalable management processes without suffocating innovation/speed
• Executive team mentoring
• Track record of hiring A players for A team
• Driving creation and buy-in to KPIs, goals, metrics
• Leadership of not just topline growth, but product manufacturability
• Building scalable management processes without suffocating innovation/speed

• Manufacturing of durable goods, machinery or clothing with specific industry experience servicing either:
  
  • Military and other Federal agencies
  • Fire or Police
  • Oil & Gas
  • Search & Rescue

• Growth stage ($50M to $250M)
• Scaling manufacturability, quality, sourcing, etc.
• Builder leader vs. optimizer leader
• Working with investor-driven boards of directors

GENERAL:

Finally, this individual should have as many as possible of the traits required to succeed in this leadership position:

• High levels of intelligence, analytical strength and conceptual ability.
• The ability, and willingness, to set and communicate demanding standards for professional staff and to hold people accountable for their performance; at the same time, sensitivity to, and insight into individuals’ capabilities and development needs, and the combination of firmness and likability that all good leaders possess.
• Decisiveness when necessary, coupled with a willingness to seek input and build consensus as much as possible.
• Unquestioned honesty and integrity; also, loyalty to colleagues and to the organization, and the ability to inspire loyalty. This person should have the ability to identify and focus on the Company’s best interests, rather than the agenda of any individual or group within the firm.
• A very high level of energy and commitment, combined with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
• Excellent writing and speaking skills; this individual must be able to communicate complex ideas and information clearly and concisely.
• Outstanding planning and organization skills.
• Good strategic instincts and long-term vision; the ability to address both big-picture issues and detailed, day-to-day management concerns.
• In general, the business and personal skills, and the absolute commitment required to make a major contribution to The Company during the coming years.
• Attention to detail required to deliver consistently accurate data, information and reporting on time and on budget.
• A sense of ownership, not just of his or her own work, or that of their department, but a sense of ownership for the company as a whole.
• Work ethic required to do what it takes to get the job done, and invest the time required to deliver on key responsibilities in a timely fashion.

COMPENSATION

Compensation is competitive with the position’s requirements. In a performance-based environment, this will include base salary, bonus structure based on corporate qualitative and quantitative strategic KPIs, and a stakeholder position in the company.

To Submit Resume: