LeaderShift Blog, Hunt Executive Search

Kramer Beverage names Kellogg's executive Greg Swinicki as VP Sales & Marketing
1/12/2012

Kramer Beverage names Kellogg's executive Greg Swinicki as VP Sales & Marketing

Kramer Beverage names Kellogg's executive Greg Swinicki as VP Sales & Marketing

Coors Distributor Kramer Beverage names Kellogg's executive Greg Swinicki as VP Sales & Marketing. Prior to Kellogg's Mr. Swinicki held several positions with Nestle and earlier career experience included leading Sales & Operations at Anheuser-Busch and a Anheuser-Busch Wholesale Operation.
Honor Foods names Walt Tullis as President
1/12/2012

Honor Foods names Walt Tullis as President

Food Service company Honor Foods division of Burris Logistics names former Campbell's VP Sales Walt Tullis as President.

Mr. Tullis will report the CEO of Burris Logistics who is the owner of Honor Foods. Mr. Tullis has had a illustrious 20 year career at Campbell's both in Food Service and Retail. Most recently Mr. Tullis was VP Sales & Marketing, Americas for Schoeller Arca Systems.
Weis hires former Walgreen exec as pharmacy vice president
1/12/2012

Weis hires former Walgreen exec as pharmacy vice president

Weis hires former Walgreen exec as pharmacy vice president

Weis Markets has hired Joseph S. Douglas as its vice president of pharmacy to oversee the day-to-day merchandising, operation and management of the Sunbury, Pa.-based grocer chain’s 122 pharmacies.

A 27-year veteran of Walgreen Co., Douglas will also oversee Weis Markets' Lifestyle Initiatives team, which focuses on health and wellness issues. He will report to Kurt Schertle, senior VP of sales and merchandising.

During his career with Walgreens, Douglas also worked as VP of drug store operations, senior director/rewire for growth, director of drug store administration, district manager, store manager, pharmacy manager and pharmacist. He most recently served as VP of transforming community practice for the Deerfield, Ill.-based drug store chain.
CFO - Midwest based Supply Chain Logistics Company
12/6/2011

CFO - Midwest based Supply Chain Logistics Company

HUNT EXECUTIVE SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT

Our client is an extremely successful and rapidly growing privately owned supply chain logistics company located in the Midwest. This is an opportunity for a business savvy CFO to actively connect and engage in the overall operations of the company and to make a significant contribution to the betterment of the organization.

Title:               Chief Financial Officer (JH11124)

Reports to:     President & CEO

Location:        Midwest

Position

The Chief Financial Officer will report to the President and CEO and will be a key member of the executive team. On a functional basis, he/she will oversee all aspects of financial reporting and control, treasury operations, banking relations, tax, audit, risk management, mergers & acquisitions, and the financial planning processes of the company. The individual selected will play an integral role in advising the CEO and other key line executives on corporate financial and business strategies.

The CFO will examine ways to enhance growth and value creation by evaluating internal operations, acquisitions, cash management strategy and the effective use of corporate assets by understanding the financial and operational risks of doing business on a global basis. As a member of senior management, the CFO works closely with the leadership team in setting financial strategy. In addition, the CFO will have accountability for managing the Information Technology, Corporate Procurement and lead a skilled finance staff, assuring that the function remains fundamentally excellent and attracts/retains top professional talent.

The position requires an executive with broad business understanding capable of providing insights, recommendations, and assistance in driving successful operational performance. The successful candidate will:

•          Oversee and develop world-class Financial Planning and Analysis, Treasury, Accounting, Audit, Tax, and

•          Financial Services functions;

•          Be responsible for overall control of financial reporting and evaluating and improving internal financial

•          operations;

•          Structure/restructure the company financially to optimize long term results;

•          Maximize the company’s cash management strategy;

•          Leverage the effective use of corporate assets;

•          Apply expert discipline around the allocation of capital;

•          Maintain and develop external banking relationships;

•          Assist in the company’s mergers and acquisitions efforts and processes; and

•          Interface with and develop strong business relationships with the company’s key banks, financial advisors and

auditors.

Serving as the company’s Chief Financial Officer requires expertise in overall corporate finance policies and guidelines, as well as regulatory requirements. (privately held company-No SOX nonsense) The incumbent must have a capacity for rendering mature business decisions and judgments and must possess in-depth knowledge of accounting principles and practices.

An interesting additional scope of responsibility will be managing the owners finances and financial affairs. This will include state planning, investments, tax strategies etc.

The position requires broad decision-making capability. The CFO analyzes and recommends investment, merger/acquisition and financing opportunities consistent with overall corporate objectives. Through internal capital management and/or external financing, this individual will be accountable to improve the company’s balance sheet.

Qualifications

We seek a highly regarded senior financial executive with extensive experience in a complex environment. More specifically, the successful candidate is expected to meet the following criteria:

•          Experience working with the commercial banks and shareholders with highly effective communication skills.

