by Caitlin Cassidy, Vice President

The CEO knew every player in the market, so why did their VP search still fall short?

Last quarter, a mid-sized PE-backed manufacturing company came to us with a clear mission: they needed a VP of Operations who could help scale operations and position the business for a sale in the next 3–4 years. 

This was a highly niche industry. The CEO knew every player in the market, and they had already run an unsuccessful search on their own — they were seeing candidates with the right background on paper, but no one truly felt “right” for what the business needed next.

The bar was high and they needed an athlete: A proven PE or high-growth experienced leader, strong Lean capability, and credibility in a very specialized space.

The prior search over-indexed on niche industry experience. Sure, that’s helpful but it misses on other important filters and characteristics. I shifted the lens to look for leaders who would fit the company culture. I focused on leadership style: What kind of operator could scale through people, not just performance? Who could build the systems, talent depth, and accountability needed to sustain growth beyond a single KPI?

Because in a 3–4 year value creation window, the right leader isn’t just someone who “knows the space.” It’s someone who can strengthen the operating system and help the organization become exit-ready and sustainable.

The takeaway: In niche manufacturing, industry expertise gets attention — but culture alignment and scalable leadership is what actually creates enterprise value.