Executive Search Success Story: Building the Leadership Team to Transform a Border Maquiladora Into a Regional Manufacturing and Logistics Hub for an Electronics Manufacturer

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American and Mexico executive search strategy that equipped an electronics and appliance components manufacturer with the regional operations, multi-plant, cross-border logistics, trade compliance, and workforce leadership required to expand a single border maquiladora into a three-plant regional hub, manage USMCA and customs compliance, and serve U.S. customers with three-day lead times.

The Challenge

An electronics components manufacturer had run a successful maquiladora in Juárez for fifteen years under a plant manager who was retiring, and its U.S. customers were now asking it to take on far more volume as they nearshored their own supply chains. The company planned two additional plants and a cross-border distribution operation, but its Mexico organization was a single plant with no regional structure, cross-border logistics were handled by brokers with frequent delays, USMCA origin and customs compliance had become complex with new volumes, and the regional labor market had tightened sharply as competitors expanded. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the expansion:

• A retiring plant manager and no regional leadership for a three-plant expansion
• Customer volume commitments requiring two new plants within thirty months
• Cross-border logistics managed by brokers with delays undermining promised lead times
• USMCA origin, customs, and IMMEX compliance growing complex with new products and volumes
• A tightening Juárez labor market with turnover above 50% across competitors
• No regional operating model, shared services, or management development for Mexico

Recognizing that the expansion required a regional leadership team rather than a plant manager replacement, the CEO and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Senior Vice President of Mexico & Regional Operations, Vice President of Multi-Plant Manufacturing, Director of Cross-Border Logistics & Distribution, Director of Trade Compliance & Customs, and Director of Workforce Development & Human Resources. The company required an executive search partner with deep nearshoring expertise and an established network of bilingual leaders in the border and interior manufacturing regions.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Nearshoring & Mexico Manufacturing Focus

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice serving manufacturers expanding in Mexico, with a clear understanding of maquiladora and IMMEX operations, cross-border logistics, USMCA compliance, and the bilingual leadership profiles that build regional organizations.

Border and Interior Market Network

Our firm maintains an established network of bilingual manufacturing executives across Juárez, Tijuana, Reynosa, Monterrey, and the Bajío, with documented experience in multi-plant and cross-border operations.

Multi-Role Execution

Our team specializes in running coordinated regional, manufacturing, logistics, compliance, and workforce searches in parallel, ensuring leaders are selected as a complementary unit aligned to a single expansion plan.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Expansion Plan Alignment

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, board, and retiring plant manager to review customer commitments, plant plans, logistics performance, compliance requirements, and labor conditions, defining five leadership profiles aligned with the regional expansion plan.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting regional operations, multi-plant manufacturing, cross-border logistics, trade compliance, and human resources leaders at electronics and industrial manufacturers operating in Mexico and cross-border logistics companies who had led documented multi-plant expansions. Over 390 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to bilingual leaders with a documented history of building regional organizations across multiple Mexican plants, starting up new facilities on schedule, running in-house cross-border logistics with reliable lead times, managing USMCA origin and IMMEX compliance at scale, and reducing turnover in competitive border labor markets. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented expansion plans to the CEO and board, completed structured leadership assessments in English and Spanish, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified expansion, logistics, compliance, and workforce outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 390+ electronics and industrial manufacturing executive profiles with Mexico experience mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized regional leadership tier spanning regional operations, manufacturing, logistics, trade compliance, and workforce within seven months.
• Started up two new plants on schedule within thirty months.
• Delivered three-day lead times with 99% on-time performance through in-house cross-border logistics.
• Reduced turnover from 48% to 22% while hiring 2,200 employees.
• Grew Mexico revenue from $480M to $1.1B within three years.