•          Proven record in developing an operational and effective financial organization;

•          Experience integrating new or existing divisions or acquired companies from a financial and systems point of

view;

•          Experience working with information technology staff to manage/upgrade finance/accounting, ERP and

•          Enterprise systems.

•          Collaborative team player and consensus builder with a distinct "hands-on-mentality" being able to

successfully solve operational as well as strategic challenges.

•          Demonstrated competence and experience in implementing and managing rigorous, disciplined financial

controls, financial management systems, and enterprise performance measures;

•          Strong personal leadership qualities; a track record of recruiting, motivating and developing a capable finance

team;

•          Strong negotiating skills; experienced with mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures,

industrial/commercial real-estate and B2B professional services is preferred.

Personal Traits

•          A person of the highest integrity and honesty, who inspires trust and confidence in superiors, peers and

subordinates;

•          Well-respected, with proven management, business and financial expertise derived from work with successful

companies; pragmatic, with commercial instincts;

•          A fact-based financial executive who can blend logic with intuition and common sense to arrive at the most

appropriate and sensible business decision; and

•          A team player and team builder; able to work well with a broad group of professionals, unpretentious and

comfortable working in collaboration with others, open, honest and straightforward in dealing with people,

identifying problems and finding solutions.

Education

The successful candidate will have a Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Finance. An advanced degree and CPA strongly preferred.

Compensation

A highly attractive compensation package that will include a base salary, performance related incentives and LTIP.

If you or anyone you know are qualified and meet the requirements outlined in this announcement, please send your resume to research@huntsearch.com for consideration. Please Note: this is intended to provide a brief overview of the position described above and is being shared with numerous potentially qualified individuals and organization leaders within our network. We receive hundreds of referrals and inquiries daily from multiple sources.

Regretfully, we are unable to respond to every individual. Please know we will give careful consideration to all inquiries.

All candidate communications will be held in the strictest of confidence. For ethical reasons, we are unable to represent individuals currently employed by any of our protected clients without the client's written authorization.

Please feel free to contact us with your recommendations. Referrals are appreciated!
ConAgra Threatens to Drop Ralcorp Bid
10/23/2011

ConAgra Threatens to Drop Ralcorp Bid

ConAgra Threatens to Drop Ralcorp Bid

ConAgra Foods reiterated its $94 per share, all-cash proposal to acquire Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., which Ralcorp previously rejected without dialogue with ConAgra Foods on August 12, 2011.

According to a ConAgra Foods press release, the company has heard from many of Ralcorp's shareholders who are urging Ralcorp to enter into negotiations with ConAgra Foods based on the strength of ConAgra Foods' compelling $94 per share all-cash proposal.

However, Ralcorp has continued to refuse ConAgra Foods' attempts to engage privately and hold a discussion regarding the potential value, strategic logic and certainty of its proposal. Instead, Ralcorp's Board has reiterated that the separation of Post Foods from Ralcorp will better allow each company to focus on strategies specific to their particular businesses, thereby unlocking additional significant value for our shareholders.

Should Ralcorp not enter into a constructive dialogue around the terms and conditions of ConAgra Foods' all-cash proposal for the entire business by 5:00 pm Eastern time on September 19, 2011, ConAgra Foods will withdraw its proposal.

Consequently, shares of Ralcorp Holdings Inc. slid today after ConAgra Foods Inc. threatened to withdraw its offer to buy the company, according to the Associated Press.

Ralcorp shares traded down 10 percent, or $8.35, to $76.79. Volume in morning trading approached 5 million shares, or more than six times the daily average.

Shares of its potential buyer, ConAgra, fell 68 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $23.38 as the broader markets edged lower.

Ralcorp has not yet issued a statement on this latest development.
Campbell Names Joshua Anthony VP, Global Nutrition and Health
10/23/2011

Campbell Names Joshua Anthony VP, Global Nutrition and Health

Campbell's Names Joshua Anthony VP, Global Nutrition and Health

Campbell Soup Company announces that Joshua Anthony, Ph.D. has joined Campbell as vice president, Global Nutrition and Health.

Anthony will lead Campbell's Nutrition team within the Research & Development organization and will be responsible for driving strategies for health and wellness focused on vegetable and whole grain nutrition, while also advancing the company's weight management and sodium reduction initiatives. He reports to George Dowdie, senior vice president Campbell Global R&D, and is based at the company's world headquarters in Camden, New Jersey.

