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Automotive Interior Manufacturer - Country Manager (Retained Search)
With a sensitive Country Manager replacement search, Optia Partners employed a pre-screening and cross referencing step before approaching any potential candidates.
The client was a US based manufacturer of automotive interior products targeting major automotive manufacturers with 7,000 employees and sales of over US$900 million.
The client’s business was not progressing as rapidly as it would have liked in Japan and felt that it was in need of a stronger Country Manager than its existing one. They required a seasoned President who could manage and motivate a sales and marketing force and also leverage contacts within the market to penetrate large accounts on a global scale. As the assignment was a replacement position and the client did not want to cause unrest amongst existing employees, Optia Partners was requested to conduct the search on a retained basis with the utmost confidentiality.
Initial interviews were conducted with the WW VP of Sales who was to be the primary point of contact throughout the search. Because of the sensitivity of the search, Optia undertook two precautionary steps:
- Optia asked the VP to list the companies which the existing Country Manager and senior managers in the Japan office had previously worked.
- Optia produced a list of target companies for the VP to overview.
The Optia Consultant and the VP cross referenced the lists to determine which the sensitive companies were where potential candidates may know the existing Country Manager or Senior Managers in the client’s Japan office. Any potential candidates here would have to be approached very carefully.
Additionally throughout the search and screen process the Optia Consultant was careful not to introduce the clients name until he was satisfied the candidate was properly qualified and genuinely interested in taking on such a role. Care was also taken to qualify that the salary range, starting date and work location were agreeable before proceeding with a presentation.
Within 6 weeks Optia had introduced 4 qualified candidates, who were appropriately instructed on the sensitivity of the search. Initial interviews were conducted with the VP through phone conferences and secondary interviews were conducted face to face with 3 of the candidates. A finalist was flown to the US to meet the management team.
There were no hitches in the final negotiations and the Optia Consultant was quite confident that the candidate would accept. The client was very pleased with the hire as the candidate was a Country Manager at a similar provider of automotive interiors and had well established contacts in the industry which he could leverage. The candidate also had good global account management experience previously which would be a major part of the client’s strategy.
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