We help our clients discover, hire and retain leaders who drive business growth. 

 

Our Toronto executive recruiters have worked with 100+ clients of all sizes and in all industries, from emerging start-ups to high-growth global organizations, to help them build leadership teams that drive business growth.  

 

Our client, a U.S. based global manufacturing company with operations spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, was driving continued expansion and growth to achieve their strategic goals. Through a strategic transformation and targeted M&A activity, they had strengthened their market position and laid the foundation for long-term innovation. 

With over 20,000 employees globally and a diverse portfolio of technology products, the organization needed to continue to strengthen their leadership structure and invest in the right executive talent to support new growth initiatives, operational efficiency, and cultural evolution.

The Recruitment Challenge

Our client faced several critical challenges:

• Transformation Readiness: The company needed leaders who could champion digital transformation, ESG initiatives, and navigate in a time of global supply chain and economic uncertainty, without losing sight of core operational excellence.
• Succession Risk: A number of senior leaders were approaching retirement, and internal pipelines lacked depth.
• Geographic Complexity: Finding talent who could lead global teams and drive performance across culturally diverse markets.

Our client retained South End Partners to build out their leadership teams in three core areas: Supply Chain & Operations, Engineering & Innovation, and Sales & Marketing

Our Strategy

Building high-performing leadership teams requires more than filling roles—it’s about aligning the right people with the company’s vision, culture, and goals. 

We leverage the best AI and behaviour assessment tools in the industry to help our clients hire objectively and effectively, avoiding subjective (and costly) HR mistakes and mishires. 

Our team focuses on understanding our clients’ specific business needs, we then design role profiles using behavioural insights to ensure a successful fit into the corporate culture. We provide a bespoke solution for every role we work on.

1. Discovery & Strategic Alignment

We began by engaging with senior stakeholders across business units, HR, and corporate strategy to understand the broader transformation agenda. Through in-depth interviews and organizational assessments, we identified:

• Key leadership competencies required in each division
• Cultural and change management needs
• Global talent challenges, especially in emerging markets
• Gaps in succession planning and internal talent readiness

This allowed us to tailor our search and assessment process to the unique needs of each business area, while maintaining alignment with the company’s overall strategy.

2. Market outreach

For each leadership mandate, we conducted global searches focused on both industry insiders and adjacent-market talent. We prioritized candidates with a demonstrated ability to:

• Lead through complexity and ambiguity
• Drive cross-functional collaboration
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and inclusion
• Deliver both short-term impact and long-term strategic value

We leveraged our proprietary candidate evaluation framework, which combines structured interviews, behavioral assessments, and leadership potential modeling. This helped ensure we were not only evaluating technical qualifications but also leadership agility, adaptability, and team fit.

3. Impact and Results 

In total, our Toronto executive recruitment team placed 12 executives across North America in roles including:

• VP of Global Supply Chain
• Head of Engineering
• Director of Operational Excellence
• Chief Commercial Officer 
• VP of Strategy & Growth Initiatives
• Vice President of Sales

We worked closely with the client’s HR and executive leadership teams to support onboarding and ensure each leader was set up for success. This included customized 90-day plans and integration coaching for selected placements.

Within the first 12 months of these placements, our client reported measurable improvements in several key areas including increases in operational efficiencies, innovation, sales and talent development. 

“The recruiting team at South End Partners has been more than a search partner—they’ve been a strategic advisor through a critical time of change. Their ability to understand our business, challenge our thinking, and bring forward exceptional talent has made a significant impact on our organization.”

Whether undergoing transformation, entering new markets, or planning for long-term succession, our clients trust us to deliver leaders who grow their business.

Not sure where to start? We can help.

At South End Partners, our Toronto executive recruiters work with large and small organizations across industries to help them find the right leaders for the right opportunities using an objective, data driven approach.

We also provide comprehensive HR consulting services including onboarding support, interview coaching and training, and strategies to develop your superstar teams.

Reach out to find out how we can help you today!