Recruiting for supply chain and engineering leadership is different from general recruiting, the candidate pool is smaller, the technical bar is higher, and a bad hire costs more than a filled seat. We run these searches the way we run sourcing programs: qualify hard, verify everything, and manage the process end to end.
Roles we typically support: VP/Director of Supply Chain, Procurement leadership, Manufacturing/Plant Engineering leadership, Quality leadership, and senior sourcing or commodity management positions.
These searches run through our sister company, Elite Leadership Search, where working executives not recruiters reading resumes pre-interview every candidate before they ever reach a client. We’re not just a pretty face.
Every role Elite Leadership Search fills sits at the intersection of technical depth and organizational leadership. These are not general management positions, they require functional expertise that generalist recruiters cannot evaluate. Here is what we search for, and why each function matters.
End-to-end supply chain strategy, global sourcing oversight, 3PL and logistics management, S&OP leadership, and board-level reporting. Candidates must have managed multi-country supply chains not just domestic operations. MTD Manufacturing’s executive team pre-interviews candidates on total landed cost methodology, tariff risk management, and supplier qualification frameworks.
Strategic sourcing, supplier development, category management, commodity strategy, and APQP/PPAP program oversight. Candidates are evaluated on spend under management, documented cost savings, supplier rationalization experience, and methodology, TPS/Lean Six Sigma credentials are weighted. Bad procurement leaders cost more than their salary every year in recoverable spend.
Production operations, process engineering, capital equipment planning, lean transformation, and plant P&L. Candidates must demonstrate measurable operational improvement, not just managed steady-state. We look for leaders who have run kaizen programs, reduced scrap rates, and improved OEE in comparable manufacturing environments.
APQP/PPAP program management, supplier quality engineering, customer quality, corrective action (CAR/8D) management, and QMS leadership (IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 13485). Candidates are evaluated on PPM performance, first-pass yield improvement, and supplier development record not just certification ownership.
Supply chain and engineering executive search requires functional expertise that general recruiters don’t have. Evaluating a VP of Supply Chain candidate requires understanding APQP/PPAP, total landed cost modeling, multi-country supplier qualification, TPS/Lean methodology, and what “managed $400M in spend” actually means versus what it says on a resume.
Elite Leadership Search fills: VP / Director of Supply Chain (end-to-end supply chain strategy and global sourcing oversight), Procurement Director / VP of Purchasing (strategic sourcing, commodity management, APQP/PPAP oversight), Plant Manager / VP of Manufacturing Engineering (production operations, lean transformation, plant P&L), Director / VP of Quality (IATF 16949, ISO 13485, APQP/PPAP, supplier quality), and Senior Sourcing / Commodity Management.
Every candidate is pre-interviewed by a working executive with direct experience in the role function not an HR generalist. For procurement and supply chain candidates, the technical interview covers: methodology fluency (TPS/Lean, DMAIC, APQP/PPAP applied, not just certified), documented savings (actual dollar amount, spend base, timeline, and method), supplier management depth.
Elite Leadership Search is the sister company of MTD Manufacturing (formerly Indiana Trade & Consulting / ICT). Both companies sit under the same holding company, The Weathered Moose LLC. Elite Leadership Search works alongside MTD Manufacturing’s consulting practice to place procurement, operations, and engineering leaders when a client’s most pressing problem is the person leading the function not the sourcing program itself.
Elite Leadership Search focuses on industries where MTD Manufacturing has direct executive experience: automotive OEM and Tier 1/2 suppliers (castings, machining, gears, seat tracks), industrial equipment and heavy manufacturing, medical device and orthopedic (ISO 13485-aligned operations), chemical industry, CPG and retail (high-SKU multi-category sourcing), and defense/aerospace-adjacent manufacturing.
Contact MTD Manufacturing to start a confidential role scoping conversation or go directly to Elite Leadership Search. Responds within one business day.
