The Opportunity

Microbiologics, Inc., a Granite Company, is searching for its next exceptional Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to prepare for Brad Goskowicz’s transition to Board Chair in 2023. The next CEO will build on the company’s history, growth, and innovation by capitalizing on opportunities for product and market expansion while growing revenue and value. This is a significant opportunity for a CEO or proven Division Manager who has developed untapped market opportunities and driven operational excellence, sales, and profits in a complex industry environment.

The current CEO will be retiring and will help ensure a smooth transition as he moves to the Board Chair role. The new CEO’s transition will also benefit from a strong and committed executive management team as well as through support from an engaged Board of Directors including the current Board Chair who will shift to an at-large director role through 2023 to help ensure a smooth transition.

Microbiologics has been scaling and growing rapidly for more than a decade under the leadership of the current CEO. The leadership team has been strengthened during this time period, key growth initiatives and acquisitions have led to significant growth in enterprise value, and a solid foundation is in place for future growth. A key challenge for the next CEO will be to manage rapid growth by building capacity and capability to maintain momentum. Succession and organizational planning, retaining and attracting talent, and preserving and strengthening culture are additional challenges for continued growth and long-term sustainability.

This opportunity is well suited for an experienced CEO or Division Manager who would appreciate the entrepreneurial environment surrounding Microbiologics and the operating autonomy, benefits, and support associated with being a company owned by Granite Partners. The right candidate will be attracted to Microbiologics’ people, products, and potential for continued growth. This is truly an exceptional opportunity for a leader who values community and the opportunities afforded in a growing region known for a high quality of life.

Location

We believe CEOs are most effective when residing within the community where the company’s headquarters and primary workforce is located. We want to be candid about the importance of a leader being present with management team members and employees. The “preferred” home residence for this CEO role is in the Greater St. Cloud, Minnesota, region. However, we are open to an alternative home residence in the Twin Cities area with committed time in the St. Cloud headquarters (for example, average of 2 or more days per week). Significant travel is required to offices in San Diego, Lexington, Kalamazoo, as well as to distributors, key customers, key suppliers, tradeshows and related.

The Position

The CEO proactively interacts with the Microbiologics Board of Directors and Leadership Team to lead strategic planning, management team development and succession, and scorecarding toward the achievement of the company’s long-term goals. The CEO reports to the Board Chair and is ultimately responsible for the successes and the failures of the company.

The CEO serves as a member of the Governance Committee, along with the Board Chair and Granite Partners Board Member. This trio proactively communicates between board meetings to move strategic matters and decisions forward in a timely manner and helps define agendas, debrief on meetings, and follow up on action items. Additionally, Microbiologics’ CEO collaborates with other leaders in the Granite community as a member of the Granite Leaders Group (Board Chairs, CEOs, and Partners) and the CEO Affinity.

Key responsibilities include:

Team Building – continue to strengthen and develop a cohesive Leadership Team.
Culture – support and advance the existing culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation.
Strategy – set the strategic vision and take the organization to the next level of growth.
Go-to-Market Model and Organizational Design – develop and implement future state go-to-market model and corresponding commercial organizational design for the company to accelerate organic and acquisitive growth.
Acquisitions – Build M&A and integration capabilities within the organization to prepare for future add-on acquisitions. In the medium- to long-term, develop a robust perspective on the industry and customers to identify and develop a proactive add-on acquisition pipeline to complement the existing business.
Capital Allocation – effectively allocate capital across business units, product lines, and inorganic growth opportunities to support strategic priorities to deliver upon the medium- and long-term growth aspirations of the business.
Board Relations – own and manage the relationship and communication with the Board of Directors, preparing the Leadership Team for board meetings and ensuring the organization is prepared to make key strategic decisions.

Strategic Planning and Market Development

Continue to advance and evolve the company’s strategic plan, including Mission, Vision, Values, Objective, Scope, and Advantage statements. Ensure that: the activities of the organization are aligned to the execution of the strategy; the company has a unique customer value proposition which differentiates Microbiologics from the competition; and the strategy provides the best opportunity for the realization of stakeholder objectives.
Identify and implement transformational strategies to ensure that the company’s growth opportunities, whether organic or through acquisition, create long-term value.
Control the capital expenditure and asset deployment activities toward the achievement of the strategic plan.
Assess and develop mitigation plans for key risks facing the company.

Leadership Planning and Organization Design

Provide leadership and management to ensure that the mission and core values of the company are practiced daily.
Promote high levels of employee engagement, wellbeing, and personal integrity across the organization.
Motivate and lead a high-performance management team; attract, recruit, develop and retain key leaders throughout the organization; provide mentoring as a cornerstone to leadership development and succession management.
Provide strategic support to executives and management in areas of linking business unit/operation strategies, coaching business units/operations through organization, regulatory, and business issues.
Promote diversity and inclusion to achieve innovative results through collaboration.
Establish credibility throughout the organization and with the Board of Directors as an effective developer of solutions to business challenges.
Direct the operating activities of the company.
Represent the company with customers, sales representatives, investors, and business partners.

Scorecard Planning and Value Creation

Develop and administer compliance and reporting functions, including a balanced scorecard of strategic, financial, customer, operations, and innovation metrics.
Drive the company to achieve and surpass sales, profitability, cash flow, and business goals and objectives, continuously striving to maximize shareholder and employee value.
Lead the annual, independent valuation process and leverage the information toward ongoing value creation.
Advance and evolve plans for the operational infrastructure of systems, processes, and personnel designed to accommodate the growth objectives of the company.
Foster a success-oriented, accountable environment within the company and a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Candidate Profile

This key leadership position requires 15 or more years of experience in life sciences industry, ideally in biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical, in vitro diagnostics or related industries (including an understanding of the healthcare industry) with progressive, multi-functional experience. The right candidate will be a leader who is strong in vision and strategy as well as organizational development and talent recruiting. Qualified candidates will possess a particularly strong sales and marketing background with a broad-based understanding of operations and finance. The successful candidate will likely be technically oriented and inclined to maximize his or her contribution to the company. An undergraduate degree is required; an advanced degree is desired.

Prior general management experience, including complete profit and loss accountability, is desired, as is a track record of achieving superior growth and profitability results within the industry. Exceptional leadership skills are essential, characterized by a drive to succeed through team development. Experience in an industry that is related to or has a relevant business model to Microbiologics is a definite advantage, as is experience in a regulated environment. Corporate development or M&A experience is desirable. Additionally, this individual must have the capacity to collaborate with other executive level officers within Granite Partners and the Granite Companies, taking advantage of resources throughout the community and becoming an integral part of the overall leadership team.

Key required competencies include:

Vision and strategic planning
Culture and leadership
Team development
Digital transformation
Acquisitions and integrations
Value creation

Required skills and experience include:

Excellent people and sales management skills. Passionate focus on sales and execution.
Knowledgeable in today’s best practices in operational excellence and continuous improvement concepts, with an emphasis on lean manufacturing concepts.
Strong financial skills with the ability to identify areas of opportunity and make bottom line-oriented decisions to improve results and support long- and short-term planning.

Microbiologics, Inc.

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