Regional Chief Financial Officer — Export Manufacturing Platform

The mandate

The next planning cycle has brought into focus regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard within a institutionally backed multi-site industrial manufacturing group. The immediate arena is the export manufacturing platform during a working-capital release. For mandate 473, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately €10,200 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, with activity spanning several export manufacturing platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Manufacturing remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,775 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Regional Chief Financial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the export manufacturing platform. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Manufacturing seat must resolve a working-capital release, while preserving the underlying strengths of the export manufacturing platform. For mandate 473, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer’s first year on the export manufacturing platform is expected to end with cash, forecast confidence and investment governance. In mandate 473, 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer — Export Manufacturing Platform seat, established because a working-capital release now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the export manufacturing platform, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 €10,200 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Regional Chief Financial Officer Manufacturing organisation of about 1,775 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 working-capital release, with Regional Chief Financial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Regional Chief Financial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the export manufacturing platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 473.
• Build the Regional Chief Financial Officer’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 regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 cash, forecast confidence and investment governance, 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer’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 Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Regional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the export manufacturing platform operating constraint behind a working-capital release, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 473: 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 CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President in a institutionally backed Manufacturing or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the export manufacturing platform, your Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer brief.

As a Regional Chief Financial Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Manufacturing or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of €5,900 million and led an organisation of at least 1,250 people.

For mandate 473, the board wants two transitions: a difficult export manufacturing platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a working-capital release. As the prospective Regional Chief Financial Officer for this export manufacturing platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 473 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Manufacturing governance forum.
• Proven Regional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least €5,900 million and leadership of no fewer than 1,250 employees in a comparable export manufacturing platform context.
• One completed Manufacturing or adjacent-sector example of regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer-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 473.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Regional Chief Financial Officer package is €340,000–460,000 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 473 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 473.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 473. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 473.