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Current search: General Manager – China for a mid-sized European industrial company serving the automotive, mobility, and diversified industrial sectors
Our client is a European engineering company with a strong footprint in China, offering high-quality components and assemblies to leading players in the automotive and mobility sectors. With an expanding portfolio that includes new business areas such as Live & Home, Sealants, and Reinvented Plastics, they are undergoing a strategic transformation to position themselves as a forward-thinking, technology-driven partner.
Job scope
As General Manager in China, you will lead the organization’s operations across China with full P&L accountability and oversee two major sites: a production facility in North China and a technical center in East China. Your mandate includes driving strategic growth, delivering operational excellence, and managing a business transformation that aligns local strategy with the wider corporate goals.
Responsibilities
- Strategic leadership: Identify and pursue the right markets, customers, technologies, and products to ensure the company’s competitiveness and long-term success in China.
- Long-term planning: Define and implement a strategy-driven organization with a 5-year growth plan focused on revenue, profitability, and cash flow.
- Customer growth: Lead customer acquisition and retention, expanding current accounts and entering new markets—including growth areas like Live & Home and innovation driven by GenAI technologies.
- Operational excellence: Drive continuous improvements in quality, technology, and environmental standards tailored to the Chinese market. Strengthen competitiveness through cost management and process optimization.
- Change management: Champion transformation from a traditional component supplier to a technology-led partner by leading change initiatives and translating customer needs into product innovations.
- Team leadership: Recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing teams across all operational functions, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability.
- Stakeholder engagement: Act as the key liaison between China operations and the China management (Board of Directors) based in Germany, aligning local execution with global objectives.
Requirements
- Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering or a related scientific/technical discipline.
- 12–15 years of experience in the automotive supply industry, with at least 5 years in a senior general management role with full P&L responsibility.
- Proven track record of scaling operations, managing transformation initiatives, and overseeing multi-site operations in China.
- Strong decision-making skills under pressure and a proactive, improvement-focused mindset.
- Deep knowledge of industrial production systems, lean manufacturing principles, KPIs, and compliance frameworks.
- Experience in high-level commercial negotiations and customer relationship management on both domestic and international fronts.
- Strong analytical acumen with comfort interpreting P&L statements.
- A leadership style rooted in integrity, emotional intelligence, loyalty, and entrepreneurial drive.
Interested in learning more about this position? Please reach out to Hannah Zeng at Hannahzeng@fespartners.com with your CV and a rough salary expectation.