Chief Executive Officer

COMPANY:
Private equity-backed, tech-enabled commercial services business based in the Eastern US.

REPORTS/RELATIONSHIPS:
The Chief Executive Officer will report directly to the Board of Directors, serve as a member of the Board, and interact regularly with the company’s private equity investor.

BASIC FUNCTIONS:
The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for driving growth through strategic leadership of the company, with ultimate responsibility for all functional areas of the business. Additionally, the CEO is a partner for the company’s founding owners, a leader for its brands, and an advocate for the unique culture that drives its innovation, growth, and identity.

The CEO, in cooperation with the broader team, will be responsible for the following initiatives to maximize shareholder value:

• Manage, build, and optimize the company’s brands and reputation:
  • Build domain expertise and serve as a thought leader in the low-voltage security industry.
  • Understand and optimize prices and margins within the current service offering.
  • Launch new adjacent services that meet market needs and leverage economies of scale and scope.
  • Organically expand geographic footprint through opening and growth of satellite offices of existing brands.
• Recruitment, talent development, and organization design:
  • Assess the organization (including additional add-ons) to determine the optimal use of resources.
  • Define and implement an appropriate organizational design that leverages scale and enables shared corporate services while simultaneously enabling nimble market operations and preserving in-market brand equity.
  • Develop the executive team to support growth and scale.
• Drive the acquisition and integration of add-ons:
  • Partner with the founding owners and leadership team to further develop the M&A pipeline.
  • Work with the board and management team to negotiate and structure add-on transactions.
  • Lead due diligence and post-closing integration with the broader team; post-closing integration will include an assessment of and key decisions around:
• Company locations and functions.
• Highest and best use of internal and acquired talent.
• Efficiency opportunities and synergies.
• Optimal go-to-market strategy, especially as the company’s go-to-market strategy expands.
• Optimize the company’s operational capabilities through process improvement in key operational areas, including job conversion, field operations, estimating, project management, and overall service delivery to include:
  • Leverage technology to enhance existing processes.
  • Evolve the current platform for quick integration of future acquisitions.
  • Implement systems to enhance customer experience.
  • Improve operating productivity to drive cash collection velocity and lower cost structure.
• Develop a highly effective customer acquisition strategy:
  • Complete a competitive positioning assessment to help define white space for organic growth.
  • Cultivate new relationships with sales channel partners.
  • Leverage scale and best practices to create a robust marketing strategy and platform to drive sales.
  • Review all sales channels and existing sales processes.
  • Review compensation and incentive plans.

• Create a culture of performance and process improvement:
  • Collaborate with the founders and management team to develop and execute objectives and key results (OKRs) tied to the achievement of overall growth objectives.
  • Hold functional leaders and operators accountable for meeting those goals.
  • Identify key performance indicators to manage business outcomes and reduce performance variability.
  • When results vary negatively from the plan, identify the variance early and correct the root cause quickly.
• Additional core responsibilities:
  • Strategic leadership and direct accountability for, and management of, the company’s dispatch and communication operators, field supervisors, technicians, and account executives.
  • Manage relationships with strategic partners (i.e., companies that serve as a source of lead generation).
  • Manage the company’s business insurance needs and the health, welfare, and benefits plans for the company’s employees.
  • Establish the infrastructure for new geographies, including recruiting and onboarding additional personnel as necessary.
  • Identify and pursue new business lines and/or other new revenue-generating opportunities.
  • Oversee implementation of risk management strategies and initiatives in concert with the PE firm, including cash control policies and updated employee handbooks; implement policies to create safe work environments for the company’s employees and independent contractors.
  • Provide strategic leadership and direct accountability for, and management of, the company’s accounting and IT functions.
  • Manage the budget process and provide recurring updates and reports to the board, including P/L forecasts and variance analyses.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Proven experience as a CEO/leader, preferably for a fast-paced, acquisitive, private equity-backed business, ideally having scaled a business from low single-digit EBITDA to $20+ million EBITDA in partnership with a high-quality private equity sponsor.
• Private equity experience, particularly execution of a successful value-creation playbook and exit strategy and add-on M&A acquisitions.
• Commercial services experience, preferably in technology-centric, low-voltage, B2B environments (e.g., security, managed IT, MSP, telecom, print).
• Demonstrated commercial mindset with a strong track record of driving organic growth.
• M&A integration experience, including post-close operational integration and value creation.
• Experience operating in a leveraged environment, including understanding credit agreements, debt covenants, cash flow management, budgeting, and lender/banking relationships.
• Experience building and developing high-caliber management teams.
• Experience navigating an exit process.
• Proven ability to engage and build trust with founders.
• Exceptional executive capabilities, including high intellect and strong business acumen, unquestionable integrity and ethical standards, and a collaborative and proactive leadership style with outstanding interpersonal skills and EQ.
• Excellent presentation, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Geographically flexible, with a strong preference for candidates based in the Eastern US (ideally in the Midwest or Florida).
• Bachelor’s degree is required; MBA is a plus.

COMPENSATION:
Compensation will be commensurate with experience, including a competitive base salary, bonus opportunity, equity, and a competitive benefits package.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jonas Hedin, Managing Partner
jhedin@CLCBsearch.com
704.377.0362