Chief Product Officer — Export Manufacturing Platform

The mandate

The investment committee has withheld further expansion pending clarity on a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability within a institutionally backed multi-site industrial manufacturing group. The immediate arena is the export manufacturing platform during a footprint consolidation. For mandate 497, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Product Officer operating perimeter covers approximately €11,050 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, with activity spanning several export manufacturing platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Product Officer Manufacturing remit carries direct influence over roughly 2,050 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Product Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the export manufacturing platform. The Chief Product Officer Manufacturing seat must resolve a footprint consolidation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the export manufacturing platform. For mandate 497, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Product Officer’s first year on the export manufacturing platform is expected to end with portfolio coherence, product economics and customer adoption. In mandate 497, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the Chief Product Officer — Export Manufacturing Platform seat. The incumbent continues to lead the export manufacturing platform through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a footprint consolidation is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Product 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 €11,050 million in manufacturing and commercial portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Product Officer Manufacturing organisation of about 2,050 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 footprint consolidation, with Chief Product Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Product Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the export manufacturing platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have owned portfolio economics, roadmap choices and adoption across a multi-product customer base in mandate 497.
• Build the Chief Product 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 a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Product 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 portfolio coherence, product economics and customer adoption, 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 Chief Product 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 Chief Product 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 Chief Product 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 Chief Product Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Product Officer-owned improvement in the export manufacturing platform operating constraint behind a footprint consolidation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 497: 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 Chief Product Officer, SVP Product or Product Business GM in a institutionally backed Manufacturing or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the export manufacturing platform, your Chief Product 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 Chief Product Officer brief.

As a Chief Product 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 €6,400 million and led an organisation of at least 1,425 people.

For mandate 497, the board wants two transitions: a difficult export manufacturing platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a footprint consolidation. As the prospective Chief Product Officer for this export manufacturing platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 497 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Product 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 Chief Product Officer, SVP Product or Product Business GM, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Manufacturing governance forum.
• Proven Chief Product Officer ownership of at least €6,400 million and leadership of no fewer than 1,425 employees in a comparable export manufacturing platform context.
• One completed Manufacturing or adjacent-sector example of a broad portfolio lacking clear product accountability 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 Chief Product 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 497.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Product 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 497 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Product 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 497.

Confidentiality

Client identity is withheld at this stage and will be disclosed under mutual confidentiality after an initial fit discussion for mandate 497. Rounded ranges and blended context prevent this document from being used to triangulate the organisation for mandate 497.