1306 Interim Plant Manager Poland B2C Sector
About Our Client:
Our client is a founder-led, owner-managed small to medium-sized manufacturing business with a strong B2C model and a rapidly scaling e-commerce channel. The organisation employs approximately 100–150 people and operates a high-variant, made-to-order production environment where customers expect fast delivery, clear status updates, and a consistently premium experience from purchase through installation readiness.
The company sources components across Europe and Asia, and serves customers across the wider DACH and Southeast Europe region. After a phase of strong growth and market expansion, operational complexity has begun to outpace the current execution model. The business now requires decisive interim executive leadership on site to stabilise delivery performance, strengthen quality execution, and improve the end-to-end customer journey, particularly across fulfilment and aftersales.
This is a confidential operational turnaround mandate in a founder-led organisation, where success will be measured in improved reliability, fewer customer incidents, and a factory operating rhythm that supports scalable growth.
Project Description:
Interim Plant Manager, Operational Turnaround and Customer-Focused Excellence
This assignment is designed for an interim Plant Manager who can take full operational command of a dynamic manufacturing site and rapidly improve execution across the entire order-to-delivery chain. The role requires a strong operational excellence mindset, with an equal focus on productivity, quality discipline, and customer impact.
A key challenge is aligning manufacturing planning and production execution with the realities of an e-commerce driven business. High order volume variability, custom specifications, and short lead time expectations demand tight planning governance, reliable material availability, and flawless packaging and dispatch accuracy. In parallel, the organisation needs a more mature approach to customer communication and aftersales care, ensuring that issues are resolved quickly, professionally, and with minimal friction.
You will report directly to the Owner and act as the senior on-site operational leader, driving measurable improvement within the first 3–6 months while building a sustainable operating model for the long term.
Key outcomes and decision-level scope include:
- Interim Plant Manager reporting to the Owner, with full mandate across production, warehouse, quality, maintenance, and fulfilment execution
- Lead an operational turnaround programme focused on lead-time reduction, delivery reliability (OTIF), and stabilised planning in a made-to-order environment
- Build and embed an operational excellence system, including daily management routines, tier meetings, KPI governance, and clear ownership across core functions
- Remove bottlenecks and execution blockers by improving flow, labour planning, work sequencing, and realistic capacity management to protect promised delivery windows
- Strengthen quality discipline and first-time-right performance through improved quality gates, in-process checks, and root-cause problem solving to reduce rework, delay
Interim Manager Required Skills:
A senior interim operational leader, typically a former Plant Director, Operations Director, or turnaround-focused interim executive with a proven record of stabilising performance in fast-moving manufacturing environments.
- Demonstrated interim executive leadership in SME or mid-market manufacturing businesses, delivering measurable improvement within the first 3–6 months
- Strong operational turnaround capability, including lead-time reduction, throughput improvement, and delivery performance recovery in high-variant production
- Practical operational excellence toolkit, including daily management systems, KPI discipline, structured problem solving, and shopfloor leadership cadence
- Deep experience in quality execution, reducing defects, preventing recurring issues, and protecting delivery promises through first-time-right performance
- Strong understanding of the customer journey in B2C or service-critical manufacturing, including the operational drivers behind aftersales volume and customer dissatisfaction
- Ability to align manufacturing planning with e-commerce order behaviour and variability, translating demand patterns into stable production priorities and realistic commitments
- Leadership style that is composed, direct, pragmatic, and hands-on, able to reset standards, rebuild accountability, and create a customer-focused performance culture quickly
- Local-language capability for frontline leadership is strongly preferred, with working English sufficient for cross-border stakeholder communication
Key Requirements:
Operational turnaround, bottleneck removal, lead-time reduction, quality stabilisation, first-time-right execution, e-commerce to manufacturing alignment
Type of Assignment:
Interim
Scope of Interim Assignment:
Operational Turnaround
Functional Area of the Interim Manager:
Plant Management
Location:
Wroclaw, Poland
Duration:
12 months
Start Date:
February 2026
Why work with us?
CE Interim delivers proven executive interim leaders within 72 hours across borders, cultures, and industries. We specialize in high-impact interim management for private equity firms, family offices, and global corporations facing moments of transition: digital transformation, market entry, operational turnaround, post-merger integration, or crisis.
What sets us apart is not just the speed or depth of our network, it’s how we lead. Every engagement is personally guided by a CE Interim managing partner: former CEOs, CFOs, or COOs who’ve been on your side of the table, steering organizations through high-stakes decisions.
With a global talent pool and operational reach spanning Europe, the USA, and the Middle East, we don’t fill roles, we build trust, lead transitions, and deliver outcomes.
As part of the Valtus Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of Executive Interim Management companies, we ensure seamless international execution through 25+ offices and 80+ senior partners in over 50 countries.
