Client is a successful fire truck manufacturer and major employer in Carleton Place and the surrounding area.

The new President and General Manager must establish efficiencies in the manufacturing area quickly. In particular, the successful candidate must address the inherent problems in process design and production engineering. The ideal candidate must lead by example and have a strong functional skill set in the fundamentals of manufacturing including project management, manufacturing process, outsourcing, and supply chain management.

Scope of Position

The President/GM will be responsible for leveraging the company’s current market position and significantly driving and accelerating the revenue and profit of the organization. He/she will evaluate the existing business plan and work with the company’s management team to develop and implement the market and operational strategies to achieve the company’s financial objectives. This includes the leadership of the management team that is responsible for all operational, administrative, and financial functions including sales, marketing, production, human resources, and finance.

The ideal candidate is highly intelligent, excels tactically, and is also a strategically minded executive with superb communication and interpersonal skills; a willingness to roll up his/her sleeves and work with determination and energy to put the company on a path of sustainable growth and profitability. The individual will have a track record of success and a solid reputation for significantly scaling and managing an organization to the next level. Furthermore, he/she is of high character and exemplifies the company’s principles and values in the community.

Functional Tasks

Demonstrated ability to:

• Lead tactical execution of operations;
• Develop and execute a strategy that meaningfully differentiates the business and achieves success;
• Evaluate, develop, direct and execute effective sales plans and tactics consistent with the company’s overall strategic objectives. Lead in the preparation and achievement of the company’s annual sales budget;
• Understand pricing for value and how to differentiate the company within a competitive market;
• Spearhead the commercial agreements and sustainable relationships with potential customers. Orchestrate the process of effectively positioning the company with partners to leverage continued business;
• Lead manufacturing operations as well as sales and marketing;
• Prepare timely reports with analysis of key performance metrics. Make recommendations to the private-equity group as required;
• Remain abreast of competitive offerings, pricing and services strategies. Make recommendations to ensure the position of the existing and future operations are optimized;
• Provide ongoing direction, performance management, and developmental support of the team in all functional areas. Focus the management team to drive the business to increased profitability, revenue generation, growth, and sector leadership;
• Articulate a compelling story around the company’s value proposition and competitive advantage, which will be leveraged into a winning position at the customer level;
• Provide up-to-date information on the company’s key performance indicators and maintain a strong relationship with the private-equity group;

Preferred Experience / Education

The following indicates specific industry, academic, and functional experience/qualifications that are important to the successful achievement of the identified responsibilities and performance deliverables:

• University degree preferably in business or engineering, with 20 years of experience, 5 – 10 years in leadership roles in a bottom line oriented business;
• Experience growing a business from $5M to $30M plus;
• Experience in the emergency vehicle-manufacturing market would be an asset but not required;
• Proven operational management, sales, and sales management experience contributing to the success of a similar size business, particularly from the perspective of profitability;
• Ability to lead the business transformation around new systems and process implementation is preferred;
• Proven track record of developing and mentoring existing staff to take the company to the next level. Ability to attract new team members to augment or upgrade existing capability;
• Proven entrepreneurial/smaller company experience, with appropriate financial and business acumen acquired from scaling an organization with similar characteristics;
• An affinity to the ‘people’ side of an organization characterized by a pull rather than push approach to driving change and growth with the support from the private-equity group.