Managing Director

Executive Recruit; Greater Manchester; Sur place; GBP 180 000 - 300 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Executive Recruit seeks a Managing Director to lead an internationally established engineering and manufacturing group with markets spanning oil, gas and hydrogen. You will drive strategic vision, profitability and sustainable growth across multiple international operations.

The role requires hands-on leadership, strong financial discipline, and the ability to translate strategy into measurable results while navigating diverse regulatory environments and complex customer needs.

Qualifications

• Accomplished business leader with P&L responsibility in engineering/manufacturing.
• Strong financial discipline and ability to translate data into decisions.
• Experience leading international, multi-entity groups.

Responsabilités

• Define and implement strategies for profitable, sustainable growth.
• Oversee group-wide financial results, budgeting and controls.
• Develop revenue, margins and new market opportunities.
• Lead multiple international businesses with consistent performance.
• Drive productivity, cost efficiency, quality, and delivery performance.
• Translate strategy into clear operating plans and KPIs.
• Governance and effective decision-making across entities.

Connaissances

Strategic leadership

P&L management

Financial analysis

Stakeholder management

Formation

ACCA/ACA/CIMA preferred

Outils

ERP systems

Management Information Systems

Description du poste

Location: Greater Manchester | International remit

The Opportunity

We are seeking an exceptional Managing Director to lead and accelerate the performance of a highly profitable, internationally established engineering and manufacturing group operating across critical industrial markets, including oil, gas and hydrogen. This is a significant executive leadership opportunity for a commercially astute, financially sophisticated and operationally driven individual who can combine strategic vision with hands‑on leadership to deliver sustainable growth, strengthen profitability and maximise business performance across a portfolio of international operations.

The Managing Director will have substantial responsibility for the group's financial performance, operational effectiveness, commercial development and people strategy. The successful candidate will bring the confidence to challenge existing practices, identify new opportunities and translate business strategy into measurable results. With an established international footprint, a skilled global workforce and a strong financial foundation, the business offers considerable scope for further growth under ambitious, decisive leadership.

The Business

Our client is an established international engineering and manufacturing group supplying highly engineered, safety‑critical products to demanding global markets. Operating across multiple international territories, the group combines specialist engineering expertise, technical innovation and a flexible manufacturing model to serve customers for whom quality, reliability and delivery are paramount.

The Role

As Managing Director, you will assume overall leadership responsibility for the group's international operations, and deliver its next phase of development. Your remit will span strategy, financial performance, commercial growth, operational excellence and organisational leadership. You will be expected to maintain a clear focus on profitability while developing the capabilities, systems and leadership teams required to support long‑term growth.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Define and implement business strategies that strengthen market position, improve performance and deliver sustainable, profitable growth.
• Take ownership of group‑wide financial results, profitability, cash generation, budgeting, forecasting, investment decisions and financial controls.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue, improve margins, develop key customer relationships and expand into new markets.
• Lead and align multiple international businesses, ensuring appropriate accountability, performance standards and consistency while respecting local operational requirements.
• Drive improvements in productivity, cost efficiency, quality, delivery performance and resource utilisation across the organisation.
• Translate strategic objectives into clear operating plans, measurable KPIs and robust performance management processes.
• Maintain effective financial and operational controls, manage business risks and ensure appropriate governance across all entities.
• Ensure the organisation's management information, reporting systems and technology support informed decision‑making and effective international coordination.

The Ideal Candidate (Essential)

• We are looking for an accomplished business leader with the commercial judgement, financial depth and operational credibility to lead a complex, internationally operating engineering or manufacturing business.
• You will combine the strategic perspective of a Managing Director with the financial discipline and analytical capability needed to understand what drives profitability, challenge performance and make sound commercial decisions.
• You may currently be a Managing Director, Group Managing Director, General Manager, Divisional Managing Director or senior operational financ executive with full or substantial P&L responsibility.
• Equally, you will have progressed through a finance‑led leadership career, provided you can demonstrate the broader commercial, operational and people leadership capabilities required to run an entire business.
• A strong track record of leading, developing or significantly influencing the performance of an engineering, manufacturing or technically complex industrial business.
• Significant financial acumen, with a detailed understanding of P&L management, cost control, margin improvement, cash flow, budgeting, forecasting and financial performance analysis.
• The ability to translate financial information into effective commercial and operational decisions.
• Experience managing substantial budgets, business units or multiple entities, ideally within an international group.
• A demonstrable record of improving profitability, delivering growth and strengthening operational performance.
• A practical, hands‑on leadership style suited to an entrepreneurial environment with short decision‑making lines and high expectations of personal accountability.
• A strong understanding of management information, business systems and the role of technology in improving visibility, control and performance.

Professional Qualifications & Financial Expertise

A recognised professional finance qualification is preferred, such as ACCA, ACA/FCA, CIMA or equivalent, alongside substantial experience applying financial expertise within a commercial leadership environment. Candidates should be comfortable engaging with detailed financial information while maintaining a broader focus on customers, markets, operations and long‑term value creation.

As a specialist boutique executive search firm, Executive Recruit partners with organisations to secure the calibre of leadership that drives meaningful change. Our bespoke methodology ensures clients access exceptional executives who combine strategic vision with proven execution, ultimately strengthening leadership depth and board performance.