Experiences | Industrial - Manufacturing

The owner of a $100 million manufacturer of electronics and switches desired a strong General Manager to transition responsibility for the firm’s electronics business.

A family business, under second generation leadership, this client had never searched outside of the company for non-family member to lead half of the revenue stream. Accordingly, the client was unsure of the exact profile of individual who would succeed in the position. This required Lantern Partners to work closely with the owner and Head of HR to clarify the current leadership culture and values, and throw a broad net on the market to identify and present a wide variety of candidates.

The client came to Lantern Partners looking for a consultative approach and deep experience in locating and assessing GM level manufacturing talent. Furthermore, the client was interested in seeing candidates with both operations and new product launch and marketing experience, with offshore sourcing and assembly expertise as well.

As the search began, the client believed the emphasis in the right candidate’s background would be electronics sales and marketing. As the search progressed, however, the client determined, with Lantern Partners’ guidance, that a new direction was necessary. The focus switched to candidates who had an emphasis on manufacturing operations, with a “minor” in getting products to market.

Once the new direction was determined, only a handful of additional candidates were interviewed before the client found one who fit their new profile. The candidate quickly accepted and is currently in the process of transitioning into the GM role.

At Lantern Partners, we see ourselves not as vendors, but as an extension of our clients’ businesses. Our size, flexibility and capacity for personal attention translates into an unwavering commitment to work with our clients toward a successful conclusion to their senior executive needs.