Business setting
The company engineers, manufactures and services equipment used to control the movement of fluids and gases in industrial systems. Its commercial promise combines application engineering, metallurgy, machining, assembly, testing, documentation, field service and long-term availability of parts. A product may remain in service for years, yet a selection, material or configuration error can create immediate safety, reliability and liability consequences.
The Board is adding a General Management-oriented Independent Director to sharpen choices across market participation, product platforms, custom engineering, plant execution and the installed-base opportunity. The company must grow without allowing order-book ambition to weaken technical selection, delivery realism, working capital or field accountability.
Purpose of the seat
The Director will help management decide where the enterprise should compete, which capabilities deserve investment and how value should be captured across original equipment, projects, spares, repair and service. The role requires an operator's understanding of constraints and a Board member's willingness to challenge attractive revenue that carries poorly bounded technical, schedule or warranty risk.
Nine General Management levers
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Market and application selection. Segment opportunities by consequence of failure, engineering capability, certification pathway, order customisation, payment quality and service potential. Market attractiveness must include the cost of remaining technically accountable after delivery.
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Platform versus custom engineering. Establish rules for standard products, configurable variants and genuinely engineered-to-order work. Customisation should carry explicit design ownership, lead time, price, testing and lifecycle-support consequences.
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Order-book executability. Distinguish signed orders from work supported by approved specifications, customer decisions, material availability, production capacity, inspection plans and acceptable cash terms. Growth should be measured on executable contribution, not headline value.
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Plant flow and bottleneck management. Examine where value actually waits across engineering release, castings or forgings, machining, special processes, assembly, testing, documentation and customer inspection. Capital should address verified constraints rather than add disconnected nameplate capacity.
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Supplier and material resilience. Oversee critical alloy, component and process sources; technical equivalence; counterfeiting risk; alternate qualification; supplier financial health; and traceability. Procurement urgency cannot bypass metallurgical or configuration controls.
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Quality and test authority. Protect the independence of inspection, pressure or functional testing, non-conformance review and product release. Failed results must remain visible and rework must preserve original identity and evidence.
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Installed-base and aftermarket value. Build reliable asset records, parts compatibility, service capability, outage planning, repair standards and customer response. The company should earn recurring trust rather than depend on information asymmetry or captive spares.
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Project and channel discipline. Clarify responsibility among end user, engineering contractor, distributor, stockist and service partner. Commercial intermediaries must not obscure ultimate application, destination, technical approval, receivable risk or sanctions exposure.
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Leadership and operating cadence. Strengthen succession across engineering, operations, quality, service and business leadership. Incentives should balance collected contribution, delivery, quality, safety and customer performance instead of order intake alone.
Decisions that deserve Board time
The Director will contribute to product-platform investment, new application segments, large engineered orders, long-term sourcing, automation, service acquisitions, channel appointments, export expansion, manufacturing footprint and technology licensing. Each decision should disclose technical accountability, true constraint, qualification, working capital, liability, service burden and downside exit.
A post-investment discipline will be expected. The Board should compare the original thesis with realised throughput, margin, working capital, field quality, service revenue and management attention. Underperforming projects must trigger redesign, containment or cessation rather than automatic follow-on capital.
Operating evidence
The Director will expect a Board pack that connects enquiry quality, executable backlog, engineering release, bottleneck load, supplier exceptions, first-pass yield, non-conformance, testing, on-time delivery, receivables, warranty, field failures, installed-base service, capital benefits and leadership capacity.
Site reviews should trace selected orders from application and quotation through design, material, production, test, dispatch and field outcome. A technical concern must be capable of reaching the Board without commercial filtering.
Candidate sought
Candidates should bring at least 25 years of senior leadership across industrial manufacturing, engineered products, capital goods, projects, aftermarket services or international operations. Former CEOs, business heads, COOs, plant-network leaders, engineering executives and experienced Board members are encouraged to apply.
The candidate should have managed product-market choices, multi-function execution and leadership transitions. Familiarity with safety-relevant equipment, engineered orders, export channels, manufacturing capex or installed-base services will be useful. This is a General Management mandate; deep financial literacy is essential, but the Board is not seeking a narrowly accounting-led profile.
Eligibility and independence
Active inclusion in the IICA Independent Directors Databank is mandatory. The candidate must satisfy the enhanced independence standard adopted by the company. Relationships involving promoter entities, customers, engineering contractors, distributors, material or component suppliers, testing bodies, lenders, auditors or competitors must be declared.
The appointee may not use the position to originate product sales, sourcing, distribution, technology, finance or consulting work for connected parties.
First-year contribution
During the opening 120 days, the Director will review the market and product portfolio, visit manufacturing and service operations, examine difficult and loss-making orders, test the executable backlog, assess leadership depth and identify where custom complexity consumes capacity and cash.
Within one year, the Board expects clearer market choices, stronger order acceptance, better bottleneck decisions, protected quality authority, a credible aftermarket strategy and management incentives aligned with durable industrial value.