Do you need help hiring operations experts?
Mangrum Solutions can help you build a best-in-class operations team, one great hire at a time.
Our operations recruitment firm places transformational leaders experienced in managing various situations such as turnarounds or restructuring. From hands-on leaders to lead at the floor level to strategic executives who have successfully led complex full P&Ls for multiple locations or divisions, we’ve got you covered. Whatever your unique situation, your ops recruiter at Mangrum Solutions will headhunt the best person available.
We help build your leadership team, one leader at a time. Mangrum Solutions is a partial-to-fully retained search firm that recruits a broad spectrum of operational talent from middle management through the executive C-suite. We can consult on your specific hiring needs and help you recruit operational leaders to improve your organization’s top line. Our team of Recruiters regularly attends various trade shows and conferences, we also join relevant associations and stay abreast as well as share manufacturing news. Our recruitment firm understands the industry, the competitors, and the job market and we bring you experienced operational leaders to consider.
Leverage our strong bench of operational experts who understand best practices and can help you integrate them into your organization. Our operations recruitment agency fills your positions nationwide and we are experienced with complex relocation situations. Don’t settle – hire the best talent available for your unique situation. We can help you topgrade underperformers by conducting confidential job searches or build out your leadership team as you grow. Consult with our executive search firm to discover how we can help you fill your critical hiring needs – backed with our 5-Year Replacement Program. Contact us today!
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We’ll shortlist you targeted, vetted, and interested professionals for you to interview
We recruit across the operations sector
We headhunt for small-to-mid sized industrial manufacturers nationwide. From privately held to family-owned manufacturers, and divisions of publicly traded organizations to private equity owned or venture-backed companies, our recruitment expertise spans multiple industrial manufacturing verticals. Some of the types of positions we can help you recruit for include:

We recruit operations leaders from management through executive levels with expertise in

- Performance management
- Operational excellence
- Restructuring / reorganization
- Turnaround solutions
- Due Diligence / acquisitions / integrations
- Company growth & expansion
- Cultural change
- Full profit and loss responsibilities
- Multiple plants / facilities
- International location management
- Other specialized operational needs

