The Company
Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with approximately $48 billion of assets under management and a portfolio of approximately 50 operating companies that serve customers around the world. Platinum’s current portfolio of companies generates ~$90 billion of aggregate revenue and employs ~190,000 people globally. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions, and operations – a trademarked strategy it calls M&A&O® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, telecommunications, and other industries. Over the past 28 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 450 acquisitions. Platinum specializes in complex carve-outs from Fortune 500 companies, public to private transactions, and specialty acquisitions from private sellers.
The Role
To support the firm’s continued growth and to enhance the value of its investments, Platinum is seeking to hire a VP of Portfolio Operations – Procurement. The VP will lead major value creation and transformation initiatives at Platinum’s portfolio companies, with a focus on sourcing, procurement, and operations projects. The VP will partner closely with deal teams, management teams, and consultants to improve the performance of portfolio companies and produce transformational results.
The VP will be responsible for owning and driving the value creation plan for operations and supply chain-focused workstreams, especially sourcing and procurement projects, from strategy through execution. The VP will promote robust corporate governance and ensure timely delivery of relevant financial and operational KPIs, and will monitor strategic and operational initiatives within portfolio companies, ultimately contributing to a successful exit.
Experience & Requirements
• 10-20 years of progressive leadership experience in both consulting and in-house industry transformations.
• Deep expertise in strategic sourcing and procurement. Broad exposure across operations and supply chain.
• Track record of driving transformation requiring complex and heavy change, with proven results; thrives in the opportunity to create impact and value.
• PE Experience-in a PE fund, in-house with a PE backed firm, or consulting projects with PE clients.
• Diversity of experience across industries, businesses, global regions.
• Carve-out, stand-up, merger integration experience.
• Experience with companies relevant to Platinum portfolio, e.g. companies with $1B-$5B annual revenue, $200M-$1B EBITDA, employee base of 1000-5000; specifically has focused on EBITDA improvement for low growth/maturing companies vs. high-growth focus (topline only).
• Demonstrated ability to identify and act on critical value levers.
• Demonstrated ability to operate both at the strategic level and tactical project execution, and ability to balance “getting hands dirty” and overseeing (finding the proper level of interaction with key personnel).
• Management expertise with a proven track record of building high-performance teams.
• Operational background with a strong focus on change management and process/technology improvements.
• Strong project management and execution skills.
• A logical and analytical approach to complex problems.
• Intellectual curiosity and ability to “think outside of the box”.
• Friendly and engaging personality, enjoys working in partnership with others, and fostering cooperation and collaboration with people at all levels.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills (need to build a positive relationship with key personnel) and ability to influence and manage various stakeholders at multiple levels.
