/ Open interim project
Project1404
Interim Plant Manager, Factory Relocation and Turnaround, USA
Confidential mandate. The client name is not disclosed. Further mandate details are shared under a signed NDA.
Decision inGermany
United States
United States
Intervention inUnited StatesRelocating production to Latin America
Cross-border executive leadership, bridging the decision centre and the operation.
/ The mission in three moves
- 01StabiliseRestore delivery, quality and cost control in the first weeks
- 02TransferMove programmes, tooling and know-how to the receiving plants in Latin America
- 03Hand overLeave documented knowledge and clear ownership on both sides
- Function
- Plant Manager
- Scope
- Factory Relocation and Turnaround
- Location
- United States
- Duration
- 12-18 months
- Start
- October 2026
01/ The situation
Keep the plant delivering while its production moves across borders
Our client is a global Tier-1 automotive supplier, internationally recognised for advanced engineered components. Operating at 10+ locations worldwide with annual turnover of โฌ1bn+, the group supplies leading global vehicle manufacturers. Its US plant is a small to mid-sized site within a wider Americas manufacturing network.
Following a strategic review, the group is relocating production from the USA to its lower-cost sites in Latin America over 12 to 18 months. Tariffs and cost pressure make this a high-stakes period: the US plant must keep delivering to demanding OEM customers while its programmes, tooling and know-how move across borders. A decisive Interim Plant Manager with factory relocation, turnaround and crisis-management experience is now required to hold the plant steady and lead the transfer.
Following a strategic review, the group is relocating production from the USA to its lower-cost sites in Latin America over 12 to 18 months. Tariffs and cost pressure make this a high-stakes period: the US plant must keep delivering to demanding OEM customers while its programmes, tooling and know-how move across borders. A decisive Interim Plant Manager with factory relocation, turnaround and crisis-management experience is now required to hold the plant steady and lead the transfer.
Confidential mandateFurther mandate details will be shared with qualified Interim Managers under a signed non-disclosure agreement. CE Interim publishes every mandate anonymously to protect the companies it works for.
02/ Your mandate
Full site leadership through a high-stakes transfer
An Interim Plant Manager in a factory relocation runs the plant day to day while transferring programmes, tooling and know-how to receiving sites, typically over 12 to 18 months. This assignment sits between the USA and Latin America and needs the calm, fast decision-making of a crisis manager and the discipline of a relocation specialist. CE Interim, a leader in cross-cultural executive interim management, is exclusively managing this transformation.
- Interim Plant Manager with full site leadership (production, quality, logistics, maintenance and site HR), reporting to senior regional management in the United States and working closely with the German headquarters
- Crisis-mode stabilisation: restore delivery, quality and cost control in the first weeks, including premium freight and quality-related costs
- Factory relocation: own the plant-level transfer plan covering programme sequencing, customer approvals, tooling and equipment moves, inventory and safety stock
- Lead the handover to the receiving plants in Latin America, with structured knowledge transfer and named owners on both sides
- Bridge US and Latin American ways of working: align sending and receiving teams on accountability, pace and communication
- Protect OEM customer confidence and retain key people through the transition
- First 3 to 6 months: stabilise the site, agree the relocation roadmap and start the first programme moves
03/ Expected results
Success is measured in continuity, pace and a clean handover
Success will be judged on a stable plant and a factory relocation completed on schedule, without damage to customer relationships.
- Delivery, quality and safety held or improved against the baseline set in the first weeks, with premium freight and quality-related costs visibly reduced
- Relocation roadmap agreed early, with programmes moved to plan and customer approvals secured
- No avoidable line-down events or loss of customer confidence during the transition
- Knowledge transfer documented and accepted by the receiving sites in Latin America
- A working relationship between the US plant and the receiving teams with clear accountability on both sides
- Key talent retained until planned release, with a compliant and orderly workforce transition
- Assignment completed within 12 to 18 months, or sooner where customer approvals allow
04/ The Interim Manager we look for
Calm under pressure, visible on the shop floor
A seasoned operations leader, typically a plant manager or operations director, who stays calm under pressure and decides quickly.
