Interim President and Tandem Placement: Rebuilding the U.S. Leadership of a Space Industry Supplier

From the sudden separation from a long-term President to a stronger leadership team — interim, President, and COO from one coordinated engagement

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Placements

1 interim + 2 permanent

Months

on an 80% basis (four days per week)

2×

U.S.

revenue target

CLIENT CONTEXT

A Highly Specialized Technology Provider with a Strategic U.S. Presence

The client is an international technology group for test and measurement solutions — hardware and software used to validate safety-critical components before deployment. Its technological foundation goes back to university research; the group is owned by a publicly listed industrial holding. Some 70 employees worldwide serve customers in space, defense, aviation, and industry: hardly a U.S. space mission lifts off without components validated on the client’s systems.

The U.S. subsidiary — a sales and service unit of about ten people, with an East Coast office and home-office-based sales across several states — generated roughly $5 million of the group’s $12 million in revenue. Sales had been stagnating for years; the shareholders’ goal: double U.S. revenue to $10 million within five years.

Ownership:	International technology group · owned by a publicly listed industrial holding
Global footprint:	~70 employees worldwide · locations on three continents
U.S. organization:	Sales and service unit · ~10 employees · East Coast office + home-office sales force
Revenue:	~$12M group · ~$5M USA · target: $10M within 5 years
Industry:	Industrial test and measurement technology · space, defense, aviation, industrial

THE SITUATION

A Sudden Leadership Exit in a Fragile Organization

The separation from the long-term President came at short notice — following differences with headquarters. With it, the only leadership instance of a small, highly technical organization was gone, and structural weaknesses surfaced at once:

Leadership vacuum

The U.S. organization — technically strong, but without a second management level — was left without leadership. Uncertainty in the team compounded the situation.

Financial transparency

The finance side was weak: reporting and forecasting gave headquarters no reliable view of the subsidiary’s economic position.

Communication with headquarters

Little information flowed between the U.S. unit and the parent — trust and steerability had suffered.

Stagnating sales

Direct sales only, no manufacturers’ reps, no inside sales, long public-tender cycles — and the team lacked senior sales management experience.

The compounding factor:

a highly specialized niche technology, a demanding customer base with long procurement cycles, an unsettled team, and a headquarters without reliable insight — the shareholders needed immediate stabilization and, at the same time, a fundamentally stronger leadership structure.

ENGAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Two Phases. Interdependent. Fully Coordinated by TH Bender.

PHASE I

INTERIM PRESIDENT

TH Bender Interim · 9 months · 80% basis

An experienced interim President with a management and finance background, deployed at short notice
Stabilization of day-to-day business and consistent leadership of the technical team
Hands-on month-end oversight: reliable reporting to headquarters
Development of a clear budget and forecast as the basis for strategic planning
Introduction of key procedures and internal guidelines for effectiveness and compliance
Restoration of open, transparent communication with headquarters — the foundation for the subsequent search

PHASE II

TANDEM SEARCH: PRESIDENT + COO

Retained · Nationwide

A full retained search process with national market coverage
Role definition built on the interim President’s operational insights: sales development and strategic leadership with the President — operational and administrative responsibility bundled in a newly created COO role
President profile: leadership experience in test and measurement technology, strategic sales capability (building manufacturers’ rep and inside sales structures), credibility with highly technical customers
President placed: an executive whose career spanned two of the world’s most respected companies in measurement and industrial technology
From the same search process: a COO to lead operations in the background
Clear role architecture: the President as the face and voice of the company, the COO as its operational backbone

What set this approach apart: TH Bender Interim and TH Bender Executive Search acted as one engagement, not two parallel assignments. The interim President delivered more than a bridge — he delivered real-time operating knowledge that precisely defined the permanent leadership architecture: a President-COO tandem instead of renewed one-person responsibility.

ENGAGEMENT COMPLEXITY

Sudden leadership exit:	Separation without notice — an immediate vacuum in an organization without a second management level
Interim-to-permanent:	Nine months of interim stabilization as foundation and intelligence source for the permanent placement
Niche technology:	Only a handful of providers worldwide — candidates with sector credibility and U.S. market access correspondingly rare
Role architecture:	Splitting previous one-person responsibility into a tandem of President (strategy, sales, external presence) and COO (operations)
Cross-border governance:	Rebuilding trust and information flow between the U.S. unit and its international headquarters

OUTCOME

One Engagement. Three Placements. A Stronger Leadership Team Than Before.

President

An executive with career stations at two of the most respected companies in measurement and industrial technology assumed overall responsibility — with a clear mandate for sales development and growth.

COO

From the same search process, a COO was won for operational and administrative leadership — a newly created role that frees the President to focus fully on market and customers.

INTERIM PRESIDENT — RESULTS (TH BENDER INTERIM)

Business stabilized, team led, continuity secured
Reliable reporting, budget, and forecast established
Key procedures and internal guidelines introduced
Open, transparent communication with headquarters restored
Day-to-day operating insights fed directly into the requirements profile for the permanent leadership

The strategic outcome:

an abrupt leadership exit became a fundamentally stronger leadership structure — a President with a first-class industry pedigree, a COO as the operational foundation, and a U.S. subsidiary with a clear growth mandate: doubling revenue within five years.

Frequently asked questionsInterim President & Executive Search USA for Technology Companies

When does an interim President make sense for a U.S. subsidiary?

When a leadership position becomes vacant abruptly and the organization has no second management level. An interim President secures day-to-day continuity, restores reliable reporting to headquarters, and lays the groundwork for a structured permanent placement — often on a part-time basis, as here at 80%.

Why interim stabilization before the permanent search?

The interim manager delivers real-time operating knowledge: what strengths and gaps does the organization really have, and what leadership architecture does it need? The requirements profile for the permanent placement is built on operational reality rather than theoretical assumptions — and the search loses its time pressure.

How does one search produce two placements?

A structured retained search with full market coverage regularly identifies several highly qualified candidates. In this case, the previous one-person responsibility was deliberately split into a President-COO tandem — and both roles were filled from one coordinated process.

What is different about executive search in niche technology markets?

In markets with only a handful of providers worldwide, the pool of candidates with direct sector experience is small. The search must systematically cover adjacent sectors — measurement technology, test systems, industrial technology — while ensuring the technical credibility that highly specialized customers expect.

How do you restore communication between a U.S. subsidiary and its headquarters?

Reliable numbers come first: month-end closings, budget, and forecast that hold up at headquarters. On that basis, trust can be rebuilt — and the U.S. leadership gains the autonomy it needs to operate effectively across time zones.

Facing a sudden leadership change in your U.S. organization?

A confidential conversation creates clarity — on interim options, structured executive search in the USA, and the right leadership architecture for your U.S. operations.