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Closing a critical capability gap in specialised fermentation
Finding the specialist leadership needed to strengthen fermentation capability across a complex global manufacturing network
THE CHALLENGE
Our client had an ambitious strategic goal: to become the market leader in fermentation-based ingredients. With manufacturing sites spanning the US, Europe, Asia and a newly formed fermentation division, they needed a senior leader who could bridge a significant capability gap across their global network. It was critical to have this leader in place to lead the long-term strategy and make the technical and operations improvements needed.
Our client needed a recognised industry expert, with deep technical expertise in specialised fermentation, plus operational leadership experience across global manufacturing sites. In practice, these are often two distinct career paths, and finding someone who had genuinely excelled across both created an extremely narrow talent pool from the outset.
THE SOLUTION
Miramar conducted a global talent mapping exercise, spanning all viable geographies. The research revealed the strongest talent in this space was concentrated in Europe, driven by the headquarters of major fermentation companies, while US-based candidates tended to have narrower, less rounded profiles. A significant pocket of expertise also existed in Brazil, where large-scale raw material availability had driven substantial industrial fermentation infrastructure, though largely in commodity ethanol production rather than the specialised fermentation our client required.
Early in the process, the brief included a commercial dimension alongside technical and operational expertise. Our enabled our client to make an informed decision to reallocate the commercial responsibilities internally, and focus the external search on finding a world-class Technical and Operational leader.
THE RESULT
The search identified and placed a biochemical engineer with 20 years of experience spanning R&D, process engineering, platform technology and operational management, hired from a comparable business operating at significant global scale. It was a long and detailed search, but the outcome was the calibre of hire our client needed.
The impact
Since joining, the new VP has moved quickly. They have built a team of specialists drawn from across the fermentation industry, developed the fermentation roadmap and long-term strategy, and begun raising standards and driving consistency across the technical and operational functions globally, delivering on the core mandate that had been stalled prior to their arrival.
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