I’m partnering exclusively with my family-owned client to help them find their next Accountant. This is a fast-growing commercial design and construction company. They help define skylines and create recognizable buildings. While they continue to grow, they are committed to keeping their tight-knit, family culture. This person will report the the Controller we placed over 5 years ago, and will be responsible for operational accounting.
Job Location: St. Paul
Senior Business Analyst (Manufacturing)
We are partnering with a midsize manufacturing company in the Twin Cities to hire a seasoned Business Analyst who can bridge the gap between business operations, product data, and technology. This is a newly created position reporting to the Applications Manager, with high visibility and significant interaction across business and IT leadership. The role will play a key part in improving product data quality, standardization, and governance while supporting major ERP and enterprise systems initiatives.
Technical Applications Specialist
This is a hands-on applications role for someone who understands the practical side of industrial liquid painting and can evaluate, troubleshoot, and improve coating results.
The position will own customer testing and demonstrations in an applications lab environment, translating real manufacturing requirements into equipment setups and process parameters. The company is also investing in an expanded applications lab, giving this individual an opportunity to influence how the space and processes are developed.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience with industrial liquid coatings, has experience in a paint booth, understands how to evaluate finish quality and troubleshoot application issues, and is comfortable working directly with customers in a practical lab environment.
Salary Range: 100k-120k base salary
Director of Product and Marketing
We’ve been engaged by a specialty manufacturer to find it’s first Director of Product & Marketing. They are a global leader in their specialty market, serving distributors and customers worldwide. It’s growing nearly 15% this year and aiming for 20% annually. Product management and marketing are the next chapter of the transformation.
This newly created role reports directly to the President. You’ll own product strategy, portfolio performance, and marketing across every product line, with a real seat at the leadership table and no layers of bureaucracy. Your job is to keep product decisions and marketing working together so both drive profitable growth and new markets.
What you’ll do
- Build and lead the team. You’ll lead and develop the Product Management and Marketing teams, including hiring two product managers. You’ll set clear priorities, build skills, and hold people accountable through a values-based performance system.
- Own the portfolio. You’ll set the roadmap, prioritization, positioning, pricing, and margins. You’ll make the calls on launches and enhancements, and on which products to retire.
- Grow the brand. You’ll build marketing strategies that strengthen the brand, win market share, generate demand, and make every launch land.
- Make decisions with insight. You’ll turn customer feedback, market intelligence, competitive moves, and financial results into clear choices.
- Tell the story. You’ll turn technical value into clear, compelling messages for customers, distributors, and the sales team.
- Work across the company. You’ll partner with Sales, Strategic Growth, Innovation, R&D, Regulatory, Operations, and Supply Chain on launches, market expansion, and growth opportunities.
- Build processes that last. You’ll create repeatable ways of planning, launching, and measuring, so good work becomes how the company operates.
What you bring
- A bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field
- Leadership experience in product management, marketing, commercialization, or business development in a manufacturing, industrial, or technical environment
- Strong business and financial skills, including pricing, margins, performance measurement, and investment tradeoffs
- Experience with technical products, industrial markets, and distributor channels is a strong plus
Who thrives here
A strategic thinker who’s also hands-on. Someone who speaks up, defends their point of view, and then delivers. Someone who gets energized by developing people and believes in the company’s values: Leadership, Strategy, Integrity, Innovation, and Collaboration. The culture is in person, and the best conversations happen around the table.
Director of IT
A privately owned Minnesota-based organization is launching its first internal IT leadership function and is seeking an experienced, hands-on Director of IT to help modernize the business and establish its technology roadmap.
With approximately $500M in revenue, ~200 employees and three locations across the Midwest and South, the company has significant resources, continued expansion plans and a long-standing reputation for stability. The organization is actively investing in equipment, facilities and people—and now wants technology to become a strategic advantage.
