FIT FIRST. THEN THE APPOINTMENT.
Executive Search For Leaders Who Stay
Executive Search For Leaders Who Stay
Retained executive search for food and beverage manufacturing across the United States, Director to C-suite. One person runs your search from briefing to close, and that person is me. I put a leader forward only when the move advances their career and answers a problem the business actually has.
Retained executive search for food and beverage manufacturing across the United States, Director to C-suite. One person runs your search from briefing to close, and that person is me. I put a leader forward only when the move advances their career and answers a problem the business actually has.
Retained executive search for food and beverage manufacturing across the United States, Director to C-suite. One person runs your search from briefing to close, and that person is me. I put a leader forward only when the move advances their career and answers a problem the business actually has.
Book a 30 minute call
F&B
FOOD AND BEVERAGE, EXCLUSIVELY
2006
IN FOOD MANUFACTURING SINCE
1
PERSON RUNS YOUR SEARCH, BRIEFING TO CLOSE
About Williams Recruitment
IrunretainedexecutivesearchforfoodandbeveragemanufacturersacrosstheUnitedStates.Privateequitysponsorsandfounder-ownedbusinesses,DirectortoC-suite,everysearchrunbyme.
Consiliopartnerswithambitiousteamstosimplifycomplexity,strengthenyourteamdecision-making&createsustainablegrowththroughstrategicexpertise.
IrunretainedexecutivesearchforfoodandbeveragemanufacturersacrosstheUnitedStates.Privateequitysponsorsandfounder-ownedbusinesses,DirectortoC-suite,everysearchrunbyme.
Williams Recruitment
Since 2020
Williams Recruitment
Since 2020
One person, accountable
I take your brief, I do the search, I have every conversation, and I am the one answering for it a year later. There is nowhere for me to hide.
One person, accountable
I take your brief, I do the search, I have every conversation, and I am the one answering for it a year later. There is nowhere for me to hide.
Sector depth
In food manufacturing since 2006, ten of those years working inside it. I do not need the sector explained and I will not learn your business on your time.
Sector depth
In food manufacturing since 2006, ten of those years working inside it. I do not need the sector explained and I will not learn your business on your time.
Fit discipline
I put a leader forward only when the move advances their career and answers a problem your business actually has. Appointments hold because of what I decline, not what I close.
Fit discipline
I put a leader forward only when the move advances their career and answers a problem your business actually has. Appointments hold because of what I decline, not what I close.
Food manufacturing
Beverage, breweries and spirits
Ingredients, distribution and foodservice
Pet food and specialty
Sectors
See all seven sectors
Seven sectors in food and beverage manufacturing. Director to C-suite, across the United States.
Seven sectors in food and beverage manufacturing. Director to C-suite, across the United States.
How I work
How I work
No research team. No account manager. I take your brief, I do the search, I have every conversation, and I am the one answering for it a year later.
No research team
Nobody to hand a difficult mandate to when it stops being easy. The person who sold you the search is the person doing it.
A shortlist I believe in
If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not pad the list to look busy.
I will say no
I turn down work outside my sector, and I will tell you a candidate is wrong when placing them would pay me.
Twenty-five conversations a week
Five calls a day with Director-level leaders and above in food manufacturing. That is why I can tell you within a week whether the person you are describing exists.
No research team
Nobody to hand a difficult mandate to when it stops being easy. The person who sold you the search is the person doing it.
A shortlist I believe in
If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not pad the list to look busy.
I will say no
I turn down work outside my sector, and I will tell you a candidate is wrong when placing them would pay me.
Twenty-five conversations a week
Five calls a day with Director-level leaders and above in food manufacturing. That is why I can tell you within a week whether the person you are describing exists.
No research team
Nobody to hand a difficult mandate to when it stops being easy. The person who sold you the search is the person doing it.
A shortlist I believe in
If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not pad the list to look busy.
I will say no
I turn down work outside my sector, and I will tell you a candidate is wrong when placing them would pay me.
Twenty-five conversations a week
Five calls a day with Director-level leaders and above in food manufacturing. That is why I can tell you within a week whether the person you are describing exists.
"At the senior level he works with, it is important that FIT is achieved. He asks the tough questions. He isn't afraid to push both parties to avoid a bad hire. This is absolutely unique in the recruiting field."
Jay David
Author, The Practical MBA Series
"In a world of resume floods and box-ticking, Scott operates differently. He brings deep food and beverage manufacturing expertise and a personal approach that makes all the difference when you're making a significant career move."
Mike Pierce, Sr.
SVP Operations and Supply Chain, Elevation Foods
"He communicates clearly, follows through on what he says, and always brings a high level of professionalism without making the process feel overly corporate or complicated."
Alan Duncan
Food Safety Leader, Distribution and Warehousing
"At the senior level he works with, it is important that FIT is achieved. He asks the tough questions. He isn't afraid to push both parties to avoid a bad hire. This is absolutely unique in the recruiting field."