Our happy customers love their operations recruiting success
Always focused on achieving exceptional customer service and making the client-candidate match the best fit that will result in a win-win outcome for all involved in the process.
D. Stoelb
Lean/MBBVery professional, as well as committed to our success. I would recommend Mangrum Career Solutions to any company who is looking for a recruiting firm that will be a true partner in their recruiting efforts.
J. Snyder
VP/Dir HROne of the very few recruiters who really delivered exactly what was discussed and promised. Went well above and beyond and exceeded my expectations.
P. Hitschler
Sr. Supply Chain ManagerCommitted to making the best fits for her clients and candidates.
E. Roa
Director Quality & LeanOne of the most creative executive recruiters in the industry.
J. Chiavetta
PresidentOur services
Mangrum Career Solutions offers services to meet your needs
Why choose Mangrum Solutions?
5 year replacement program
5 year replacement program
We want to earn your trust. One way we do this is by standing behind our placements with a 5 Year Replacement Program. This gives you confidence that our top priority is a great fit!
Save time & energy
Save time & energy
We know you are busy and you need to partner with an expert who will manage the critical task of sourcing and delivering you exceptional operational talent so you can focus on what you do best.
Strong bench of talent
Strong bench of talent
With our vast nationwide network of operational talent we can help you acquire hidden talent you won’t find on job boards or through contingency search.
Customized approach
Customized approach
Whether you are looking for local talent or expect to relocate, we have a strong nationwide database of operations leaders we can recruit from. We get to know our clients and customize our strategy for each unique search situation.
High-tech and high-touch
High-tech and high-touch
Success comes when you leverage the right resources and tools. We combine the most highly effective technology available with next-gen headhunting techniques to help you hire the best.
Integrity and excellence
Integrity and excellence
We believe in doing things right. We adhere to the National Association of Personnel Services’ (NAPS) commitment to recruitment excellence, and we stay in compliance with laws and best business practices.
Our proprietary recruitment process
Our specialty search utilizes an extensive and customizable proprietary process to help us find and engage the right talent for your search. Here is a high-level overview of our search process:
Gain extensive company and cultural understanding
Perform a deep dive into the position specs
Customize an in-depth talent sourcing strategy
Pursue, interview and engage targeted talent
Present candidate summaries with valuable insights
Facilitate interviews and communication
Manage from negotiations through acceptance
Post-hire check-ins to assist in integration
Ready for true hiring success?
Schedule a call
Are you looking for an operations position?
Search and apply for various operational positions including roles in general & plant management, procurement, purchasing, materials management, manufacturing, production, quality, lean, human resources, finance, and more.
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View Details & ApplyFrequently asked questions about operations recruiting
We’ve been conducting operations searches since we were founded in 2009. We understand the key players and are constantly expanding our bench of high-performing operations experts. We support a strong network of manufacturing leaders through our MVP Group and we stay abreast of various trade materials and resources.
In addition to our strong internal database of operations leaders, we have access to many more through our Recruiter network and the myriad of paid research and database tools. When we begin a search, we customize our proprietary search process to the unique needs of your position. We strategize on which tools and resources we need to utilize to ensure no stone is left unturned in our search for the right operations talent for your position.
Every client asks this question, and my answer is always the same. It depends on the hiring managers involved, the complexity of the search, and the market. Barring any complications, an average search takes between 4 – 6 weeks and we pace ourselves based on the speed and urgency of our client and how quickly they communicate and move our candidates through their interviewing process. If a client has a long and drawn-out process, it will take longer to complete a search. If they are decisive and their process is efficient, it can happen much quicker. It is not uncommon for a search to only take a few weeks, but it’s also not uncommon for a search to take several months.
During our discovery call, we will do our best to provide you with an educated estimate of what we expect the timeline to take. We try to set realistic expectations as there are many factors outside our control that can affect the timeline.
We start each search with a detailed discovery call. We want to fully understand the needs of our client, the details of the position, and the culture of the company. This call can take up to an hour, but it sets the foundation for a partnership that allows us to get to know the company at a deep level so we can effectively present operations talent that will have not only the skills required, but who also blend in well with the team’s chemistry for a long-term fit.
After the initial conversation our team meets to strategize our specific approach to the search. We take our extensive proprietary search process and curate it to ensure it will be as effective and efficient as possible in uncovering and vetting talent for your position. We continue to expand our understanding of your organization with weekly communication.
We believe in metrics and we measure various internal data points to ensure we perform and continuously improve for our clients. We look at time-to-fill, candidate flow, cycle times against targets and benchmarks, and more. We stay in touch beyond the hire as well. With our 5 Year Replacement program, we touch base periodically to measure both the success and length of our hires, which is higher than the industry average.
In 2021, we had a success rate of 96% on our Specialty Search. The industry average is 80%. On a contingency search, our average conversion rate is 47%, while the industry average is less than 24%. We pride ourselves on being selective and taking on hires we know we can fill successfully. We want to ensure there will be a good fit between both the company and the candidate.
We owe our success to two main things. First is to our proprietary search process which is great at finding passive talent in hidden or unexpected areas in a persistent manner. Second, is due to the thoroughness of our interviewing process which rules out many unqualified candidates and helps you prevent mis-hires.
Hiring high-performing operational leadership is crucial to the success of a manufacturing organization. Generalist recruiters may not understand the complexity or skills needed to make a successful hire. It takes a dedicated and experienced operations recruiter to find and engage experts that can help you succeed in all facets of your manufacturing organization. The pandemic, trade wars and other market disruptions are changing company needs and our operations recruiters know how to help you acquire leaders with the experience you need. Our manufacturing recruiters can find you the right operational talent, whether you are seeking a strategic leader for transformational change or you want a manager who’s not afraid to roll up their sleeves and be hands on.
We aim to be a true partner to help you hire the best and brightest operational talent available. Our thorough process leaves no stones unturned in our search and we are very choosy who we put in front of you for consideration. We want to make sure that every person we present is someone you’ll be excited to speak with. Because of the thoroughness of our process, we can stand behind our candidates with a 5-Year Replacement Program – something our competitors can’t touch.
Well, it’s probably because we’re fun to work with and we are highly effective! Bottom line, we do our best to be honest, reliable, and a great resource for our clients. We strive to under-promise and over-deliver, so if we aren’t the best firm for a project, we’ll let you know who is. We provide regular communication and keep you apprised of what we are hearing during the search to help make you a better company. We can consult on ways to help you become a more highly desirable place to work and improve your retention rates. Why would you want to work with anyone else ?????
We recruit operational talent nationwide. We have had searches in major cities and are also adept at helping find talent in small and rural locations where there is a shortage of operations or manufacturing experts. We typically start our searches locally or regionally and can extend outwards if necessary. We are highly experienced in handling searches where relocation is necessary and can provide guidance appropriately.
Mangrum Solutions can help you fill your critical operations roles from mid-management through the executive level.
- Operations
- General management
- Plant management
- Business unit management
- Manufacturing management
- Quality & continuous improvement
- Project & program management
- Product management
- Marketing management
- Regional, territory & national sales leaders
- Human resources
- Finance
- Staff level management
A reputable search firm will usually charge anywhere from 20% – 35% of a candidate’s 1st year guaranteed income. We customize each search and base our fees on the level of position, the difficulty of the search, and the amount of time expected to complete the search.
Our average fee falls between 25 – 30% and we deliver high-level results that could warrant higher fees. However, our priority is to nurture a long-term partnership to help you with future placement needs. To support this, we also provide repeat placement discounts and other incentives to help you save more.
No. We never charge our candidates to place them. We work for clients to help them fill specific search assignments. This only works when we match great talent with desirable opportunities. So, while our candidates don’t pay us, we still do our best to ensure each person is being placed in a position they will be happy with and where they will be able to grow their career. In addition, we help the operations talent we don’t place by providing access to resources and other career opportunities.