Executive Search Success Story: Placing a VP of Operations to Lead Manufacturing Transfer and Cost Reduction for an Electromechanical Medical Device Manufacturer

How JRG Partners executed a confidential North American executive search that equipped a publicly traded electromechanical medical device manufacturer with the VP of Operations and operational excellence leadership required to transfer production to a new facility, reduce cost of goods, and improve margins while maintaining uninterrupted supply and regulatory compliance.

The Challenge

A publicly traded electromechanical medical device manufacturer faced margin pressure from pricing erosion and rising component costs, and its board had approved a plan to transfer production from a high-cost legacy facility to a new purpose-built site while reducing cost of goods by double digits. The incumbent operations leader had announced retirement, and the organization had never executed a manufacturing transfer of this scale under regulatory oversight. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the plan:

• Gross margins down more than 300 basis points over two years with investor scrutiny
• A manufacturing transfer requiring validation, regulatory notification, and uninterrupted supply
• Cost of goods inflated by legacy facility overhead, manual assembly, and inefficient test processes
• No operational excellence function or lean manufacturing infrastructure
• Component sourcing concentrated with high-cost suppliers and limited negotiating leverage
• Operations leadership retirement with no internal successor prepared for the transfer

Recognizing that the transfer and cost program required an experienced medical device operations executive, the CEO and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a VP of Operations, supported by a Director of Operational Excellence and a Director of Manufacturing Transfer & Validation. The company required an executive search partner with deep medical device expertise and access to operations leaders who had executed compliant manufacturing transfers and delivered sustained cost reduction.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Medical Device and Regulated Electronics Expertise

JRG Partners possesses deep recruiting expertise across electromechanical medical device, diagnostics equipment, and regulated electronics manufacturers, including operations, operational excellence, and manufacturing transfer leadership. This domain knowledge ensured an immediate understanding of validation requirements, regulatory change control, and cost of goods drivers in complex device assembly.

Manufacturing Transfer Experience

Our team specializes in identifying operations leaders who have executed site-to-site manufacturing transfers under FDA and notified body oversight while maintaining supply continuity and delivering cost improvement.

Public Company Operations Leadership

Our firm has extensive experience recruiting operations executives for publicly traded medical device companies, with a clear understanding of margin expectations, investor communication, and succession planning.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Operations & Transfer Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, CFO, head of quality and regulatory, and retiring operations leader to review margin drivers, transfer scope and timeline, validation requirements, and succession needs. This review defined a VP of Operations profile combining manufacturing transfer execution and cost reduction leadership.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting operations leaders at electromechanical medical device, diagnostics equipment, and regulated electronics manufacturers who had led documented manufacturing transfers and cost of goods reductions. Over 295 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of completing compliant manufacturing transfers, reducing cost of goods by double digits, implementing lean and operational excellence programs, and restructuring supplier bases. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented a transfer execution and cost reduction plan to the CEO and board, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified transfer, cost, and compliance outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 295+ medical device and regulated electronics operations leader profiles mapped across North America.
• Placed a VP of Operations with proven manufacturing transfer experience in 49 days with a structured succession from the retiring incumbent.
• Completed a site-to-site manufacturing transfer on schedule with no supply interruption or regulatory findings.
• Reduced cost of goods by 13% through consolidation, automation, and supplier restructuring.
• Improved gross margin by more than 400 basis points.
• Established a lean operating system and operational excellence function at the new facility.