The Client
A globally recognized dairy and premium food group, headquartered in Europe and publicly listed, generates approximately $5 billion in annual revenue and operates across multiple international markets.
As part of its U.S. growth strategy, the organization continues to invest heavily in its North American operations, with ambitions to significantly expand revenue and market share across premium food and dessert categories.
The company operates through two distinct U.S. subsidiaries, each with independent leadership teams, growth agendas, and operational priorities. Together, these businesses play a critical role in the group's long-term growth ambitions and require experienced leaders capable of balancing strategic vision with operational execution.
One of the subsidiaries recently underwent a significant transformation, bringing together multiple international operations under a unified structure and leadership model, creating the need for strong executive talent to support growth, integration, and organizational alignment.
The Brief
To support its ambitious growth agenda, the organization partnered with Page Executive to appoint senior leaders capable of driving commercial performance, operational excellence, and organizational transformation across two U.S.-based subsidiaries.
Page Executive successfully completed three strategic executive searches:
- Managing Director
- SVP of Sales & Marketing
- VP of Operations
- VP of Human Resources
The Sales & Marketing assignment initially launched as two separate mandates: VP of Sales and VP of Marketing. However, following the identification of an exceptional executive with broad leadership capabilities, the client strategically consolidated both functions into a single appointment, creating the role of SVP of Sales & Marketing to maximize organizational impact.
The Managing Director search focused on securing a leader capable of guiding a key U.S. business through a period of transformation and accelerated growth, while ensuring leadership continuity and alignment with global objectives.
The VP of Operations mandate was equally critical, with responsibility for driving manufacturing performance, operational efficiency, and scalability to support future business growth.
Although all three appointments were made within the same corporate group, each search required a distinct leadership profile, assessment framework, and market approach, reflecting the differing needs and maturity levels of each subsidiary.
The searches required identifying executives who combined strong blue-chip consumer goods experience with a proven ability to thrive in entrepreneurial, growth-oriented environments, a profile that remains highly sought after and difficult to attract.
- Additional complexities included:
- Geographic relocation requirements for certain roles
- The need for international exposure and strong cross-cultural leadership capabilities
- Strict confidentiality requirements throughout the search process
- The ability to lead organizational change while delivering commercial and operational results
Balancing leadership capability, cultural alignment, mobility, and sector expertise significantly narrowed the available talent pool, requiring a highly targeted and consultative executive search strategy.
Our Process and Candidate Experience
The engagement began with a series of in-depth stakeholder meetings designed to align on business priorities, leadership requirements, organizational culture, and long-term growth objectives.
Page Executive then conducted detailed market mapping and targeted executive outreach through its network, proprietary database, and direct search methodology.
Throughout the process, the client benefited from:
- Regular and transparent progress updates
- Real-time market intelligence and candidate insights
- Structured executive assessment and benchmarking
- Consultative guidance throughout the decision-making process
For candidates, the opportunity represented a compelling combination of the scale and stability of a global organization with the autonomy and entrepreneurial environment of high-growth U.S. subsidiaries.
The engagement resulted in the successful placement of three key executives across commercial, operational, and general management functions, strengthening the organization's leadership capabilities and supporting its next phase of growth.
Why Page Executive
The client selected Page Executive for its ability to combine global executive search expertise with deep market knowledge and access to senior leadership talent across the consumer goods, food, and beverage sectors.
Led by Michael O'Connor, Senior Partner at Page Executive, the engagement leveraged extensive experience delivering executive appointments across commercial, operational, and general management functions. This combination of sector expertise, market intelligence, and consultative partnership enabled the successful execution of multiple strategic searches across the client's U.S. business.
