General Manager

Confidential Manufacturing Leadership Search

Snyder Executive Search is conducting a confidential search for a General Manager to lead a sizable manufacturing business within a growing industrial organization. This is a senior-level leadership opportunity for someone who has owned the full business picture: revenue, profitability, operations, commercial performance, customer relationships, leadership development, and execution. The role is ideal for a proven business leader who can balance strategic growth with day-to-day operational discipline. This is not a maintenance assignment. The company needs a driver.

The Opportunity

The General Manager will lead a complex business unit with multiple operating locations, a national customer base, and a cross-functional leadership team spanning operations, sales, engineering, supply chain, finance, and support functions. The mandate is clear: grow the business, improve profitability, strengthen execution, and build a more scalable organization.

This leader will be expected to:

• Own the full financial performance of the business unit
• Build and execute a practical growth strategy
• Improve commercial focus and sales effectiveness
• Strengthen key customer and channel relationships
• Drive margin expansion through better pricing, cost control, and operational execution
• Improve delivery performance, quality, and manufacturing consistency
• Lead across multiple locations with clear expectations and accountability
• Develop a stronger leadership cadence across functional teams
• Support system, process, and reporting improvements as the business continues to scale
• Create a culture focused on safety, performance, accountability, and continuous improvement

Why This Role Is Compelling

This is a chance to step into a high-visibility leadership seat with real authority and real accountability. The business has strong market opportunity, an established platform, and meaningful growth potential. At the same time, there is work to do. The next General Manager must bring structure, urgency, commercial discipline, and operational horsepower. For the right leader, this is the kind of role that can become a career-defining chapter.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Progressive leadership experience in a manufacturing-driven business
• Prior full P&L responsibility
• Multi-site manufacturing leadership experience
• A strong track record of improving revenue, profitability, cost structure, delivery, and customer satisfaction
• Experience leading sales, operations, engineering, supply chain, and other business functions
• Strong commercial instincts and comfort working directly with customers, dealers, distributors, or channel partners
• Experience in complex, engineered, industrial, equipment, vehicle, or similar manufacturing environments
• Strong financial acumen and comfort using data to drive business decisions
• Lean, operational excellence, or continuous improvement experience
• Ability to build alignment across teams without getting buried in corporate noise
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred

Leadership Style Needed

The company needs a hands-on, business-minded leader who can move easily from the boardroom to the plant floor to the customer meeting.

The right person will be:

• Strategic, but practical
• Commercially strong
• Operationally credible
• Financially sharp
• Comfortable making tough calls
• Able to build trust quickly
• Strong at creating accountability
• Energized by growth, change, and complexity

In plain terms, this role needs someone who can run the business, not just manage the org chart.

Confidentiality

This is a highly confidential search. The company name, specific products, business details, and location information will be shared only with qualified candidates at the appropriate stage of the process.