Manufacturing, Supply Chain, & Engineering

Specialized Executive Search

We make it simple to find leaders who stay on course in an ever-changing landscape.

The Manufacturing, Supply Chain, & Engineering practice at ThinkingAhead has over 15 years of experience identifying and attracting top talent. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we carefully tailor our searches to the specific needs of our clients. Our team is committed to connecting the right people with the right organization at the right time.

We are your strategic partner in filling critical roles in manufacturing, packaging, automation, and supply chain.

You Can Trust:

Our Experience

We’ve been around for over 40 years. We will mine our depths of experience to deliver you the best person for your role.

Our Network

With thousands of candidates in our database (people who are not checking job boards), chances are the perfect fit for your opportunity is someone we already know. But that won’t stop us from making hours of phone calls for your search.

Our Standards

We want to make finding the right leader easier, not harder. We don’t bombard you with resumes. On average, our clients will interview one of every five candidates we submit for consideration.

Our Values

We care just as much about the career of our candidates as we do about the success of a search. We work under the highest standards of confidentiality and transparency.

Success Stories

Targeted Hiring for Mauser

Situation:

Mauser Packaging solutions, a global leader in sustainable packaging, needed to scale their team quickly. Their robust internal talent acquisition team was inundated with open positions that were costing the company money.

Bad recruiters had wasted their time with unqualified candidates and unstreamlined processes in the past, so they were hesitant to work with one, but they needed to try something, so they gave Read a test drive.

Process:

Read delivered on his promise to only present thouroughly vetted, qualified candidates and facilitated a streamlined, effecient hiring process characterized by clear, concise, proactive communication.

As a recruiter who lives in the packaging space, he had a thorough understanding of Mauser’s needs and had access to a full range of candidates in the field.

So, within 30 days, Mauser made their first hire with Read and would go on to add 50 new people to their team through Read over the next 6 years.

Business Impact:

Mauser has saved millions in production line downtime and contract fees by partnering with Read. Their Talent Acquisiton team has lowered their time to hire by 40%, and over 96% of the people they hired have stayed for at least 3 years.

Spurring Growth for Spaulding

Situation:

Spaulding Composites, a long-standing global manufacturer and fabricator, was interested in diversifying their customer base but needed the right people to help them do it. Recruiters who didn’t understand the space had wasted their time in the past, sending candidates who were only a fit in title, but didn’t have the right experience for their needs.
So, they called Jonathan, a highly-specialized recruiter with an established network from selling CNC machinery for 12 years.

Process:

Using his vast network, Jonathan quickly helped Spaulding hire a Sales and Applications Engineer. His streamlined process and understanding of the space kept Spaulding’s engineers free to do their jobs while he did the hunting.

Business Impact:

The Engineer expanded Spaulding’s customer base to include firearms manufacturers, generating $7MM in new revenue the next year. The growth continued, leading to facilities expansions and Jonathan hiring two more engineers