This is not a traditional “keep the lights on” IT role. The successful leader will:
- Partner with an established outsourced IT provider while bringing internal technology leadership to the business
- Lead an upcoming ERP modernization
- Evaluate and implement AI, automation and business software opportunities
- Strengthen cybersecurity practices and technology governance
- Assess infrastructure, servers, communications and hardware
- Identify opportunities to improve CRM, manufacturing equipment and operational systems
- Serve as a trusted technology advisor to operations and executive leadership
Ideal background: 7+ years of progressive IT experience, strong infrastructure/software knowledge, cybersecurity awareness, business systems/ERP experience and demonstrated success implementing technology improvements.
*** Must be local to Minnesota and no sponsorship available ***
Chief Financial Officer
Location: Open to remote talent – periodic travel to Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Compensation: Total compensation of $350,000 – $500,000
SkyWater is thrilled to be partnering with a growing financial institution looking for an experienced Chief Financial Officer to serve as its senior financial leader and a key member of the executive leadership team. Reporting directly to the CEO, this highly visible role will lead the finance organization and serve as a strategic partner to executive leadership, ownership, and the Board.
The CFO will play an important role in supporting the organization’s next phase of growth, with responsibility for strengthening capital planning, liquidity and balance-sheet management, forecasting, performance analytics, and business-line profitability. This leader will also help modernize the finance function, leveraging technology, automation, data, and AI-assisted tools to create more forward-looking financial insights and improve decision-making.
The organization operates across traditional consumer and commercial banking while also offering a broader range of specialized and technology-enabled financial products and services. This creates a level of complexity beyond that of a traditional community bank and requires a CFO who can balance strong financial discipline with an entrepreneurial, growth-oriented mindset.
The ideal candidate is a seasoned banking finance executive with deep technical expertise, experience operating within a larger or complex financial institution, and a proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams. This individual will be proactive, solutions-oriented, and comfortable partnering across the organization to help the business scale responsibly.
Vice President of Project Management & Installation
I have been retained by a client of mine to help them find a person who will fill a critical role in their organization. The company is a $650 million full-service provider of specialized graphic solutions spanning creative design, engineering, prototyping, manufacturing, project management and installation. The company creates visually impactful brand experiences for many of the world’s largest organizations across Retail, Transportation, Live Events, Commercial Print, Education, Medical, Insurance, Sports and Hospitality. With more than 2,100 employees across 20+ North American locations, they combine broad manufacturing capabilities with a national footprint, short lead times and a strong client-service orientation.
The Vice President of Project Management & Installation provides strategic leadership for project execution across my clients Retail and Transportation segments, with a strong focus on large-scale, complex installation programs. This role is responsible for building and institutionalizing a best-in-class project management discipline across the organization—establishing standardized processes, governance, tools, and capabilities that ensures industry leading customer experience through consistent execution and scalability. The VP leads the development of a structured, project management function that drives visibility, accountability, and predictability across all projects—from initial planning through final installation. The focus of this role in building a project management team that is focused on installation, execution and delivery. Working within a matrixed structure, this executive will build the organization, systems, contractor network, commercial model, and operating disciplines needed to create a differentiated national installation platform.
Human Resources Generalist
HR Generalist – College Recruiting & Safety Focus
Saint Paul, MN (Hybrid)
$75,000 – $85,000 (flexible to ~$90K for the right candidate)
Our client, a growing distribution company with ~250 employees/contractors across seven states, is adding an HR Generalist to their team. This is a hands-on, high-visibility role reporting directly to the HR leader. You’ll get exposure to nearly every facet of HR while owning two key programs: college recruiting and safety.
The Role
This is roughly 70% tactical HR generalist work, 30% program ownership. You won’t be the HR business partner for senior leadership, but you’ll have real autonomy over a well-established college recruiting pipeline and the safety program, with meaningful room to grow into additional areas (benefits strategy, culture initiatives, and more) as you show interest and aptitude.
What You’ll Own:
- A well-established rotational entry-level sales pipeline program (multiple hires per year): partnering with engineering schools across the Upper Midwest, attending career fairs, and building lasting relationships that create a real talent pipeline (not just a fair-attendance calendar)
- Safety program leadership: managing workers’ comp, coordinating OSHA/insurance inspections, biannual training, and first responder certification. Low-risk distribution environment, well-supported by a dedicated safety team.