Jay David
Author, The Practical MBA Series
"In a world of resume floods and box-ticking, Scott operates differently. He brings deep food and beverage manufacturing expertise and a personal approach that makes all the difference when you're making a significant career move."
Mike Pierce, Sr.
SVP Operations and Supply Chain, Elevation Foods
"He communicates clearly, follows through on what he says, and always brings a high level of professionalism without making the process feel overly corporate or complicated."
Alan Duncan
Food Safety Leader, Distribution and Warehousing
Our Approach
How a search runs
I do every step myself, so the person who understood your brief never hands it to somebody who did not.
Understand
Search
Screen
Understand the business
I sit with you until I know the role, the business and what wrong would look like. Most briefs describe a job. I want what the last person did or did not do, what the board is nervous about, and what happens to the plan if this hire does not land.
Understand the business
I sit with you until I know the role, the business and what wrong would look like. Most briefs describe a job. I want what the last person did or did not do, what the board is nervous about, and what happens to the plan if this hire does not land.
Search the whole market
I map every credible person at that level in your sector, not the ones who happen to be looking. I approach them directly, including the people who were not thinking about moving, which is usually where the best of them are.
Search the whole market
I map every credible person at that level in your sector, not the ones who happen to be looking. I approach them directly, including the people who were not thinking about moving, which is usually where the best of them are.
Screen before you see anyone
Everyone you meet has already had a conversation with me, and I screen on fit rather than availability. Then I stay in it through resignation, counter offer and the first ninety days, because that is where senior appointments come apart.
Screen before you see anyone
Everyone you meet has already had a conversation with me, and I screen on fit rather than availability. Then I stay in it through resignation, counter offer and the first ninety days, because that is where senior appointments come apart.
Why Williams Recruitment
I would rather lose the mandate than send you a shortlist I do not believe in
Most of this market runs on volume. Send more, place faster, move on. I will turn down work outside my sector, and I will tell you a candidate is wrong when placing them would pay me.
Sector, not function
Operations, supply chain, technical, commercial, finance, general management. Sector and seniority are the screens. I know how a food business works from the inside.
Sector, not function
Operations, supply chain, technical, commercial, finance, general management. Sector and seniority are the screens. I know how a food business works from the inside.
Built for both sides of the deal
A leader who does well in a founder-led business is often wrong for a sponsor-backed one. I screen for fit with your business, not with the job title.
Built for both sides of the deal
A leader who does well in a founder-led business is often wrong for a sponsor-backed one. I screen for fit with your business, not with the job title.
Straight answers at the briefing
If the spec is wrong you hear it on the first call, not three months in. If the right answer is promoting someone you already have, I will say so.
Straight answers at the briefing
If the spec is wrong you hear it on the first call, not three months in. If the right answer is promoting someone you already have, I will say so.
Nobody to hand it to
When a firm has forty consultants, the person who sold you the search is rarely the person doing it. Here they are the same person.
Nobody to hand it to
When a firm has forty consultants, the person who sold you the search is rarely the person doing it. Here they are the same person.
The difference
Why businesses choose Williams Recruitment
Why businesses choose Williams Recruitment
The volume model
Place people, make as much money as possible, move on. That is the model most of this market still runs.
Paid to close, not to be right
The candidate who can be placed, not the one who should be
Ten mandates, a shortlist barely met
Gone once the invoice clears
Speed sold as the answer to risk
How I work
Boards now ask what happens if this goes wrong. My answer is to act as a partner and focus on whether the leader stays, not on whether I get paid.
Fit before availability
Two people if I believe in two
Every conversation had by me
Accountable a year after the offer
Trust that brings the next search
0
0
In food manufacturing since
0
0
In food manufacturing since
0
0
Founded
0
0
Founded
0
0
Director-level conversations a week
0
0
Director-level conversations a week
0
0
Sectors, and nothing outside them
0
0
Sectors, and nothing outside them
FAQs
Questions I get asked
Why do you work alone?
Because the person who takes your brief should be the person who runs the search and answers for it a year later. It limits how many searches I run at once. It is also why the work is any good.
How long have you worked in the US?
What did you do before recruitment?
What have you got wrong?
What do you do all day?
Where are you based?
Tell me who you are trying to hire
I will tell you straight whether I am the right person for it. If I am not, I will say so on the call rather than three months into a search.
Weekly insights on hiring in US food and beverage.
Your details are handled with discretion. I answer my own email.
Sectors
© 2026 Williams Recruitment. All rights reserved.
Tell me who you are trying to hire
I will tell you straight whether I am the right person for it. If I am not, I will say so on the call rather than three months into a search.
Weekly insights on hiring in US food and beverage.
Your details are handled with discretion. I answer my own email.
Sectors
© 2026 Williams Recruitment. All rights reserved.
Tell me who you are trying to hire
I will tell you straight whether I am the right person for it. If I am not, I will say so on the call rather than three months into a search.
Weekly insights on hiring in US food and beverage.
Your details are handled with discretion. I answer my own email.
Sectors
© 2026. All rights reserved.