The equipment investment required a Manufacturing Engineering Manager who could lead the installation, optimize production processes, and train the existing workforce on new technologies. The current engineering team lacked experience with the advanced automation systems being installed, and delays in hiring meant the equipment would sit idle, costing the company thousands of dollars daily in lost productivity. The HR director had posted the role on job boards for ten weeks with minimal qualified applicants, and a contingency recruiter they engaged wanted 40% of salary with no success guarantee. The company needed someone with niche technical expertise fast, without overpaying for recruiting services.
Stone Capital Partners executed a targeted search over six weeks:
- Identified manufacturing facilities using similar CNC and automation technologies to target candidates with directly transferable experience
- Used direct outreach and industry networking to engage passive candidates who were not actively job searching
- Pre-screened candidates on both technical capabilities and cultural fit, ensuring they could lead a team through significant operational change
- Coordinated a compressed interview process that included technical assessments and shop floor walkthroughs
- Negotiated compensation that balanced the candidate's expectations with internal equity considerations
The placement was delivered an industry low success fee with a 90-day guarantee, saving the company over $42,000 compared to contingency recruiters while providing triple the guarantee protection.
The Manufacturing Engineering Manager started within 35 days and immediately took ownership of the equipment installation project. Within three months, the new CNC lines were fully operational, the team was trained on the technology, and production capacity increased by 32% over 6 months. The Operations VP noted that Stone Capital Partners understood the urgency and technical requirements in a way that generalist recruiters simply could not match, and credited the quick, high-quality hire as instrumental to the success of the entire capital investment.