- 15+ years in manufacturing operations, with plant leadership responsibility in automotive supply or a comparable quality-critical, high-volume sector
- Has led a factory relocation or consolidation across borders, ideally between the USA and Latin America
- Turnaround and crisis-management instincts: calm, fast and decisive when delivery, quality or customer confidence is at risk
- Strategic thinker who converts plans into execution, visible on the shop floor and hands on
- Fluent in customer approval and quality processes such as PPAP and customer audits
- Process knowledge of the products is helpful but secondary to relocation and execution experience
- Bridges US and Latin American ways of working with ease, adapting pace, accountability and communication style to each side
- Credible with senior leadership across regions and able to move decisions forward quickly
- Comfortable as an interim: credible from week one, focused on results rather than politics, and clear about when to hand over
05/ Your fit
This mandate is for an operator who has done the hard part before
- Senior plant manager or operations director experience in automotive supply or a comparable quality-critical manufacturing environment
- Proven delivery of at least one factory, line or programme relocation or consolidation
- Turnaround or crisis-management track record: stabilising a plant under customer or financial pressure
- Proven leadership across the USA and Latin America, or comparable cross-border teams, adapting to different working styles, pace and accountability
- Full-time on-site presence, five days a week, in the United States
- Right to work in the United States, availability to contract on a B2B basis, and immediate or near-immediate availability preferred
06/ Track record
Come prepared with evidence
Please provide specific examples of assignments you have personally led, covering:
Priority will go to Interim Managers who have completed an end-to-end factory relocation between regions in automotive or a comparable high-volume, quality-critical sector.
- The factory relocation or consolidation: scope, number of programmes, sites and countries involved, and timeline
- A turnaround or crisis you stabilised: starting position, actions taken and measurable results
- How you led across regions (USA and Latin America, or comparable) and aligned teams on accountability and pace
- How you secured customer approvals and protected delivery during the move
- Team size, how you retained key people and how you ran knowledge transfer
- Financial impact: cost, freight, quality and service-level outcomes
- How the assignment concluded and what you handed over
Priority will go to Interim Managers who have completed an end-to-end factory relocation between regions in automotive or a comparable high-volume, quality-critical sector.
07/ Next steps
What happens in the next 48 hours
CE Interim works in hours, not weeks. This is what happens after you apply for Project 1404.
- 01Hour 0You applyComplete the form below with concrete evidence for Project 1404.
- 02Same dayPartner reviewA CE Interim Partner reviews your experience against this mandate.
- 03Within 24 hoursVettingIf you are not yet vetted by CE Interim, we verify your experience with referees from comparable mandates.
- 04Within 48 hoursPartner conversationA dedicated CE Interim Partner contacts you personally to discuss, under a signed NDA, how we would approach this mandate together to make it a success.
- 05NextClient interviewWe arrange your interview with the client’s leadership team to agree the mandate.
This is how CE Interim operates: a proven, mandate-matched executive ready to start within 72 hours of the completed mandate brief.
08/ Stay connected
“We share what we see across interim mandates, markets and boardrooms. Join us on LinkedIn.”
Bohuslav Lipovsky and Michaela Lipovska, founders of CE Interim Management Group
Our newsletters on LinkedIn
- New Opened Interim ProjectsSubscribe
- For My Dear Interim ManagersSubscribe
- CE Interim Management NewsSubscribe
- Interim Management ExplainedSubscribe
- Beyond the Interim MandateSubscribe
Follow Bohuslav Lipovsky, Michaela Lipovska and CE Interim on LinkedIn.
09/ Questions
Before you apply
Who is this mandate for?
- Plant managers and operations directors with 15+ years in automotive supply or comparable high-volume, quality-critical manufacturing
- Leaders who have personally completed a factory, line or programme relocation across borders
- Executives at ease between US and Latin American teams, adapting pace, accountability and communication to each side
- Working language English; Spanish or Portuguese helps with the receiving sites
- Available from October 2026, full time on site in the United States, five days a week, contracting on a B2B basis
Who is this mandate not for?
