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Industries: Manufacturing & Industrial
Leaders who can run the plant and change it.
Reshoring, automation and a retiring generation of operators have made manufacturing leadership the scarcest resource in the sector. The executives who succeed now run safe, lean operations and lead a transformation at the same time. We find them, confirm they fit your culture, and stand behind the placement for two years.
The Market Now
The manufacturing leadership gap is a succession problem.
Manufacturers are investing again: new plants, reshored supply chains, automation and the data layer that connects them. At the same time, the generation that ran those plants is retiring, and the skills to lead a modern operation are rarer than the capital to build one.
The companies that win hire leaders who can hold safety, quality and cost while changing how the plant works, and who can keep a workforce engaged through that change. Our Foresight™ process defines the pivot the leader must execute and the culture they must fit before we source a single name, which is why our industrial placements stay.
How Foresight™ worksSectors We Serve
Across the industrial economy.
Our partners have run, transformed and advised businesses in each of these sectors.
Industrial Equipment & Machinery
Engineered products, compression, pumps, valves and capital equipment.
Chemicals, Plastics & Process
Site leaders, operations and commercial executives for Gulf Coast process industries.
Building Products & Construction Materials
Manufacturing and distribution leaders for residential and commercial building products.
Industrial Services & Distribution
Executives for field services, maintenance, logistics and industrial distribution.
Food & Consumer Manufacturing
Plant and supply-chain leaders for food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers.
Electrical & Automation
Leaders for electrical equipment, controls, automation and industrial technology companies.
Representative Work
Searches and engagements in manufacturing.
A sample of announced work. Many industrial searches are confidential and are not listed.
Powell Industries: Partnership
A multi-year leadership partnership with the Houston electrical equipment manufacturer.
Overhead Door Corporation: VP & General Manager, Sales
Commercial leadership for a building products leader.
Overhead Door Corporation: VP of Marketing
Second engagement for the same client.
Burckhardt Compression: President, Arkos Field Services
Operations leadership for industrial compression services.
Trecora Resources: Site Leader
Plant leadership for a specialty chemicals producer.
Stress Engineering Services: Board of Directors
Inaugural board engagement for an employee-owned engineering firm.
Practice Leadership
Partners who have run industrial businesses.
The industrial practice is led by former operators, not career recruiters.
Dwane Ruiz
Senior Advisor
Forty years in industrial manufacturing and services leadership: operations, engineering, product development and business development.
Gary Skarke
Senior Partner
Business transformation through automation, robotics and the industrial internet of things.
Edie Bartlett
Senior Partner
Member of the industrial and consumer practices, with 20 years in executive roles at consumer products companies.
Michael J. O’Brien
Senior Advisor
Culture and performance advisor whose client work includes a $3 billion production increase at a single manufacturing facility.
“Allen Austin is pound for pound, the best executive search firm on the planet.“
Jim Eggleston · Board Member, Silberline Manufacturing Company
Questions we hear most
Before you call, a few straight answers.
Which manufacturing roles do you search for?
CEOs, presidents, COOs, CFOs and CHROs, plus plant managers, VP operations, supply chain, engineering, quality, EHS and commercial leaders. We also recruit independent directors for industrial boards.
Do you work with private equity-owned manufacturers?
Yes. Sponsor-backed industrial companies are a significant part of the practice, from pre-close management assessment to CEO and COO searches.
Can you help us assess our current plant leadership?
Yes. VantagePoint™ assessments and our Organizational Health Index are often the first engagement for manufacturers deciding whether to promote, develop or replace.
Where do you place manufacturing leaders?
Across Texas and the Gulf Coast, the Midwest and the Southeast, and internationally for companies with U.S. operations. Relocation to a plant community is part of many searches, and we manage it.
From the TPL Insights archive