Managing Director – Regional Business — Export Manufacturing Platform

The mandate

A change in the economics of the sector has made urgent several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner within a institutionally backed multi-site industrial manufacturing group. The immediate arena is the export manufacturing platform during a global sourcing redesign. For mandate 485, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Managing Director – Regional Business operating perimeter covers approximately €7,850 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, with activity spanning several export manufacturing platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Managing Director – Regional Business Manufacturing remit carries direct influence over roughly 3,325 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Managing Director – Regional Business who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the export manufacturing platform. The Managing Director – Regional Business Manufacturing seat must resolve a global sourcing redesign, while preserving the underlying strengths of the export manufacturing platform. For mandate 485, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Managing Director – Regional Business’s first year on the export manufacturing platform is expected to end with portfolio profitability, leadership consistency and selective expansion. In mandate 485, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Managing Director – Regional Business — Export Manufacturing Platform seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the export manufacturing platform remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the Managing Director – Regional Business value-creation thesis for the export manufacturing platform, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately €7,850 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Managing Director – Regional Business Manufacturing organisation of about 3,325 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the export manufacturing platform economics and execution constraints created by a global sourcing redesign, with Managing Director – Regional Business-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Managing Director – Regional Business operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the export manufacturing platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability in mandate 485.
• Build the Managing Director – Regional Business’s three-year succession and capability plan for the export manufacturing platform, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Manufacturing organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the export manufacturing platform baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Managing Director – Regional Business portfolio and organisation choices for the export manufacturing platform, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable export manufacturing platform trend against portfolio profitability, leadership consistency and selective expansion, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Managing Director – Regional Business’s agreed first-year export manufacturing platform value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Managing Director – Regional Business forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the export manufacturing platform’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Managing Director – Regional Business mandate’s highest-priority export manufacturing platform risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical export manufacturing platform talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Managing Director – Regional Business’s direct reports.
• A quantified Managing Director – Regional Business-owned improvement in the export manufacturing platform operating constraint behind a global sourcing redesign, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 485: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Regional MD, Area President or multi-country General Manager in a institutionally backed Manufacturing or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the export manufacturing platform, your Managing Director – Regional Business track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from industrial manufacturing, engineering, chemicals, automotive components or process industries will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Managing Director – Regional Business brief.

As a Managing Director – Regional Business candidate, you bring 28+ years of progressive Manufacturing or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 28-plus experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of €4,550 million and led an organisation of at least 2,325 people.

For mandate 485, the board wants two transitions: a difficult export manufacturing platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a global sourcing redesign. As the prospective Managing Director – Regional Business for this export manufacturing platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 485 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Managing Director – Regional Business must be based in Munich; international relocation is supported, but this Manufacturing role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional MD, Area President or multi-country General Manager, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Manufacturing governance forum.
• Proven Managing Director – Regional Business ownership of at least €4,550 million and leadership of no fewer than 2,325 employees in a comparable export manufacturing platform context.
• One completed Manufacturing or adjacent-sector example of several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from industrial manufacturing, engineering, chemicals, automotive components or process industries; experience that is purely functional and lacks Managing Director – Regional Business-level export manufacturing platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Munich location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 485.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Managing Director – Regional Business package is €475,000–650,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final export manufacturing platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 485 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Managing Director – Regional Business appointment in Munich, centred on the export manufacturing platform, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 485.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 485. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 485.