Executive Search Success Story: Building the Integration and Operations Leadership for a Private-Equity-Backed Flexible Packaging Platform

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a private-equity-backed flexible packaging platform formed through six acquisitions with the operations, commercial, procurement, and integration leadership required to unify eleven converting plants, deliver acquisition synergies, and build a scalable operating model for continued consolidation.

The Challenge

A private equity sponsor had assembled a flexible packaging platform through six acquisitions of regional converters, inheriting eleven plants with different equipment standards, operating practices, pricing models, and resin purchasing arrangements. Integration synergies had not materialized, resin cost inflation was compressing margins because purchasing remained fragmented, customers of acquired businesses were served inconsistently, and legacy owners continued to run their plants independently. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the value-creation plan:

• Eleven plants with no common operating system, metrics, or manufacturing standards
• Resin purchased plant by plant with no enterprise leverage during a period of sharp cost inflation
• Commercial teams of six legacy businesses with overlapping customers and inconsistent pricing
• Integration synergies identified at acquisition unrealized after eighteen months
• Legacy owners operating independently with no enterprise accountability
• Sponsor plans for continued acquisitions requiring a repeatable integration capability

Recognizing that the platform required an enterprise leadership team, the CEO and sponsor launched a strategic talent initiative to recruit a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, VP of Procurement & Resin Strategy, VP of Integration, and Director of Manufacturing Excellence. The company required an executive search partner with deep packaging expertise and access to leaders who had integrated acquired converting operations under private equity ownership.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Plastics and Packaging Industry Focus

JRG Partners possesses deep recruiting expertise across flexible and rigid packaging manufacturers, plastics converters, and packaging materials companies, including operations, commercial, procurement, and integration leadership. This domain knowledge ensured an immediate understanding of converting economics, resin market dynamics, and food and consumer packaging customer requirements.

Post-Acquisition Integration Experience

Our team specializes in identifying executives who have unified acquired packaging plants under common operating systems, consolidated resin procurement, and integrated commercial organizations to deliver platform synergies.

Private Equity Consolidation Experience

JRG Partners has extensive experience serving packaging-focused private equity sponsors pursuing buy-and-build strategies, with a clear understanding of integration milestones, margin targets, and the urgency of leadership placements.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Integration Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, sponsor operating partners, and legacy owners to evaluate plant performance, resin purchasing, commercial overlap, synergy status, and acquisition pipeline. This review aligned the search with the sponsor’s integration and margin targets.

Phase 2 — Industry Talent Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting operations, commercial, procurement, and integration executives at flexible and rigid packaging manufacturers and plastics converters who had led documented platform integrations. Over 400 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of standardizing converting operations across plants, consolidating resin procurement with enterprise leverage, integrating commercial organizations, delivering acquisition synergies, and building repeatable integration playbooks. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Final Selection

Finalists presented integration and synergy plans to the CEO and sponsor, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified operational, procurement, and commercial outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 400+ packaging and plastics operations, commercial, and procurement executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized leadership tier spanning chief operations, chief commercial, procurement, integration, and manufacturing excellence.
• Unified eleven acquired plants under one operating system within twelve months.
• Delivered $19M in annual resin savings through consolidated procurement.
• Expanded EBITDA margin by more than 400 basis points.
• Built a repeatable integration capability supporting continued acquisitions.