General Manager

LJ Design & Manufacturing; Town of Brookfield (WI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Laacke & Joys in Brookfield, WI is seeking an entrepreneurial General Manager to guide the business through a transition and lead its growth. You will own revenue, margins, and operations while building strategic markets and expanding key accounts.

The role blends hands-on management with strategic growth, requiring leadership across manufacturing, supply chain, and customer development to deliver profitable expansion.

Qualifications

• Track record of growing revenue and expanding accounts.
• Experience creating and executing sales, marketing, business development, or go-to-market strategy.
• Experience owning or significantly influencing a P&L, business unit, or operating results.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, industrial products, or a related B2B environment.
• Strong customer-facing and relationship-building skills.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and fulfillment.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to take ownership of the business.

Responsibilities

• Develop the market strategy, identify target markets and customers, build the pipeline, and personally help generate new business.
• Protect key relationships during the transition while finding opportunities to expand existing accounts.
• Own revenue, margins, expenses, profitability, working capital, and key business metrics.
• Ensure quality, delivery, purchasing, inventory, suppliers, and fulfillment support a healthy and growing business.
• Determine where the business should compete, how it should differentiate, and what investments will create the greatest return.
• Partner directly with the President and Laacke & Joys shared services to execute the business plan.

Skills

Growth strategy

Sales & GTM

P&L ownership

Leadership

Customer relationships

Manufacturing knowledge

Supply chain knowledge

Entrepreneurial mindset

Job description

General Manager – Business Growth & Operations

Brookfield, WI | Full-Time | Onsite

Protect what has been built. Then build what comes next.

Laacke & Joys is acquiring an established niche manufacturing business with loyal customers, trusted vendors, quality products, and approximately $1M in annual revenue.

We are looking for an entrepreneurial General Manager to lead the business through its transition and then drive its next stage of growth.

This role has two distinct phases;

First 6 months

Protect and learn the business.

Your priority will be a seamless ownership transition. You will build relationships with key customers and vendors, ensure orders are fulfilled on time, learn the products and economics of the business, and take ownership of purchasing, inventory, quality, fulfillment, and day-to-day operations.

After 6 months

Build and grow the business.

With the operation stable and customer relationships secure, you will shift your focus toward developing the company's growth strategy. You will identify new markets, customers, applications, and opportunities; expand existing accounts; build a business development pipeline; and develop and execute a plan to increase revenue and profitability.

This is not primarily a plant management role. We are looking for a commercially minded leader who can understand and run the operation while also seeing where the business can go next, and having the drive to make it happen.

What You’ll Own

Growth & Business Development

Develop the market strategy, identify target markets and customers, build the pipeline, and personally help generate new business

Customers

Protect key relationships during the transition while finding opportunities to expand existing accounts

P&L

Own revenue, margins, expenses, profitability, working capital, and key business metrics

Operations

Ensure quality, delivery, purchasing, inventory, suppliers, and fulfillment support a healthy and growing business

Strategy

Determine where the business should compete, how it should differentiate, and what investments will create the greatest return

Leadership

Partner directly with the President and Laacke & Joys shared services to execute the business plan

What You'll Bring

• A demonstrated track record of growing revenue, developing new customers, expanding accounts, or entering new markets.
• Experience creating and executing sales, marketing, business development, or go-to-market strategy.
• Experience owning or significantly influencing a P&L, business unit, or operating results.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, industrial products, engineered products, distribution, or a related B2B environment.
• Strong customer-facing and relationship-building skills.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and fulfillment.
• The ability to balance strategic growth with hands-on execution.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to take ownership of the business.

Why This Opportunity

This is an opportunity to lead a business as if it were your own, without having to start from zero.

The customers, products, relationships, and foundation are already there. Your job is first to protect them, then to determine how much bigger and more successful this business can become.

If you are a leader who can protect today's business, understand the numbers, run the operation, and build tomorrow's growth, we'd like to talk.