Anthony joins Campbell after 10 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Nutrition, where he was most recently Director-Global Infant Category Research & Development. He has 20 years of experience, including expertise in building and leading international and multidisciplinary teams to create nutrition innovation pipelines. He has experience at all phases of project lifecycle management from idea to commercialization, including the launch of many new products. Prior to Mead Johnson, Anthony worked at Unilever, conducting skin care research.
Schiff Nutrition Names Ex-Bayer Exec Shane Durkee as SVP, R&D
10/23/2011

Schiff Nutrition Names Ex-Bayer Exec Shane Durkee as SVP, R&D

Schiff Nutrition International Names SVP, R&D

Schiff Nutrition International, Inc. appointed Shane Durkee to the role of Senior Vice President, Research and Development, effective October 3, 2011. Durkee has more than 16 years of consumer products research and development experience in leading teams in innovation, product development and medical science. Most recently, he was the Director, Global Innovation and New Technology at Bayer Consumer Care AG in Basel, Switzerland. In this position, he led product innovation and development within the Nutritional, Dermatologic and Gastrointestinal business units, which had more than €2 billion in annual sales. He also served in R&D leadership roles working on Bayer’s U.S. branded nutritional business, including One-A-Day, Flintstones and CitraCal. Prior to joining Bayer, Durkee held R&D leadership roles with TwinLab and Nutraceutical Corporation. Durkee holds a B.S. in Microbiology and an M.B.A. He has served as a member of the Senior Scientific Advisory Council for the Council for Responsible Nutrition and as a science advisory board member at Virgo Publishing.

Tarang Amin, president and chief executive officer, Schiff Nutrition Interntaional, stated: “We welcome Shane and believe his proven track record in driving nutritional supplements innovation will contribute significantly to accelerating our new product program and organic growth. Furthermore, his energy, enthusiasm and passion will complement our senior leadership team.”

“I am excited to join Schiff Nutrition and help the company build its strong portfolio of brands,” stated Durkee. “I look forward to working with the management team to help advance the growth strategy of building premium brands, leading innovation, expanding the channel and geographic footprint of the company, pursuing acquisitions, and driving world-class operations.”
Seventh Generation Names Joey Bergstein CMO
10/23/2011

Seventh Generation Names Joey Bergstein CMO

Seventh Generation Adds New CMO

Seventh Generation, Green Brand of non-toxic and renewable household solutions, has announced that consumer products branding expert Joey Bergstein will be joining the sustainable fold in September as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer.

Bergstein comes to Seventh Generation from Diageo, the world's leading premium spirits company, where he was Senior Vice President of Global Rum and over the last five years nearly doubled sales while growing Captain Morgan from a U.S. product into a global brand with a strong international presence. Prior to his work at Diageo, Bergstein was Vice President at Canadian brewer Molson, a role which initially included responsibility for global business development and led to oversight of Marketing for English Canada. He began his career at Procter & Gamble with a ten-year arc that saw him assume various key marketing leadership positions in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and France.
Patagonia Hires Dmitri Siegel as VP of Global E-Commerce
10/23/2011

Patagonia Hires Dmitri Siegel as VP of Global E-Commerce

Patagonia Hires New VP of Global E-Commerce

Patagonia, Inc., a designer and distributor of technical outdoor clothing, announces the strategic addition of Dmitri Siegel as the company's new vice president of global e-commerce.

As vice president of e-commerce, Siegel will provide strategic vision, leadership, and operational expertise in directing Patagonia's e-commerce strategies both domestically and abroad. In addition, Siegel will be a key partner to International Teams to develop emerging markets, as well as Product and Marketing to provide a seamless user experience, drive traffic and create lifetime value for Patagonia's growing customer base across all of Patagonia's digital platforms.

Siegel brings a wealth of e-commerce experience to Patagonia, most recently as Urban Outfitters' executive director of marketing. As such, Siegel was responsible for the e-commerce, marketing, and creative areas, as well as full P&L responsibility for their $175M global direct business (online and catalog). In this role, Siegel set the strategic direction for marketing and e-commerce, in addition to having launched numerous innovative marketing programs such as the Urban Outfitters mobile site, iPhone application and various other social media applications.

Prior to Urban Outfitters, Siegel served as art director and designer for the Sundance Channel, Bravo and several graphic design agencies.
Hershey names former Danone, P&G exec John Bilbrey as CEO
8/4/2011

Hershey names former Danone, P&G exec John Bilbrey as CEO

The Hershey Company announces John P. Bilbrey as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the company, effective immediately.

Bilbrey has more than 30 years of global consumer packaged goods experience. He was named Hershey's interim President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2011. Bilbrey was named Chief Operating Officer in November 2010 with responsibility for day-to-day global operations and commercial activities, leading the company's supply chain as well as geographic regions, including the U.S.A., the Americas and Asia. From December 2007 to November 2010, he was Senior Vice President, President, Hershey North America. Bilbrey played a key leadership role in the company's turnaround as well as in the creation and implementation of the company's confectionery demand landscape and establishment of Hershey's presence in markets around the world.

Bilbrey joined Hershey in 2003 as Senior Vice President, President Hershey International. Before joining Hershey, Bilbrey held executive positions at Mission Foods and Danone Waters of North America, Inc., a division of Groupe Danone, Paris, France. He was responsible for all operations of Groupe Danone's North American water division. Additionally, he spent 22 years at The Procter & Gamble Company where he served in positions of increasing responsibility in both the U.S. domestic business as well as numerous international assignments. He has lived abroad and worked in more than 50 countries in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Asia.

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