REASON FOR THE SEARCH

Century Inc. was on the lookout for an Engineering and Quality Manager, as they needed support in adapting and improving the efficiencies of the company.

THE PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM

Hillcrest Capital Partners invests in the lower middle market of business. They don’t rely on institutional investors who look for a quick turn on their investment. Rather, they are flexible on their investment hold periods.

THE PORTFOLIO COMPANY

Century, Inc. is a privately held, vertically integrated precision manufacturing company headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, and serving customers worldwide. The company is comprised of two separate business units. They have been established for over 55 years.

THE SEARCH REQUIREMENTS

The portfolio company, Century Inc, needed an Engineering Manager with the following requirements:

• Simulation program experience
• Manufacturing engineering experience
• Automotive/Aerospace experience
• Engineering management experience
• A strong leader
• Located on-site in Traverse City, Michigan

WHY RAW SELECTION

Hillcrest was struggling with this search, mainly due to the location as it didn't have a large talent pool in the industrial space and was rather known for its vacation and holiday amenities. Alongside this, they had an extensive requirement list that the candidate had to meet.

The main challenge during this search for an Engineering Manager was that Engineering/Quality Managers are in high demand in the location of the firm and its neighboring states.

To overcome this challenge, Raw Selection completed enhanced searches and went through lists of competitors within a 100-mile radius who were willing to relocate. We are proven in completing challenging searches and have established a 15-step process that allows us to find the best-matched candidate for your firm, company, and culture.

THE PROCESS

To secure the candidate, Raw Selection followed their extensive 15-step process to ensure a great match was found for the vacancy.

Raw Selection went above and beyond for this search for an Engineering Manager by going through wider competitors and similar company searches on LinkedIn and Google maps. Overall, Raw Selection completed a very successful search within 8 weeks. They now have an Engineering Manager to drive the business forward and bring it to new heights. Raw Selection commences every search by discussing and understanding the full search requirement and brief. Raw Selection’s Principal, Jack Burns, and Senior Associate, Sean Butt, led the search with the cooperation of Tim Healy, the Hiring Manager at Hillcrest, who built out a full picture of the company, the employees, the culture, and exactly the type of profile that was needed to succeed in this position.

Raw Selection followed our extensive 15-step search process, identifying over 150+ potential profiles which were then cut down to a shortlist of 4, all of whom had been fully interviewed and measured for culture fit. Raw Selection identified William Floyd who was subsequently hired for the role.

THE RESULTS

William Floyd had a great understanding of A&D quality measures and auditing processes necessary to gain AS9100 certification. He has previously led large-scale teams and understands manufacturing processes and how to improve these processes in order to make necessary manufacturing cost savings. Overall, he was a great match for Century Inc and I know he will bring a lot of success to the business.

WHAT THE CANDIDATE THOUGHT

"Hiring Jack and Raw Selection has been an incredible experience. From the beginning, he was professional, polite, and genuinely seemed to care about doing right by me. He regularly checked in with updates from the company he was sourcing for and checked on me throughout the process to make sure that both parties were right for each other. After accepting the offer, he didn't just go away. He's continued to check in on me and help facilitate solutions to obstacles along the way. I really can't say enough about the level of service and professionalism that I received. I would definitely recommend him and this company as a resource for finding great candidates or solid companies to become a part of."
— William Floyd

OUR THOUGHTS ON THE CANDIDATE

"William Floyd had a great understanding of A&D quality measures and auditing processes necessary to gain AS9100 certification. He has previously led large-scale teams and understands manufacturing processes and how to improve these processes in order to make necessary manufacturing cost savings. Overall, he was a great match for Century Inc and I know he will bring a lot of success to the business."

Jack Burns, Principal at Raw Selection

GET IN TOUCH

If your Private Equity firm is looking to hire new talent for your portfolio companies within the Industrial sector, please get in contact with Jack Burns, Principal, at jack.burns@raw-selection.com or Sean Butt, Vice President at sean.butt@raw-selection.com

ABOUT RAW SELECTION

Raw Selection favours a meticulous approach to candidate research. Our process for selecting the right candidate means we can boast a 100% success rate for all our retained clients, with 96% of placed candidates still in their role after 12 months.