CEO / Managing Director — Executive Leadership for Operations

Scott Foster operates as CEO and Managing Director for industrial, manufacturing and distribution businesses — leading full P&L accountability, commercial rigour and operating performance across complex manufacturing and industrial sectors.

This is the same operator who has run full P&L mandates through founder-owned, private-equity-backed and listed environments — not an external adviser working at arm's length.

Turnaround, transition and growth mandates in Australia and APAC.

Where this fits

Demand → Pricing → Cash → EBITDA → Network → Visibility → Value

$110M+ Revenue Managed

20+ Yrs Operating Experience

17× EBIT Exit (Dotmar)

12 Countries Operated

Track Record

Proven results.
Across industrial businesses.

Dotmar Engineering Plastics — CEO

17× EBIT exit multiple. Full P&L accountability, restructured operations and commercial model ahead of PE trade sale.

Polyflor APAC — CEO & MD

300% EBITDA growth. Rebuilt the regional business across ANZ, overseeing manufacturing, distribution and commercial teams.

Plascorp — CEO

85% EBIT expansion in 18 months. Operational and commercial transformation of an industrial distribution business.

Full Track Record

Scale & Complexity

Experience leading industrial, manufacturing and distribution businesses across Australia and Asia Pacific, including:

$110M+ APAC operating platform.
170+ employees across multiple countries, sites and business units.
12 markets across Asia Pacific.
300% EBITDA growth achieved through operational improvement and commercial execution.
Multiple acquisitions, integrations and value creation initiatives.
Board, investor and shareholder reporting across listed, private-equity-backed and founder-led environments.
Deep experience translating between founders, management teams, boards and investors.

This is not a strategic advisory mandate. It is a leadership mandate for organisations requiring an operator to take accountability for execution, performance and outcomes.

Pricing, working capital and operating cadence move together under this kind of leadership — not as separate workstreams. Capital allocation carries the same weight as commercial growth. Execution sits between board strategy and owner expectations, over the full term of the mandate, not as a short-term reset. Results are measured, not reported.

Typical Mandate Profile

This mandate is typically engaged when a board, founder or investor requires full P&L leadership rather than advisory support.

Common situations include:

Founder-led businesses requiring institutionalisation, management depth and succession readiness.
Private equity portfolio companies seeking EBITDA improvement, cash generation and execution discipline.
Manufacturing, industrial and distribution businesses requiring operational scale and commercial improvement.
Multi-site branch and service networks requiring performance visibility, accountability and governance cadence.
Businesses preparing for sale, acquisition, integration or leadership transition.

Ready to discuss a mandate?
Let’s talk.

Direct engagement — no search firm, no agency fee. Full accountability from day one.

Start a Conversation Mandates & Deployment

Mandate Types

Three ways to engage.
One standard of accountability.

Boards and PE firms engage directly — no search firm, no agency fee. The same operational accountability regardless of mandate type or duration.

CEO & Managing Director

Full-time CEO and Managing Director for boards, private equity firms and privately held industrial businesses. Permanent placement, full P&L ownership.

— Full-Time CEO / MD placement — Transformation CEO turnaround — CEO for Scale through acquisition — Pre-Exit CEO value creation

Explore CEO Mandate

Interim CEO

Deployable within days for industrial businesses facing transition, underperformance or sudden leadership change. Available now. No onboarding lag.

— Interim / Acting CEO deployment — PE Operating Partner (hold period) — Distress and crisis leadership — Bridge between CEO appointments

Explore Interim CEO Mandate

PE Operating Partner

Embedded operator for PE-backed industrial businesses. Drives the value creation plan alongside the deal team — EBITDA improvement, working capital and exit readiness.

— Embedded during hold period — Post-acquisition integration — EBITDA turnaround mandate — Pre-exit value creation

Explore Operating Partner Mandate

“Boards and PE firms engage directly. No search firm, no agency fee. The same accountability as a permanent appointment — from day one.”

How I Work

Inside the business.
Not above it.

Diagnose Before Acting

I start with a commercial and operational audit — pricing, margin, working capital, execution cadence. No assumptions. Real numbers from inside the business.

Build the Value Creation Plan

A structured improvement plan with clear priorities, owners, timelines and metrics. Not a strategy document — a working tool that drives weekly decisions.

Execute With Full Accountability

I hold the P&L. I sit in the operating cadence. I make or support the decisions that move the numbers. Results are measured, not reported.

Transfer and Exit Cleanly

Whether stabilising, preparing for exit, or transitioning to permanent leadership — the goal is a business that runs without me.

Operating Method

How I run the business

For industrial businesses, CEO performance is measured differently than in service or technology sectors. Revenue growth is only part of it. The board needs to see EBITDA improving, working capital tightening, pricing discipline holding and branch or distribution performance converging — not diverging — as the business scales. These are the measures that translate into enterprise value.

Weekly operating cadence
KPI ownership
ERP and analytics alignment
Pricing and margin visibility
Working capital discipline
Branch and network performance
Board-level reporting discipline

Performance Visibility Track Record Discuss a Mandate

Next Step

Many businesses are no longer carrying operating leverage. They are carrying operational drag — overhead, complexity and reporting burden that has grown faster than the commercial capacity it was designed to support.

Go to next step: Leadership Mandates View full sequence

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