President and CEO - Newtown PA or Jessup MD

Our client, Morningstar Corporation, is seeking a President & CEO with the technical acumen, product innovation experience, and growth-oriented leadership needed to guide the company's next phase of success.

Overview

The solar industry is growing rapidly, and Morningstar has an exciting opportunity ahead of us. Join us!

Morningstar Corporation is a successful small solar energy company with a global reputation for excellence since 1993. We design and supply off-grid charge controllers and inverters to customers in over 100 countries. Our offices are located in Jessup, Maryland and Newtown, Pennsylvania. Our products are manufactured in Asia and are distributed from both Asia and the USA.

Our President and CEO, a long-term company veteran, is leaving to start his own venture. We are looking for his successor to build on our legacy and lead our company to its next stage of growth. This is a career opportunity for a candidate who is interested in a long-term position.

The Opportunity

Our new President and CEO will have full responsibility for Morningstar's profit and loss and will report to our Board of Directors. The mandate is growth. We need a leader who will protect and build the established solar controller business that funds us, while turning new products, solutions and partnerships into predictable, repeatable revenue.

In the first one to three years, we expect our new CEO to set clear priorities and establish a credible, measurable path to revenue and profit growth that outpaces our industry. That path will run through new products, OEM and industrial accounts, strategic partnerships and new channels to market, including B2B eCommerce.

Our ideal candidate is a hands-on player-coach: entrepreneurial, customer-focused, and with a track record of growing a small global, business-to-business technical products company.

Required Qualifications

• Experience as a CEO, General Manager or business unit leader with full P&L responsibility at a small or mid-size hardware or technical products company.
• A measurable record of growing revenue and profits through new products, solutions and partnerships
• A commercial, customer-first leader who has personally helped win and grow large OEM, distribution and industrial accounts, and has led sales across multiple channels (distribution, VAR, direct, OEM and online).
• Has led both product development and business development: translating customer needs into successful new product's while reducing time to market.
• Knows how to qualify and manage outside partners, including contract engineering and manufacturing, technology partners, co-selling and licensing, to extend internal resources and accelerate growth. Experienced in negotiating and closing high-level customer and partner contracts.
• Builds and develops strong leadership teams, sets clear goals and accountability, and has the judgment and confidence to make hard organizational decisions when needed.
• Financially disciplined: sound capital allocation, staged investment in new initiatives, and strong management of margin, cash and inventory.
• Bachelor's degree in a technical field. Engineering is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in solar, energy storage, power electronics, industrial power or industrial controls. Familiarity with our customer verticals such as telecommunications, oil and gas, security and industrial lighting, and existing relationships with OEMs in those markets.
• Has sold not only components but turnkey or bundled solutions, including systems, software or services.
• Has led the hybridization of traditional distribution to B2B eCommerce, and broader digital transformation across an organization.
• Experience adopting AI and building a data-driven culture that improves decisions and business outcomes across all departments.
• International experience building global channels. Understands supply chain management, global sourcing, logistics and contract electronics manufacturing.
• Experience leading a founder-led, employee-owned or closely held company.
• Experience using strategic alliances, joint ventures or acquisitions as growth levers.
• Master of Business Administration.

Personal Qualifications

• Willingness to live near our Jessup, Maryland or Newtown, Pennsylvania facility and be in the office a minimum of 3 days per week.
• Entrepreneurial: hands-on, action-oriented, quick decision maker, committed to low overhead and no politics.
• A quick study who learns the business deeply before making major moves, then acts decisively.
• A strategic thinker who sets clear priorities and gains the team's buy-in to an aligned company plan.
• High ethics and a strong work ethic. Creates trust and is genuine and transparent.
• Humble, empathetic, and with a good sense of humor. Brings energy and optimism grounded in a credible plan.
• Appreciates and values our employee ownership culture and pushes decisions down rather than centralizing them.
• Ability to inspire, mentor and motivate people to work at their highest potential, and to enhance our culture of continuous improvement, learning and career growth.
• Good communicator, both verbally and in writing.

How We Will Measure Success (in order of importance)

• One-, three- and five-year growth of revenues, profits and stock price.
• Sales of new products to new, large-volume customers, with faster time to market and successful market penetration.
• Successful partnerships on both the market and product sides of our business.
• A stronger, more capable senior leadership team.
• High employee retention and engagement.

Location

Position must be commutable to either one of our locations - Newtown, PA or Jessup, MD. If you are not currently located in either of these areas, then relocation will be expected. There is work from home flexibility, however on-site work is expected to be a minimum of 3 days a week and as needed. There will also be occasional travel as needed to travel to the other location or to meet with existing partners and suppliers.

Compensation

As a privately held company owned by our employees and a small group of long-term investors, Morningstar offers a unique opportunity to align leadership, ownership, and value creation.

Compensation for the President & CEO will include a competitive salary, benefits, incentive opportunities, and equity ownership. The target base salary range is $300,000 to $375,000, commensurate with experience.

For exceptional candidates with compensation expectations above this range, Morningstar is willing to consider alternative compensation structures that may include a different mix of salary, incentives, and equity participation

Benefits

Morningstar offers an exceptional benefits package that includes: medical, dental & vision options with Cigna; company provided & voluntary life insurance and disability options; generous paid leave; paid parental leave; 401k retirement savings with company match; tuition reimbursement; employee stock purchase plan; and a flexible / hybrid work schedule.

To learn more about Morningstar Corporation, visit Morningstar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Morningstar Corp conducts a criminal background check after a conditional job offer.