Executive Search Success Story: Building the Operations and Commercial Leadership Team to Scale a Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Company From Pilot to Commercial Hub-and-Spoke Operations

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a venture- and strategic-backed battery recycling company with the operations, hydrometallurgical process, environmental and safety, feedstock supply, and commercial leadership required to start up a commercial-scale recycling hub and regional collection network, meet environmental permits, and sell recovered battery-grade materials to cell and cathode manufacturers.

The Challenge

A battery recycling company had proven its hydrometallurgical process at pilot scale and raised capital for a commercial hub and regional pre-processing network, with feedstock agreements from automakers and cell plants and interest from cathode producers in its recovered lithium, nickel, and cobalt. But its team was built around chemistry and fundraising: it had never started up a chemical plant, environmental permitting and battery handling safety were untested at scale, feedstock logistics for damaged and end-of-life batteries were undeveloped, and no one had sold battery-grade recovered materials into a qualification-driven supply chain. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the scale-up:

• A chemistry-stage team with no commercial chemical plant start-up experience
• Hydrometallurgical scale-up from pilot to 40,000 tonnes per year of feedstock
• Environmental permits, hazardous material handling, and thermal event safety untested at commercial scale
• No logistics network for collecting, transporting, and pre-processing end-of-life and scrap batteries
• No experience qualifying and selling recovered materials to cathode and cell manufacturers
• Investor milestones tied to commissioning, throughput, and first material sales

Recognizing that commercialization required leadership from scaled chemical, metals, and environmental operations, the CEO and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Chief Operating Officer, Vice President of Hydrometallurgical Process & Technology, Vice President of Environmental, Health, Safety & Permitting, Vice President of Feedstock Supply & Logistics, and Vice President of Commercial & Material Sales. The company required an executive search partner with deep battery supply chain expertise and access to leaders from adjacent process industries.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Battery & Energy Storage Industry Focus

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice serving battery and energy storage companies across the value chain, including recycling and circular materials, with a clear understanding of hydrometallurgical processing, feedstock dynamics, material qualification, and the leadership profiles that commercialize recycling.

Adjacent-Industry Talent Access

Our firm has extensive experience recruiting leaders from metals refining, specialty chemicals, and environmental services into battery companies, bringing mature plant, safety, and permitting disciplines to a young industry.

Multi-Role Execution

Our team specializes in running coordinated operations, process, EHS, supply, and commercial searches in parallel, ensuring leaders are selected as a complementary unit aligned to a single scale-up plan.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Scale-Up Plan Alignment

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, chief technology officer, and board to review the hub design, process scale-up plan, permitting status, feedstock agreements, offtake interest, and investor milestones, defining five executive profiles sequenced to commissioning.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting operations, hydrometallurgical process, EHS, logistics, and commercial executives at battery recycling, metals refining, specialty chemicals, waste and environmental services, and battery supply chain companies who had led documented plant start-ups and material qualifications. Over 380 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of starting up hydrometallurgical or chemical plants, securing environmental permits and operating hazardous material facilities safely, building reverse logistics networks, and qualifying and selling battery-grade materials to cathode and cell manufacturers. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented scale-up plans to the CEO and board, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified start-up, safety, supply, and commercial outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 380+ battery recycling, metals refining, chemicals, and environmental services executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized leadership tier spanning operations, process technology, EHS and permitting, feedstock supply, and commercial within seven months.
• Achieved recovery rates above 95% within six months of commissioning.
• Operated the first year with no recordable thermal events or environmental exceedances.
• Secured feedstock for 100% of hub capacity through a four-facility network.
• Qualified recovered materials with two cathode producers and closed funding for a second hub.