Mission Critical CFO

Stylische Hausfasade mit rotem Akzent

Successful placement in China’s challenging joint venture environment for a European market leader

In a market environment where many Western executives are turning their backs on China, filling a CFO position for a joint venture is akin to a mission critical task. For us at Steinkellner China Search, such challenging scenarios are precisely the motivation to demonstrate our expertise and commitment. In this success story, we show how we supported a leading European kitchen manufacturer in an extremely difficult situation. Faced with challenges such as the zero-Covid policy and the low attractiveness of joint ventures, we found a CFO for their substantial investment in China who was not only professionally excellent but also German-speaking and personally well-suited. Thus, we secured the financial management of the company in a critical phase.

A leading European kitchen manufacturer with over one billion euros in turnover and more than 5,000 employees in its home market had made a substantial investment in a joint venture at an important production site in China. However, due to China’s ongoing zero-Covid policy at the time and the associated travel restrictions, the company lost the CFO of this corporate merger who had been provided by the European partner. This role was and is of critical importance to our client in order to precisely manage and monitor financial conduct within the joint venture.

The challenge for us as Steinkellner China Search was multi-faceted: We were looking for a Western CFO, ideally German-speaking, who was willing to adapt to the special circumstances. This proved to be extremely difficult, as many German and Western executives had left China since the outbreak of the lockdowns, significantly depleting the market of available candidates. To further complicate matters, a joint venture is considered far less attractive to many talents than a position in a wholly-owned subsidiary. Moreover, in addition to undisputed professional qualifications, the sought-after personality had to possess a character that would have a de-escalating effect in a potentially tense environment and promote cooperation. The initial situation was thus significantly more challenging for us as a team than in many other projects.

Despite the complex situation, we succeeded in shaping the process successfully with our proven system and the tireless efforts of our five-person project team. Given the full schedules and seniority of all decision-makers involved on the client side, our proactive project management became even more important than usual. Close, personal guidance by Manfred Steinkellner made it possible to make timely adjustments at crucial points in the project and thus always act in the best interest of our client.

A key element of our approach was the targeted use of video interviews. Knowing our client’s time constraints, we made all relevant conversations available as video recordings. This allowed project participants to gain an initial, well-founded impression of the talents independently and with time flexibility. This significantly facilitated internal coordination and contributed substantially to shortening the project duration.

The direct and trusting connection to our client’s responsible CFO was invaluable in this process. After just five weeks of intensive search, we were able to present the first promising personalities, which early on created security and confidence in making swift progress despite the adverse circumstances. The feedback was extremely positive: Our contact was thrilled that we already had a candidate perceived as perfect in the interview after such a short time – a performance that exceeded his expectations, especially given the tense market situation.

After an intensive search process in which we evaluated more than 300 talents, we were able to present the ideal candidate to our client within three months and successfully fill the position. At the end of the process, two excellent executives were available for final selection, both perfectly matching the requirements. This allowed our client to involve the joint venture partner in the final decision-making process as planned.

The newly acquired German-speaking CFO for the joint venture in China proved to be a perfect match: Not only did he bring the required competence and experience for the challenging situation, but he also fit ideally in terms of personality and values to the requirements of both business partners and had a salary structure suitable for the company. The talents themselves also expressed great satisfaction with our professional and close support throughout the entire process.

“They provided us with two perfect candidates for the final selection, and our joint venture partner was able to choose one of them. Exactly as we had planned in advance.”
Christopher S., CFO

  • Our proven system and proactive project management, which delivers fast and precise results even with complex stakeholder structures and tight schedules.
  • The close personal guidance by Manfred Steinkellner, which ensures flexible and agile adaptation of the search process to changing circumstances.
  • The intelligent use of technology, such as video interviews, to increase efficiency and facilitate decision-making processes on the client side.
  • Our ability to generate access to an excellent talent pool and thoroughly evaluate more than 300 personalities, even in extremely tight candidate markets and for complex profiles such as a CFO role in a joint venture.
  • Our focus on the personality and “cultural fit” of the executives to ensure that they can act in a de-escalating and integrative manner not only professionally but also personally in demanding environments such as a joint venture.

Your success story could be the next

Is your company in China facing the challenge of filling a critical leadership position in a complex environment? Are you looking for talents who not only convince professionally but also fit perfectly culturally and personally? Let’s discuss how we can forge a tailored success alliance with your company as well.