POSITION SUMMARY

Our client, RIX Industries (www.rixindustries.com), is seeking a dynamic new Director for the DOD/Navy/GSE Market Integrated Team. This position is the “CEO” of the business unit, with 75% of the job being business development related and 25% being operations.

RIX Industries manufactures a wide range of pneumatic energy storage and transfer system solutions, including reciprocating piston and screw compressors, gas generators, and liquefiers for industrial gasses, 75% of which are for military customers. RIX specializes in applying oil-free technology to high-pressure applications and other highly demanding environments. RIX has been in business since 1878 and has been proudly providing highly-customized products to the U.S. Armed Forces for over 120 years. With a solid industry reputation that is second to none, RIX is an established leader in American-made compressor engineering and manufacturing.

A company built on trust, experience, and a solid client base of over 80% repeat customers, RIX is dedicated to making clients for life, both domestically and globally. “Our products go into important projects; we’re honest, we make products that work, and we have pride in what our products do.” The employees achieve this through working in a structure that recognizes individual initiative, total team effort, and consistent project success. They take pride in their individual and corporate willingness to learn, innovate, and succeed.

RIX’s business is divided into four business units: Commercial, Aerospace, Service & Aftermarket, and DOD/Navy/GSE. These business units are referred to as Market Integrated Teams (MITs) and each is managed by a Market Integrated Team Director. The DOD/Navy/GSE Market Integrated Team focuses on sales to the Department of Defense, primarily the Navy, and on Ground Support Equipment, the same sort of equipment sold to the Navy, but on transportable frames. Market Integrated Team Directors essentially run their own businesses, primarily responsible for attaining company revenue and profit goals, defining strategy, managing their product lines, maintaining quality, preparing and managing budgets, motivating employees, and implementing corporate policies and procedures.

The Director for the DOD/Navy/GSE Market Integrated Team will be responsible for managing six direct reports and a total staff of 14 individuals, including engineers, designers, draftsmen, sales representatives, and production planners. DOD/Navy/GSE MIT sales represent 20-30% of RIX’s total revenue. The Director position reports to the Executive Vice President.
Areas of priority for this position include being a solid leader and team-player, being respectful of all personnel, communicating appropriately, leading with consistency and clarity, thinking logically, portraying a positive public image, motivating employees, maintaining a strong working knowledge of the industry, and promoting continuous process improvement. The Market Integrated Team Director needs to be a visionary, able to see not only the next step, but the entire path, including what the department will look like three, five, and ten years from now and what needs to be done today to get there. The Director must also possess the ability to recognize the team’s skills and abilities, so they can perform their duties without being constantly monitored.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES
It is expected that the Market Integrated Team Director will achieve the following by the end of the first quarter:
• Will have initiated a strong connection with each member of the MIT and the individual members of the management team (first 30 days).
• Will have visited with the current customers and outside stakeholders.
• In working with the Director of Finance and Accounting, will have developed a solid understanding of the financial portion of the business, to include the individual product lines, margin expectations, and forecasting.
• Will have developed an understanding of the company’s business model, objectives, and SOPs.
• Will have demonstrated a focus on quickly onboarding; a quick study.

It is expected that the Market Integrated Team Director will achieve the following by the end of the second quarter:
• By the end of the first 6 months, the current Market Integrated Team Director will have fully transitioned to his new position.
• Demonstrated understanding that the Market Integrated Team Director is running a business: Sales, Operations, and a balance between the two—a CEO mindset.
• Will have established an effective set of MIT leadership processes, embraced by the MIT subordinate leaders and staff.
• Will have developed an effective working relationship with the shared services within RIX (Manufacturing, Purchasing, Quality, Accounting, IT, etc.).
• Will have begun the visioning process for the next three, five, and ten years, including all the steps that need to be taken to get there (“leading from the front”) and the obstacles that need to be removed to do so.
• Developed a detailed market target list, with product use and/or development profile.

