Manufacturing Corporation

The Role

Human Resources Manager

THE CHALLENGE

No Predecessor, No Playbook: Filling a First-Ever HR Leadership Role

Our client faced a significant operational gap—HR responsibilities were being divided between two already-stretched members of the leadership team, leading to inconsistent oversight and limited strategic focus.

To support continued growth, they recognized the need to establish their first dedicated HR leader—but creating a role from scratch came with its own challenges.

Because this was a newly created position, there was no previous internal benchmark for success.

The right candidate needed to manage HR across both corporate employees and a distributed workforce of field sales and technicians—a blend that requires flexibility, empathy, and operational precision.

Complicating matters, the role was fully on-site, meaning the talent pool was geographically limited and relocation was not an option.

With multiple key stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, alignment and clarity around expectations were crucial—yet difficult to achieve without a clear model to follow.

The client needed a trusted partner to help define the right candidate profile and find someone capable of building structure and strategy from the ground up.

OUR SOLUTION

To address the client’s need for a local, first-time HR leader, Summit Search Consultants conducted an exhaustive headhunting strategy, targeting every qualified candidate within the geographic market.

Our goal was to ensure no local talent was overlooked and that every potential fit was fully evaluated.

the result

Through this focused effort, we delivered a shortlist of 5 highly qualified local candidates, each possessing not only the required HR expertise but also the interpersonal skills and adaptability needed to support both internal corporate staff and a dispersed team of field employees.

The client was not only thrilled with the hire—they shared that “she already feels like part of the family.”