Country Managing Director — Speciality-Materials Portfolio

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing a country business needing renewed licence to grow within a privately held multi-site industrial manufacturing group. The immediate arena is the speciality-materials portfolio during a quality-system recovery. For mandate 484, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Country Managing Director operating perimeter covers approximately US$11,750 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, with activity spanning several speciality-materials portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Country Managing Director Manufacturing remit carries direct influence over roughly 2,250 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a Country Managing Director who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the speciality-materials portfolio. The Country Managing Director Manufacturing seat must resolve a quality-system recovery, while preserving the underlying strengths of the speciality-materials portfolio. For mandate 484, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Country Managing Director’s first year on the speciality-materials portfolio is expected to end with local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment. In mandate 484, 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 Country Managing Director — Speciality-Materials Portfolio 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 speciality-materials portfolio remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the Country Managing Director value-creation thesis for the speciality-materials portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately US$11,750 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Country Managing Director Manufacturing organisation of about 2,250 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the speciality-materials portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a quality-system recovery, with Country Managing Director-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Country Managing Director operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the speciality-materials portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability in mandate 484.
• Build the Country Managing Director’s three-year succession and capability plan for the speciality-materials portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Manufacturing organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the speciality-materials portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a country business needing renewed licence to grow, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Country Managing Director portfolio and organisation choices for the speciality-materials portfolio, 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 speciality-materials portfolio trend against local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment, 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 Country Managing Director’s agreed first-year speciality-materials portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Country Managing Director forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the speciality-materials portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Country Managing Director mandate’s highest-priority speciality-materials portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical speciality-materials portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Country Managing Director’s direct reports.
• A quantified Country Managing Director-owned improvement in the speciality-materials portfolio operating constraint behind a quality-system recovery, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 484: 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 Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager in a privately held Manufacturing or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the speciality-materials portfolio, your Country Managing Director 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 Country Managing Director brief.

As a Country Managing Director 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 US$6,800 million and led an organisation of at least 1,575 people.

For mandate 484, the board wants two transitions: a difficult speciality-materials portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a quality-system recovery. As the prospective Country Managing Director for this speciality-materials portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 484 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Country Managing Director must be based in Chicago; 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 Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Manufacturing governance forum.
• Proven Country Managing Director ownership of at least US$6,800 million and leadership of no fewer than 1,575 employees in a comparable speciality-materials portfolio context.
• One completed Manufacturing or adjacent-sector example of a country business needing renewed licence to grow 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 Country Managing Director-level speciality-materials portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Chicago location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 484.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Country Managing Director package is US$600,000–850,000 base + annual incentive and long-term equity, calibrated to the final speciality-materials portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 484 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Country Managing Director appointment in Chicago, centred on the speciality-materials portfolio, offers regular exposure to the board and its investment committee. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 484.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 484. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking, and the composite facts here must not be reverse-engineered or circulated for mandate 484.