It is expected that the Market Integrated Team Director will achieve the following by the end of the first year:

• Will be seen as a fully participating and value-added member of the management team and a respected leader of the MIT.
• Will have led the MIT through the Director transition and will have established a team-supported vision for continuous improvement.
• Will have effectively led the MIT performance (OTD, GM, DQ, and Department Expense) on booked work and will have made a significant contribution to the capture of bookings during FY2019.
• Will have developed a business plan, future sales/GM forecast, and budget for FY2020 and beyond.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES
Successful candidates will have the following combination of experience that will allow them to achieve the outcomes noted above:
• A commanding presence; provides clear direction.
• Preference for experience in the military or as a civilian employee of the military.
• Business development responsibility of at least five million dollars in annual sales.
• Demonstrated experience leading an operations excellence culture (utilizes dynamic work design theory, lean principles, S&OP, formal problem-solving techniques, risk management, etc.)
• At least five years’ experience as the top program management leader of multiple, simultaneous, product development, production, and customer support contracts.
• A cultural appreciation that leverages what’s working within the system while flexibly promoting change in collaboration with peers.
• At least five years’ experience engaging with production operations processes (demand management, production scheduling, MRP, supply chain management, quality control, etc.)
• A demonstrated sense of timing; knowing when to do what.
• A demonstrated track record of team-building and staff development.
• Listens; doesn’t put too much or too little focus on the details.
• DOD acquisition process (DODI 5000.02, FAR/DFAR) familiarity is a plus.

EDUCATION
Successful candidates will have the following combination of skills and education that will allow them to achieve the outcomes as noted above:
• Undergraduate degree in engineering, program management, or business management preferred
• A history of continuous professional improvement (courses, certifications etc.)

CULTURE
The ideal candidate will possess a work style and personality that will create an excellent fit with the organization’s culture and structure:
• Supports the other managers and their department objectives
• Focuses on the “big RIX picture” and honors the storied history of company success
• Active participation in senior leadership of the company
• Leadership mentality, taking initiative, self-starter
• After decisions are made, moves forward with the team
• Promotes subordinates taking the lead while serving as a sounding board
• Sense of humor
• Solid trust and respect for colleagues
• Accountability
• Continuous improvement. The ability to evaluate what is working from what is not working and finding ways to improve versus reinventing the wheel.
• Open work process
• Emotional investment in the success of the company
• Embraces a quick pace and working with smart, fun, and effective colleagues

THE COMMUNITY
Benicia is a Bay Area city located adjacent to the Carquinez Strait, which is part of the San Francisco Bay. Benicia is 37 miles from San Francisco, 24 miles from Napa, and 160 miles from Lake Tahoe. A waterfront City of 28,000, Benicia is known for its small-town charm, history, and high quality of life. Benicia offers an abundance of leisure and recreational activities. The city has a full-service marina and several municipal parks and is home to the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park and Benicia State Recreation Area, a nearly 500-acre open space area located adjacent to Southampton Bay. The Parks and Community Services Department offers a variety of recreation activities and programs.
Benicia’s climate is temperate and Mediterranean, resulting in dry, warm summers and moderate winters. Annual rainfall averages nineteen inches and falls mostly from December through April. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average high temperature of 87 degrees, while the coldest month of the year is December, with an average high temperature of around 55 degrees. The mean annual temperature is 63 degrees.

COMPENSATION AND INTERVIEW PROCESS
The compensation package includes a salary of $180,000 plus a potential $20,000 bonus and excellent benefits, to include options for medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401K, and profit sharing. In addition, all employees work a 9-day/80-hour schedule, taking every other Friday off.
Pre-screened, selected candidates will be invited to interview in Benicia, CA, with the Search Committee, on December 3, 2018, with second interviews the following morning.

PROCEDURE FOR CANDIDACY
For confidential consideration, at your earliest convenience, but no later than noon, November 11th, 2018, please email your chronological resume (to include description and size of current/prior organizations and responsibilities) and compensation expectations to:
RIX-DMIT@wilcoxcareer.com

WILCOX MILLER & NELSON CONTACTS
Tiffany Frisa, Search Consultant
tfrisa@wilcoxcareer.com
Diane Miller, President
dmiller@wilcoxcareer.com