Executive Search Success Story: Building the Executive Team for a Private-Equity-Backed Industrial Automation Integrator Platform Formed From Four Regional Integrators

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a private equity sponsor and its newly formed industrial automation and robotics integrator platform with the chief executive, financial, engineering, project delivery, and commercial leadership required to integrate four regional integrators, standardize engineering and execution, and win national programs from manufacturers automating at scale.

The Challenge

A private equity sponsor had combined four founder-led automation integrators into a platform positioned for manufacturers automating in response to labor shortages and reshoring, but the businesses operated as they always had: separate engineering standards and controls platforms, project execution that varied from excellent to loss-making, founders as the only salespeople, percentage-of-completion accounting inconsistent across companies, and no ability to serve national customers who wanted one integrator across multiple plants. Executive leadership and the sponsor identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the thesis:

• Four founder-led integrators with no platform chief executive or shared operating model
• Inconsistent engineering standards, controls platforms, and robotics applications across companies
• Project margins ranging from strong to loss-making with no common execution discipline
• Percentage-of-completion accounting and project forecasting inconsistent and unreliable for the sponsor
• Sales dependent on founders with no national account capability
• National manufacturers seeking a single integrator across plants the platform could not yet serve

Recognizing that the thesis required a professional executive team, the sponsor engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Engineering, Vice President of Project Delivery & Operations, and Chief Commercial Officer. The sponsor required an executive search partner with deep automation integration expertise and experience building executive teams for newly formed platforms.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Industrial Automation & Robotics Integration Focus

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice serving automation and robotics integrators, automation OEMs, and industrial technology companies, with deep recruiting expertise across integrator leadership, controls and robotics engineering, project execution, and commercial roles. This focus ensured an immediate understanding of project-based economics, engineering standardization, and the leadership profiles that scale integrators.

Private Equity Platform Experience

Our firm has extensive experience recruiting executive teams for newly formed private equity platforms in engineered services, with a clear understanding of founder transitions, integration, and project-business value creation.

Multi-Role C-Suite Execution

Our team specializes in running multiple C-suite searches in parallel with deliberate sequencing, placing the chief executive first so that subsequent hires are made with the new leader’s input.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Platform Thesis Alignment

Our consultants partnered directly with the sponsor’s deal team, operating partner, and the four founders to review the value-creation plan, project performance, engineering practices, customer base, and integration priorities, defining five executive profiles sequenced around the chief executive placement.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting chief executives, finance, engineering, project delivery, and commercial leaders at automation integrators, robotics and automation OEMs, engineering firms, and industrial technology companies who had led documented integrator scale-ups and platform integrations. Over 430 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of integrating acquired integrators, standardizing controls and robotics engineering, implementing project execution and margin discipline, building reliable percentage-of-completion forecasting, and winning national multi-plant automation programs. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented integration and growth plans to the sponsor and founders, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified integration, project margin, and commercial outcomes, with later hires interviewed by the newly placed chief executive.

Key Outcomes

• 430+ automation integration and industrial technology executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized C-suite spanning chief executive, finance, engineering, project delivery, and commercial within eight months.
• Cut engineering hours per project by 25% through standardization.
• Raised average project margin by 6 points and eliminated loss-making projects.
• Won $180M in national multi-plant automation programs.
• Grew revenue 45% and improved EBITDA margin by 550 basis points within two years.