Senior Financial Analyst
Are you a data-driven problem solver who loves turning complex operational challenges into clear, actionable insights? We’re looking for a Senior Financial Analyst to drive workforce strategy and operational analytics across customer service and operational teams.
In this role, you’ll connect finance, operations, and workforce planning to help leaders answer questions like: Where are the bottlenecks? Are staffing, process, or productivity issues slowing us down? How can we optimize resources to improve service and revenue?
Only candidates located in Minnesota will be considered.
Controls Engineer
SUMMARY
The Controls Engineer III is responsible for developing innovative automation solutions for packaging machinery. This role provides leadership to a cross-functional team of mechanical and controls engineers, assembly technicians, and validation staff in a matrix organization, with an emphasis on new product development and engineering for commercial products. Working closely with the Electrical Engineering Manager, this individual specifies new equipment in alignment with market needs.
This job description highlights the primary responsibilities and authority of the position but is not intended to be all-inclusive.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
New Machinery Development
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Create new machinery concepts, including automation specifications, configuration options, and cost targets for prototype systems.
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Estimate time and material requirements for new machinery quotes.
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Direct concept development using test rigs and components.
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Present specifications for milestone reviews and maintain updated documentation.
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Report project deviations, risks, and cost variances to the Electrical Engineering Manager.
Engineering of New Equipment and Machinery Lines
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Develop automation platforms, control architectures, electrical assemblies, schematics, and bills of material (BOMs).
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Design control cabinet layouts, conduit systems, and program HMI, PLC, and robotic control software.
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Document BOMs and ensure accuracy for product configuration.
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Manage and record all Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) and Engineering Change Notices (ECNs).
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Lead technical design reviews to ensure peer review and knowledge sharing.
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Ensure compliance with all applicable safety standards (OSHA, EU Machinery Directive, and local authorities) and integrate safety risk assessments.
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Provide project management and technical leadership from order entry through field testing.
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Serve as the technical liaison with customers, sales, and project management, communicating specifications, project plans, and change orders.
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Direct assembly and validation staff during build and test phases.
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Partner with sales, project management, and service teams to resolve technical field issues.
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Upon field test completion, transfer prototype documentation to the commercial engineering team.
Process Improvement and Knowledge Sharing
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Mentor colleagues in machinery development practices and serve as a subject matter expert (SME) in key competency areas.
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Support refinement of the product development process to improve lead times, cost efficiency, quality, and safety.
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Stay current on automation technologies and share insights with the engineering team.
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Report machine performance and safety concerns to the Electrical Engineering Manager.
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Perform other duties as assigned.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
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Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, or associate degree in Engineering with 7+ years of relevant experience designing and programming PLC, HMI, and servo control systems.
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Experience with high-speed servo-driven machinery required.
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Familiarity with Allen-Bradley (AB) and Fanuc PLC systems.
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Proficiency with Rockwell Automation software and hardware (RSLogix5000, ControlLogix, CompactLogix, PowerFlex VFDs, Kinetix servo drives, PanelView HMIs) preferred.
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5+ years of AutoCAD experience in schematic generation required.
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Experience with 3D parametric CAD and Product Data Management (PDM) systems preferred.
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Prior exposure to packaging or cam-driven machinery preferred.
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Experience specifying robotics and pick-and-place systems preferred.
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Project management and customer-facing experience strongly preferred.
TECHNICAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES
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Capable of designing and managing control systems for machinery and integrated packaging lines.
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Strong ability to read, analyze, and troubleshoot electrical schematics and engineering software.
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Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools.
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Skilled in mentoring and leading design and project teams.
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Strong problem-solving, troubleshooting, and critical thinking abilities.
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Ability to adapt to a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
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Communicates effectively, both verbally and in writing, with individuals and groups at all levels, internal and external.
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Works collaboratively with cross-functional teams and demonstrates flexibility in partnering with diverse personalities.
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Contributes to team problem-solving by suggesting ideas and resolving issues constructively.
