Chief Executive Officer - Machinery/Industrial Manufacturing

Job Purpose:

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will lead the company through its next phase of growth, focusing on diversification, institutionalization, and a transition to public markets.

The role requires balancing the organization's strong promoter legacy and engineering excellence with the governance, transparency, scalability, and performance discipline expected of a listed company.

The CEO will define and execute short- and long-term strategy, sustain market leadership in the machinery business, and drive strategic diversification into adjacent products and markets.

The CEO will work closely with two generations of promoters and a team of experienced C-suite executives to lead the organization through growth, professionalization, and public-market transition.

This role requires navigating a multi-generational workforce, addressing evolving expectations, cultural integration, and change management challenges.

Continuing organizational cohesion, leadership continuity, and future-ready capabilities will be central to the role's success.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Business Leadership:

- Provide strategic directions to translate the Board's vision into clear business priorities and executable operating plans.

- Steer long-term growth across domestic and international markets through disciplined strategy execution.

- Guide portfolio evolution through product innovation, capacity expansion, and strategic diversification.

- Strengthen competitive positioning and defend market leadership through differentiated value creation.

Manufacturing & Operations Governance:

- Provide enterprise-level oversight to manufacturing and backwards-integrated operations, ensuring alignment with business strategy.

- Champion operational excellence frameworks (Lean / TPM / Six Sigma) through leadership governance and performance review mechanisms.

- Guide supply chain resilience, vendor development, and inventory optimization strategies.

Market, Customer & Export Strategy:

- Set strategic directions for domestic market growth and key customer relationship management.

- Guide expansion of exports through new geographies, OEM partnerships, and channel strategies.

- Oversee pricing philosophy, order fulfilment effectiveness, and customer experience standards.

- Sponsor brand visibility and positioning across global trade fairs and industry platforms.

Financial Stewardship & Value Creation:

- Provide overall stewardship for revenue growth, profitability, cash flow, and capital efficiency.

- Guide budgeting, forecasting, and capital allocation in line with long-term value creation.

- Ensure strong financial controls, cost discipline, and transparency aligned with governance expectations.

People, Culture & Leadership Continuity:

- Provide oversight to people, systems, governance structures, and decision-making frameworks.

- Sponsor sensitive change management during the founder-to-professional transition.

- Ensure leadership pipeline development and succession planning through structured review processes.

Governance, Compliance & Risk:

- Ensure compliance with statutory, environmental, safety, and export regulations.

- Strengthen corporate governance, reporting, and risk management.

- Present performance reports and strategic updates to the Board.

- Uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

Stakeholder Management:

- Act as the face of the organization with customers, suppliers, regulators, and industry bodies.

- Maintain strong alignment with the Founder during transition.

- Build long-term relationships with global customers and partners.

Qualification & Experience:

- Engineering degree (Mechanical / Production / Polymer / Industrial preferred); MBA or equivalent desirable.

- Age up to 55 years.

- 25+ years of experience in capital goods / machinery / industrial manufacturing.

- Proven leadership in manufacturing-intensive, backward-integrated organizations.

- Exposure to exports, international customers, and global supply chains would be an advantage.

- Experience in professionalizing a founder-led or family-owned enterprise is preferred.

- Demonstrated experience of managing P&L of around INR 600 Cr.