- Managers in a permanent position looking for their next employment: this is a fixed-term interim mandate
- Executives without hands-on plant leadership, for example purely corporate, consulting or project roles
- Leaders from low-volume or non-regulated manufacturing without customer approval processes such as PPAP
- Anyone unable to be on site in the United States five days a week
Who is the client?
The client’s name is not disclosed. The mandate is handled confidentially, and further mandate details are shared with qualified Interim Managers under a signed non-disclosure agreement.
What kind of engagement is this?
A fixed-term interim mandate of 12-18 months, starting October 2026. Contracting terms are covered in the confidential briefing.
Who supports me during the mandate?
A CE Interim Partner stays involved from mandate alignment to handover: assignment governance, progress visibility, escalation and knowledge transfer. You lead the mandate; the Partner supports you and the client throughout.
How quickly does CE Interim move on a mandate?
Within hours. A Partner reviews every application the same day, and within 48 hours a dedicated Partner discusses the mandate under NDA with the Interim Managers who fit. Clients receive a proven, mandate-matched executive ready to start within 72 hours of the completed mandate brief.
How should I present my experience?
Be specific. Name the situation, what you personally did, the size of the team and the measurable result. The evidence section above lists exactly what the partner review looks for.
How do I refer to this mandate?
Please quote Project 1404 in every message, email or call with CE Interim, so your application is matched to the right mandate.
This mandate is not quite right for me. What now?
Browse all open interim projects, or follow CE Interim and subscribe to our newsletters on LinkedIn to stay close to future mandates.
10/ Apply confidentially
Apply for Project 1404
Complete the form with specific examples of comparable mandates. Concrete evidence and your availability help the Partner review your fit quickly.
Project 1404: please quote this number in all communication
Form not loading? Open the application form for Project 1404 in a new window.
11/ Why CE Interim
Why work with CE Interim on a factory relocation between the USA and Latin America
CE Interim Management Group provides cross-border executive leadership for critical business transformations. For factory relocations, operational turnarounds and plant crises, we manage the assignment end to end, from stabilising the sending plant to the handover to the receiving sites. For our clients, that means a proven, mandate-matched executive ready to start within 72 hours of the completed mandate brief.
What sets us apart is leadership across borders and cultures. Our Interim Managers understand how a US plant and a Latin American plant differ in pace, accountability and communication, and how to bring both onto one plan. The same applies between Europe and the Americas. We work for private equity firms, family owners and international groups facing plant transfers, operational turnaround, post-merger integration and crisis.
Every engagement is personally guided by a CE Interim Partner: former CEOs, CFOs and COOs who have carried executive responsibility themselves. As a member of Valtus Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of executive interim management firms, we work alongside 25+ offices and 80+ senior partners in more than 50 countries.
What sets us apart is leadership across borders and cultures. Our Interim Managers understand how a US plant and a Latin American plant differ in pace, accountability and communication, and how to bring both onto one plan. The same applies between Europe and the Americas. We work for private equity firms, family owners and international groups facing plant transfers, operational turnaround, post-merger integration and crisis.
Every engagement is personally guided by a CE Interim Partner: former CEOs, CFOs and COOs who have carried executive responsibility themselves. As a member of Valtus Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of executive interim management firms, we work alongside 25+ offices and 80+ senior partners in more than 50 countries.
Trust Before Deployment. Partnership Through Delivery.
- 01Built by executivesLed by partners who have carried executive responsibility themselves.
- 02Cross-border by designMandates across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East, between international owners and local operations.
- 03Member of Valtus AllianceInternational delivery reach through the world’s largest alliance of executive interim management firms.
12/ Knowledge Hub
Read more on this mandate
On this mandate
- Factory relocation to the US: why ramp-ups break in month oneWhat breaks first and what the first 30 days need
- When production moves, the receiving site becomes the real riskLeading the receiving plant through a production transfer
- At-will employment: what European executives miss about the USUS notice periods, the WARN Act and workforce transitions
CE Interim servicesInterim Plant ManagerInterim management in the USA
EN 
DE 
FR 
IT 
PL 
RO 
CS 
SK 
HU 
ES 
RU 
AR 
SL