Succession Planning: Appointing a Senior Vice President to Lead a Billion-Dollar Business Unit

The dewatering division represents the client’s largest segment and a central pillar of its growth strategy, with a six percent organic growth target and an active acquisition pipeline spanning Latin America, Africa and Mexico. The client had already completed a thorough internal review and concluded that it did not have a successor of the required calibre within the business. A handful of leaders from smaller units had expressed interest, but none had run an operation of sufficient scale or complexity. The brief was therefore unambiguous: identify an external leader who had already led a business of comparable size, ideally in the region of 800 million to one billion dollars, rather than someone stepping up for the first time.

Two factors made the search particularly demanding. First, the client wanted more than a divisional leader. As part of their Succession Planning strategy, the appointee needed the potential and runway to grow into the C-suite, not simply the experience to hold the role. Many leaders operating at this scale were well established and approaching the later stages of their careers, which narrowed the field considerably. Second, the role called for genuine services expertise within an industrial setting, a profile that is comparatively rare because most companies of this type are weighted towards manufacturing. Pacific also took on the mandate under time pressure and in open competition: the client had signalled it would otherwise turn to one of the largest global search firms, giving Pacific a short window to prove its value. The opportunity followed two earlier successful placements Pacific had delivered for the same division, a regional general manager and a capital sales director, which had built the trust that led the client to hand Pacific its most important search of the year.

Pacific approached the assignment with the disciplined, research-led process that underpins every engagement at this level. The work began with detailed market mapping to isolate organizations that combined the right scale and complexity with a substantial industrial services arm, then extended into direct competitors and diversified manufacturers known for strong service operations. As conversations progressed, Pacific used each discussion to test the true size and structure of candidates’ businesses and, where a leader proved too small in scope, to gather intelligence on the strongest performers among their peers. This iterative, referral-led mapping allowed the team to reach the small population of executives who genuinely met the brief.

Pacific also approached the search with a clear commitment to diversity, presenting a female leader who impressed the client sufficiently to progress through several interviews before being identified as a stronger fit for a different part of the business. The pace of delivery was exceptional. Retained in late April, Pacific presented a candidate the client found compelling within the opening weeks of the search, and an accepted offer followed by mid-June. When the client met the leading candidate, they set aside an absolute requirement to relocate, and the exhaustive brief effectively closed, with the client asking to see no further candidates. The appointment was confirmed through a structured, multi-stage interview process involving the divisional HR leader, the president of the wider water solutions segment and members of the executive team, including the Chief Executive.

The search culminated in the appointment of an exceptionally well-matched executive from a diversified industrial company that both manufactures and services equipment. The candidate brought proven leadership of a services business at scale, first-hand experience running an 80/20 portfolio review to focus on the most profitable product lines, and a place on his previous employer’s CEO succession plan. The prospect of real growth, together with a personal commitment from the Chief Executive and the CHRO to mentor and develop him, made the move compelling. The client moved decisively to secure the placement, building a package that fully matched his expectations.

The new leader joined at the start of August and has settled quickly, spending his early weeks with teams on the ground before moving into the rhythm of the role at the corporate headquarters. Client feedback has been very positive, with the engagement described as having exceeded expectations. For Pacific, the appointment marks the most senior placement delivered for this client to date. It reflects a partnership that has grown from the manufacturing side of the business into its most strategic leadership decisions, and that relationship continues, with further work already under way.