WFC- President & General Manager

Description

Company Summary

Managed through the RBI portfolio, Williams Furnace Company (Williams or WFC) is a designer, marketer, and manufacturer of a wide assortment of home and commercial heating solutions and custom fan coil systems. Building on its 100+ year history of excellence in the HVAC sector, Williams maintains its own in-house design team and testing facilities to innovate and delivery new solutions for age-old problems. Williams is poised to experience significant growth in the coming years through adapting its fan coil solutions to the marketplace while further cementing its domination of the gravity wall furnace market.

Riverbend is a private family-owned portfolio holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The portfolio is primarily comprised of several small, independently operated, previously family-run businesses in the light manufacturing and distribution sectors. The portfolio is a long-term holder of its investments/assets and plans to grow both organically and through acquisitions into the foreseeable future.

Summary

The President of Williams provides strong strategic and cultural leadership for the organization while guiding day-to-day sales, operations, finance/accounting, and customer service through his leadership team. Holding full P&L ownership and accountability, the President is responsible for ensuring revenue generation through effective marketing and sales, meeting all production and delivery goals while fostering a commitment to safety, evolving and promoting product and service offerings through a careful ‘voice of the customer’ approach, and the developing talent at all levels of the organization to drive robust and sustainable growth and alignment with best-in-class initiatives.

The President will be supported by the RBI Home Office organization in its execution of financial, human capital, information technology, operational, and marketing best practices while ensuring broad alignment with the holding company’s values and strategic goals.

The ideal candidate will be fully capable of delivering on exceptional commercial and financial outcomes while simultaneously actioning best-in-class change management and operations to ensure long-term, sustainable success. To be successful in this role, a person must be transparent, collaborative, dedicated, and resilient.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead by example with a Safety First mindset in every task
• Execute effective leadership of the organization to enable performance at or above the standards required by leadership and shareholders by setting clear performance objectives and holding individuals and teams to account
• Identify, pro-actively manage behaviors related to, and track fundamental KPIs related to the company’s success
• Develop, lead, and implement the complex business strategies required to achieve the commercial, operational, financial, and cultural objectives of the business
• Lead, with the VP Sales & Marketing and other stakeholders, a wholesale review of the HVAC space and develop a robust strategy to develop and market new solutions based on market demand and organizational capabilities
• Serve, with the VP Sales & Marketing, as the chief sales and marketing champion of the business with relation to both existing customer and the pursuit of new commercial partners
• Engage, through the VP Research, Development & Engineering, the relevant stakeholders to ensure that all products are designed to maximize safety, reduce manufacturing inefficiencies, and improve the customer experience
• Direct, through the VP Manufacturing, a detailed review of production and operations and deliver materially meaningful improvements in all facets of manufacturing and supply chain while recognizing and adhering to the highest of health, safety, and environmental standards while promoting exceptional customer service delivery at all levels and for all partners
• Mandate that all products manufactured and sold to customers are of high quality in accordance with the company's quality standards and the market’s expectations
• Understand what actions and factors impact the company’s P&L and promote a collective responsibility for improving bottom line performance through robust financial acumen
• Effect financial outcomes, as or better than forecasted, as defined by annual budgets and the company’s rolling five-year strategy
• Lead the implementation of business improvements and other organizational initiatives and effectively manage resistance to change where it arises
• Collaborate with and support portfolio leadership, including other company presidents, in championing and executing on portfolio-wide strategic initiatives and in realizing opportunities related to economies of scale and cross-company synergies
• Serve as an ideal leader by modeling good behavior, fostering culture of excellence, collaboration, & integrity, and establishing an environment of inclusion and accountability
• Promote talent development at all levels to ensure the necessary skills and competencies are represented at the appropriate levels to drive business results and establish business continuity/success planning (specifically in areas such as talent management, project management, commercial awareness, technical development and people management and leadership skills)
• Drive employee engagement at all levels of the business through frequent touchpoints, transparency in leadership, responsiveness to concerns, and recognition of achievements
• Demand compliance with all company policies and regulatory requirements
• Other duties as assigned
  
  

Requirements

Education, Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum
• Bachelor of Arts/Science in any substantially relevant field
• 7-10 years of relevant experience as a senior manager with P&L responsibility in the light/durable goods manufacturing sector
• 5-7 years managing employees
• Preferred
• Master of Business Administration
• 15+ years of relevant experience in progressively more advanced senior management roles in light/durable goods/discrete manufacturing
• 10+ years of managing employees in a complex, multi-layered organization
• 10+ years of full P&L ownership and accountability
• Lean Six Sigma certification of any level
  
  

Skills & Characteristics

• Strong operational background and proven ability to contribute at the strategic level (i.e., strategic planning, financial and operational forecasting, and decision making)
• Demonstrated credibility and the ability to communicate clearly, confidently, collaboratively in demanding situations
• Willingness to challenge the status quo (e.g., engage in creative destruction) and execute on innovative solutions to old and new obstacles
• Comfort with and preference for collaborative work – both within the company and the broader portfolio; willingness to identity, build, and propose solutions collectively
• Mastery of setting and managing multiple priorities across diverse functions
• Ability to engage, inspire, motivate, and develop at all levels of the portfolio
• Results-oriented management style in setting and pursuing aggressive goals, demonstrating a strong commitment to organizational success, and marshaling resources to accomplish projects
• Innovative, strategic thinker and planner with the ability to create and communicate a vision for the future and translate it into clear strategies and specific priorities
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills (including at the Board level) re: communication of business plans, strategies, financial results, and action plans
• Turn-around and merger & acquisition experience
• Advanced user in Microsoft Office applications to include Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneDrive, Sharepoint, and Teams
  
  

Competency Statements

• Business Alignment - Aligns the direction, products, services, and performance of a business line with the rest of the organization.
• Change Leadership - Manages, leads, and enables the process of change and transition while helping others deal with the impacts.
• Communication - Ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word and written language.
• Decision Making & Judgement - Makes timely, informed decisions that take into account the facts, goals, constraints, and risks.
• Enforcing Laws, Rules, & Regulations - Enforces governmental laws, rules, and regulations, and initiates enforcement actions in a way that the public perceives as fair, objective, and reasonable.
• Ethics & Integrity - Earns others’ trust and respect through consistent honesty and professionalism in all interactions.
• Influencing Others - Influences others to be excited and committed to furthering the organization’s objectives.
• Leadership - Promotes organizational mission and goals, and shows the way to achieve them.
• Negotiating Agreements - Reaches deals or compromises.
• Organizational & Political Savvy - Uses knowledge of the organizational and political climate to solve problems and accomplish goals.
• Results Focus & Initiative - Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how best to achieve them. Gets the job done.
• Staff Management - Manages staff in ways that improve their ability to succeed on the job.
• Strategic Vision - Sees the big, long-range picture.
• Stress Tolerance - Maintains composure in highly stressful or adverse situations.
• Tact - Diplomatically handles challenging or tense interpersonal situations.
  
  

Physical Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 15% of time
• Ability to remain seated for extended periods
• Ability to stand, walk, kneel, squat, climb, and navigate in closed manufacturing spaces in limited circumstances
• Ability to safely lift and move objects up to twenty-five (25) lbs. over short distances