Chief Executive Officer (Chicago)

President & Chief Executive Officer

Location: Chicago, Illinois (Confidential Search)

Industry: HVAC

Ready to lead the next phase of growth for a market-leading HVAC and cooling manufacturer with full P&L responsibility and a clear path to scale beyond $100M?

Retained Search - About the Opportunity

Our client is a well-established, privately held manufacturer of specialised HVAC and cooling solutions serving commercial, industrial, and mission-critical environments across North America. Backed by a larger international group, the business has built a strong reputation for engineering excellence, product innovation, and customer service.

With annual revenues of approximately $60M and a clear strategic growth plan, the organisation is seeking a President & Chief Executive Officer to lead the next phase of expansion and drive performance towards $100M+ revenue.

This is a rare opportunity for an experienced executive to assume full P&L ownership of an established manufacturing business while shaping strategy, strengthening operations, developing talent, and accelerating growth across North America.

The Role

Reporting to the global leadership team, the President & CEO will have overall responsibility for the strategy, commercial performance, operations, manufacturing, and leadership of the organisation.

The successful candidate will lead a high-performing team, strengthen customer relationships, identify new market opportunities, and drive operational excellence while maintaining a strong culture of accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic and operational leadership.
• Deliver sustainable revenue growth and profitability while maintaining full P&L accountability.
• Develop and execute the organisation's long-term growth strategy.
• Lead commercial initiatives to increase market share, expand customer relationships, and enter new markets.
• Drive operational excellence across manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, and customer support functions.
• Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing leadership team.
• Strengthen relationships with key customers, channel partners, and industry stakeholders.
• Identify and evaluate new business opportunities, strategic partnerships, and market expansion initiatives.
• Foster a culture focused on performance, innovation, collaboration, and customer success.
• Ensure robust financial management, governance, and reporting processes are maintained.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be an accomplished executive with a proven track record of leading manufacturing businesses within the HVAC, cooling, thermal management, industrial equipment, or related sectors.

Essential Experience

• Previous President, CEO, Managing Director, General Manager, Division President, or Senior Vice President experience.
• Demonstrated success managing a manufacturing business with full P&L responsibility.
• Strong commercial leadership experience with responsibility for growth, market development, and customer engagement.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams across sales, operations, engineering, manufacturing, and finance.
• Proven ability to scale businesses and deliver sustainable revenue and profit growth.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Experience

• Experience within HVAC, air movement, cooling, thermal management, refrigeration, building technologies, or related engineered product sectors.
• Exposure to multinational or private equity-backed environments.
• Experience managing multi-site operations and manufacturing facilities.
• Familiarity with distribution channels, specification sales, and project-based commercial environments.

What's on Offer

• Opportunity to lead a respected and established HVACR OEM.
• Significant autonomy to influence strategy and shape future growth.
• Full executive leadership responsibility with direct impact on business performance.
• Competitive executive compensation package including performance-based incentives.
• Long-term career opportunity within a growing international organisation.

Confidential Search

This assignment is being managed on a confidential basis. Further information regarding the organisation, products, and growth strategy will be shared with suitably qualified candidates during the interview process.

About Seven Executive

Seven Executive is a specialist executive search and headhunting partner operating across HVACR, Data Center Cooling, Essential Services, and HVAC Distribution markets. Our Essential Services practice covers specialist HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, and Restoration businesses across North America and beyond.

We partner with manufacturers, distributors, service providers, OEMs, and private equity-backed organisations to recruit exceptional talent at C-Suite, President, CEO, Managing Director, VP, GM, and Director level across all functions.

With well-established networks and a proven track record of delivery, we specialise in identifying and attracting the industry's top operators, leaders who drive growth, improve performance, build high-performing teams, and create lasting business value.