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Confidential $190M Consumer Products company (HQ Greenville, SC)
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Client Confidential $190M Consumer Products company (HQ Greenville, SC)
Industry Retail Distribution
Engagement Multi-role talent build-out during corporate spin-off
Key Hires Corporate Controller | FP&A Manager | Director of BI & Analytics | Payroll & Benefits Manager | VP of Product & Design | Creative Director | Accounts Receivable Manager -
As part of a divestiture and full carveout from a publicly traded parent company, this $190M global distributor faced a high-stakes challenge: build a fully independent headquarters, including building all corporate functions (Finance & Accounting, Procurement & Supply Chain, Data & Analytics, Tax & Treasury, Payroll & Benefits, HRIS, and IT) within a tight deadline with a transitional services agreement. Once the transition deadline expired, they would incur costly fees for continued support.
The delay would have meant:
Significant overrun costs from service extension fees
Substantial shared resource constraints and costs
Delayed realization of synergy costs
Lost revenue from delayed product launches and inaccurate billing processes
Stalled operations with no internal accounting or creative leadership in place
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Forge was brought in to help this fast-moving organization:
Staff multiple key roles across disciplines: finance, payroll and benefits, business intelligence, procurement, analytics, creative, and product
Hit aggressive onboarding timelines in parallel with IT, HR, and systems setup
Identify culture-fit leaders who would thrive in a collaborative, hands-on environment and weren’t afraid to get “in the weeds”
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We approached the engagement with excellence, empathy, and urgency—knowing every day counted.
What We Did: Intentional role scoping and stakeholder alignment for each search
Why It Mattered: Kept the hiring process focused and fast-moving, even with evolving needs
What We Did: Nationwide sourcing across target markets and competitor sets.
Why It Mattered: Delivered strong, diverse slates in niche verticals, like consumer product or big box retail experience.
What We Did: Rigorous vetting for culture fit and hands-on leadership style
Why It Mattered: Filtered out “presentation-only” candidates who wouldn’t thrive in a startup-like execution model
What We Did: Tiered pricing structure to scale quickly with budget
Why It Mattered: As the hiring needs grew, we implemented a tiered fee structure that provided more value as the engagement expanded. This allowed the client to scale their hiring quickly while staying within budget, and reinforced our shared commitment to long-term partnership over one-off transactions.
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Multiple executive and mid-level roles filled in parallel over a 3–4 month period
100% acceptance rate on all priority hires
Prevented hundred of thousands of dollars in overrun costs from service extension fees
Immediate business impact
Corporate Controller implemented stand-alone financial reporting structure within 60 days
Payroll & Benefits Manager stood up new payroll system and benefits plans in 3 months
VP of Product & Design launched SKU rationalization across thousands of SKUs and launched a newly curated product collection
Creative Director executed a brand refresh and rebuilt brand standards for rollout across 300+ partners
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Excellence + Empathy: We moved fast without sacrificing candidate care or quality
Strong Technical Experience: We knew what we were looking for, saving the company’s most valuable asset—time.
Culture-First Vetting: Every hire was aligned to the company’s values and mindset
Hands-On Partnership: We didn’t just fill roles; we helped build the foundation for a stand-alone business
“We needed more than a typical recruiting firm. We needed an exclusive partner to support our growth and execution. Forge understood our business, our culture, and the urgency of the moment by spending time on the front end to really get to know us as individuals and as an organization.
They didn’t just fill roles; they helped us find leaders who would thrive in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Their support was essential in helping us meet key milestones during the divestiture. ”
— confidential client executiveBuilding a U.S. Sales & Leadership Team
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Client: Global Manufacturing & Distribution Company (Headquartered in Germany)
Location: United States – New U.S. Headquarters
Focus Areas: Sales Leadership, Financial Leadership, and Sales & Business Development Team -
A well-established German manufacturing and distribution company was expanding into the U.S., launching a North American headquarters. Our goal was to find the right people who could bridge the gap between two cultures, drive U.S. sales, and understand the German approach to operations and structure while bringing that perspective into a new and fast-moving U.S. market.
Forge Search was engaged to build the U.S. team from the ground up, starting with the U.S. Director of Sales and scaling from there.
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The client needed experienced, trusted leaders who could operate independently in a startup-like U.S. environment, while also aligning seamlessly with the decision-making style and cultural expectations of their German parent company. That meant hiring:
A Director of Sales with deep U.S. industrial experience and a proven ability to work with German-owned companies, where precision, process, and long-term relationships are critical.
A CFO with financial and operational expertise, plus experience overseeing U.S. expansion efforts, including land acquisition and facility build-outs, for other German or European firms.
Once the leadership team was in place, the next priority was building a strong commercial foundation with a skilled U.S. sales and business development team.
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Forge took a tailored, strategic approach to each search:
Leadership Search: We aligned closely with the global CEO and U.S. project lead to define the must-haves for both roles, including prior experience working with German or European companies.
The Director of Sales we placed had a strong track record in U.S. industrial sales and a deep understanding of how to communicate and collaborate with German leadership.
Sales Team Buildout: With leadership in place, we worked with the new Director of Sales to scale a national team. Our focus was on professionals who could sell into technical and industrial markets and thrive in a structured, relationship-driven environment.
The CFO brought both financial leadership and hands-on experience managing U.S. buildouts for other German-owned firms, giving the client confidence in execution.
We also advised on compensation structure, onboarding best practices, and how to position the company’s brand to top-tier U.S. candidates unfamiliar with the name but intrigued by the opportunity.
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Director of Sales and CFO hired — both with extensive experience working with German companies
National commercial team built across key territories
1. Team Deployment Overview:
Coverage: Established presence in 6 key territories
Structure: Territory Managers supported by customer success specialists and Business Development Analyst.
Alignment: Teams aligned to high-value customer segments and industry verticals.
2. Key Results Achieved:
Revenue Growth:
o +95 % year-over-year revenue increase in covered regions.
o Notable uplifts due to localized sales strategies.
Customer Acquisition:
o 261 new clients added in priority sectors after 6 months.
U.S. headquarters successfully launched with a culturally aligned, performance-driven team in place
“Working with your team on this recruitment project was smooth and seamless, extremely professional, and always on equal terms. Your help in quickly finding top-notch candidates was invaluable. Your understanding of our corporate culture and leadership made all the difference. We are confident that these new hires will have a lasting impact.
Your team reflects the values of the boss: it is authentic, human, engaging, and pragmatic. We look forward to further successful projects, as the personal touch fits in wonderfully with our corporate culture.”
— confidential client executiveCase Study:
A CFO Search for a $200MM financial services company.
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“Forge’s candidate pool was much deeper and more closely aligned with our business need,
saving us time and resources.”
— Chief strategy Officer, greenville, sc