Managing Director – Regional Business — Aftermarket Franchise

The mandate

An institutionally backed aftermarket franchise operates several US regions through separate sales, distribution, service and customer-account structures. No single executive owns the trade-off between local commercial growth and network economics. The board is creating a regional MD role to improve contribution while maintaining installed-fleet support.

The MD will own an approximately US$10,000 million revenue and programme portfolio affecting 2,450 employees and material partners. Scope covers regional P&L, customers, pricing, channel, distribution, service, working capital, investment and leadership. Central teams retain product and enterprise standards. The MD owns the integrated regional result and cannot attribute persistent gaps to functional boundaries.

Profitability will be rebuilt customer by customer and flow by flow. Large accounts may earn attractive parts margin but consume bespoke inventory, credits, emergency freight and service capacity. Distributor volume can conceal returns or delayed payment. The executive will establish contribution views incorporating price, rebates, fulfilment route, warranty, working capital and retention value.

Operating choices must reflect vehicle criticality. A fleet with high downtime cost needs different stocking and service response from a predictable consumer cohort. Regional inventory, forward locations and repair support will be aligned to demand evidence and commercial terms. Cost reduction that merely increases vehicle-off-road time or shifts workload to dealers will be rejected.

Why this seat is open

The position is planned new hiring under the approved regional model, not a replacement. Existing leaders maintain their functional remits during a four-to-six-month selection. Confidentiality permits organisation consultation and comparison of executives from aftermarket, distribution and service businesses.

What you will own

• Carry the full regional P&L across sales, fulfilment, service and working capital.
• Reprice or reshape customer arrangements using total contribution.
• Align distribution and field operations to customer-critical demand.
• Stop low-quality volume and overlapping improvement programmes.
• Set leadership accountability across commercial and operating boundaries.
• Build regional successors and transparent board reporting.

The operating cadence will use a small number of regional value streams. Account, inventory and service leaders will share forecast drivers and decisions. Finance will verify realised benefit against ledger and cash; customer operations will monitor fulfilment and retention. Initiatives without a baseline, accountable mechanism and review date will leave the portfolio.

Commercial governance will protect long-term value. Exceptional pricing and service commitments require named approval and an expiry. Contract renewals will address data, returns, forecast behaviour and emergency response rather than price alone. The MD will visit distribution and customer operations personally to test whether management reports describe physical flow.

Regional workforce choices will be tied to the value streams. Sales incentives will reward collected contribution and durable retention, planners will share availability and cash measures, and site leaders will own fulfilment quality beyond their building. Capacity changes will account for peak seasons, labour availability and disaster recovery before leases or shifts are removed. Customer migrations between facilities will be rehearsed with order, pick, carrier and claims data, and each move will carry a rollback threshold.

Risk reporting will cover credit, fraud, product traceability, cyber access and workplace safety alongside profit. The MD will not permit urgent revenue to bypass customer due diligence or restricted-part controls. Significant exceptions will have expiry dates and independent review. Regional resilience tests will include loss of a distribution node, carrier interruption and sudden demand for a safety campaign, with decision authority agreed before the exercise.

The first 12 months

Within 90 days, the MD will reconcile regional contribution, assess leadership and identify the 20 accounts and flows responsible for most leakage. Immediate controls will protect cash, availability and customer relationships while structural choices are made.

By month eight, revised commercial or fulfilment models should operate for five priority accounts, two distribution flows should use segmented inventory and low-value activities should be stopped. The leadership team will own one regional forecast and scorecard.

At year-end, regional contribution should improve by 200 basis points, operating cash conversion rise by 10 percentage points and critical-order fill exceed 96%. Forecast variance must remain within 5% for three months, premium freight fall 20%, and customer retention in targeted profitable cohorts remain above 95%.

What the board will measure

• Revenue converted into contribution and cash.
• Customer service protected through network changes.
• Account economics visible across functional boundaries.
• Fewer overlapping initiatives and clearer decisions.
• A capable, accountable regional team.

The person

You are a Regional MD, aftermarket president or distribution-and-service CEO with 28+ years in automotive, industrial distribution or installed-base services. You have owned at least US$5,800 million and led 1,725 people. Evidence should include an account reset, a distribution redesign and profit recovery sustained beyond two reporting periods.

This onsite Detroit role requires customer, distribution-centre and board travel. You combine commercial judgement with respect for service continuity and working-capital detail.

Compensation and terms

Base pay is US$600,000–850,000 plus annual incentive and long-term equity. Outcomes include contribution, cash, fill, customer durability, leadership and controls. Final mix reflects scope; notice up to six months can be accommodated.

Confidentiality

The sponsor, region, customers, distribution flows and economics are confidential. Further information follows qualification and an undertaking. Detroit and the rounded perimeter do not identify the business.