Director Corporate Development & Sustainability

Hybrid - UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, or The Netherlands

If you love answering the question "Where should we play, and how do we win?" and can communicate your thoughts through expert trend analysis, facts, and figures to BoD and EGM teams, then this newly created Director of Corporate Development and Sustainability position may be a great opportunity for you.

Location: Ideally UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, or The Netherlands
Salary: €250,000 - €350,000
Travel: Up to 70% global travel

Reporting to the Senior Leadership team we need someone with experience in developing corporate growth strategies who is also able to excellently lead and develop people passionate about packaging sustainability.

Our client is a multi-billion dollar leader in packaging equipment and machinery manufacturing that serves the FMCG sector, it aspires to accelerate top-line growth through the forming of a Corporate Development function that will also be responsible for the group sustainability strategy.

The department will drive synergies by holistically combining an in-depth understanding of our client's core and adjacent markets, identifying trends, assessing organic and inorganic growth opportunities, defining winning strategies, and sharpening execution capabilities, supporting our regions & clusters.

Definition of the role:

• Lead the Department ‘Corporate Development’ with ~1-3 direct FTE, and report directly to the the executive board.
• Lead the Sustainability team with 9 FTEs and drive the global ESG agenda
• Responsible for evaluating and executing acquisitions, making strategic decisions, and driving corporate growth and profitability.
• Work collaboratively across the entire organization to compile and manage company growth strategy, which includes analyzing and providing recommendations to Executive Leadership
• Conduct and present research on new growth opportunities, external M&A activity, and risks to the company
• Work on strategic growth strategies - organic and inorganic - in a highly visible position, in close contact and cooperation with the Group Executive Board, regional and functional leaders across the business
• Lead strategic growth/ business development projects, encompassing the following activities:
  • Exploring opportunities to expand into new categories.
  • Sizing the addressable market potential, assessing the strategic fit, and developing commercially viable entry/expansion strategies
  • Working in cross-functional teams with regions & global functions teams, aligning resources, deliverables, and timeline
• Develop a pipeline of prospective targets and be a company brand ambassador to external partners
• Partner with business leaders and lead discussions with the GEB and BoD to drive decisions.
• Owner of the yearly strategy process defining the “Where-to-Play” and “How-to-Win” strategies of the company, reviewing the process framework, and translating external (Board of Director) & internal (Regions) requirements into process and deliverables
• Travel and interact with regional leadership teams, global functional leads, and functional project teams across all company regions (ca. 50-70%)

Capabilities:

• Dynamic, target-oriented and entrepreneurial thinking
• Passion for and deep understanding of industry trends, and key industry metrics
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to work hypothesis-driven, translate findings into plausible conclusions, test these against business reality, and deliver concise recommendations to Senior Leadership / Board
• Strong presentation skills with the ability to communicate ideas in a persuasive manner
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to influence across the organization and at the GEB and BoD level
• Ability to effectively build relationships with internal and external partners
• Strong self-starter; ability to champion opportunities and ensure decisions are made

Experience:

• Minimum 10-15 years of experience in the industrial sector, preferably in the packaging/ machinery/ automation or consumer goods industry, alternatively in management consulting with a stronghold on commercial packaging topics / FMCG industry
• MBA highly desirable; or equivalent practical experience
• Proven track record of managing cross-functional and multi-cultural projects in the area of Corporate Development and M&A integration
• Successful C-Level exposure
• Prior leadership experience (direct and functional)