Wonderware Benelux Partners with IMSA Belgium to Fill New Business Development Management Position

IMSA Belgium is represented by Atlantae Executive Search

The Challenge

Wonderware (by Schneider Electric) is the global market leader in real-time operations management software. Wonderware software delivers significant cost reductions associated with designing, building, deploying and maintaining secure and standardized applications for manufacturing and infrastructure operations. Their solutions enable companies to synchronize their production and industrial operations with business objectives, obtaining the speed and flexibility to attain sustained profitability. Wonderware’s mission is “To empower people to control their world through connected technology”.

Wonderware “Benelux” is a major player in the industrial automation. Quality and commitment to their customers are values high up on the agenda. The corporate culture at Wonderware Benelux can be described as informal but professional. An important strength of the company is the open, honest culture and flat organization with short lines of communication. They believe in working and playing hard, with people who’ve got your back. The core values of Wonderware Benelux are: Interdependence, Quality, Dedication and Commitment.
In order to continuously strengthen the Benelux organization, IMSA Belgium (Atlantae Executive Search) was approached to conduct the search for this important position. The candidates to be approached needed to fulfill the following characteristics

• Strong business acumen
• Industrial domain expertise (plant and factory automation)
• Higher technical engineering degree
• Management skills
• Solution selling mindedness
• Exceptional listening and interpersonal skills
• A collaborative spirit and very flexible approach to sales
• Self-motivated, passionate towards building strong customer relationships

The greatest challenge was finding the right candidate in a very stressful market due to the growth of a high domestic demand due to a – more than in other countries – high expansion of the local investment projects. This domestic demand growth is driven by 3 local factors: higher labour income, lower personal income taxes, and strong rise in dividends, therefore resulting in an even bigger investment projects in a market with the Business Confidence Indicator at its highest point during the last 5 years.

Why IMSA Belgium

Members of IMSA International Executive Search are boutique retained search firms. They provide their clients with international organized executive search services with access to a large number of highly specialized networks of potential candidates. IMSA Belgium (Atlantae Executive Search) specifically, is a well-established executive search boutique, with more than 15 years of experience in the search for engineering profiles in the automation industries.
According to Eric van Nispen, General Manager Wonderware Benelux, the search mandate was awarded to IMSA Belgium due to its expertise in the market, and the high level of specialism of all of its recruiters, having in-depth knowledge of the local Benelux Industrial Automation markets. IMSA Belgium’s search processes are structured, having a lean approach, and offering higher responsiveness than most of the well-known executive search companies. IMSA Belgium | Atlantae Executive Search has again proven to be of high value for the successful completion of the project.

What we did

As do all IMSA members, our search process follows a very rigorous methodology such as mapping off-limit companies, target specific competitors, and establish a competences list of the most interesting candidate to present to our client. Through a personal involvement of our consultants, managing every single step of the search process, we are in constant communication with our client from the discussion about the detailed specification about the role of the person required. Subsequently, a thorough search is performed, resulting in identifying individuals, closely matching the required fields of expertise. After face to face interviews, assessment of their in-depth experience, candidates are invited to our client for the next steps in the hiring process.
Our consultants follow up very closely, from the first interview until the very last step, the assessment of the final candidate. At IMSA Belgium, we go for “final result”, signing the contract with the best candidate. Until then, our consultants stay focused in continuing their search for the candidate no matter how much time the process takes.

The results

A very happy client and an even happier new Wonderware Benelux team member, anxious to advise new customers with Wonderware’s portfolio of industrial software solutions, and as a direct result boosting the sales of the Benelux division in line with Wonderware’s worldwide strategy. We both wish Wonderware Benelux, and our candidate lots of successes in this very demanding and competitive world’s offering, looking to adapt the world’s best of breed industrial software automation solutions.

Patrick Van Lijsebetten, CEO
IMSA Belgium / Atlantae Executive Search

If you are looking for executives in the IT / Industrial Automation business reach out to one of our boutique executive search partners for help in finding the perfect candidate. In the Global Offices section of our website you will find a list of our offices worldwide with the necessary contact details.