Following the departure of its previous Service Manager, HENNECKE needed to appoint a new leader for its service organization in Mexico.
Rather than treating the search as a straightforward replacement, the company used the transition as an opportunity to define a broader leadership mandate from the outset.
The new position combined responsibility for the local service organization with wider site-management responsibilities, customer interaction, coordination with headquarters in Germany and support for the continued commercial development of the Mexican market.
The Hiring Challenge
Finding technical credibility, leadership and broader business responsibility in one profile.
The challenge was finding the right combination of technical credibility, service leadership and broader business responsibility.
Candidates needed sufficient technical understanding to operate credibly within an industrial machinery environment while also being capable of leading people, managing customer relationships and representing the Mexican organization within an international structure.
The search also required a commercial dimension.
The successful profile needed to understand that service leadership was not only about technical execution, but also about customer development, identifying opportunities and supporting the continued growth of the business in Mexico.
This combination made the relevant candidate market significantly more specific than the title “Service Manager” alone would suggest.
“A replacement need can also be an opportunity to define what the organization needs next.”
Our Approach
Searching beyond the conventional Service Manager profile.
Sync Talent mapped candidates across industrial machinery, automation and other service-intensive technical environments.
The evaluation focused on several dimensions simultaneously: technical and service experience, people leadership, customer orientation, commercial capabilities, communication with international stakeholders and the ability to take broader responsibility for the local organization.
Particular attention was given to the balance between hands-on operational understanding and management capability.
Some candidates brought strong service backgrounds but less exposure to broader commercial or organizational responsibility.
Others had more general management experience but were further removed from the technical and operational realities of industrial service.
The search therefore focused on identifying a profile capable of connecting both sides of the mandate.
Context · International collaboration with headquarters in Germany
The Outcome
A successful appointment for the broader mandate.
The search concluded successfully with the appointment of a new Head of Service / Site Manager Mexico in July 2026.
The selected candidate brought the combination of technical industry experience, leadership capability, customer orientation and broader management perspective required for the position.
The new leader's onboarding is progressing well following the appointment.
The engagement illustrates how a replacement need can become an opportunity to define a role around the organization's future requirements rather than simply replicate the position that existed before.
- Position
- Head of Service / Site Manager Mexico
- Industry
- Industrial Machinery
- Location
- Querétaro, Mexico
- Mandate
- Service Leadership + Site Management
- International Interface
- Mexico / Germany
- Outcome
- Successful Placement
- Completed
- July 2026
Key Takeaway
“A replacement search does not necessarily require replacing the same role. Leadership transitions can create an opportunity to define what the organization needs next.”
Defining the mandate before entering the market.
For leadership searches, the job title alone rarely captures the complete hiring decision.
In this engagement, technical service expertise, people leadership, commercial orientation and broader site responsibility needed to be considered together before the relevant candidate market could be defined.
Explore the Atlas Method