Process & Chemical

The UK’s senior chemical community is small, and many of the most capable leaders know each other personally. A discreet approach, handled carefully at every stage, is therefore essential to the outcome of a search.

As specialist chemical headhunters, we approach leaders who are settled in their current roles, and we keep their interest private until they choose to take it further. Our Process & Chemical practice forms part of our wider manufacturing executive search work.

Process & Chemical leaders we appoint

Stone Executive appoints board, executive team and senior management leaders for process and chemical businesses. Many of these roles involve hazardous operations, sites in several countries and complex customer portfolios, so the technical and regulatory setting of each role guides how we carry out the search.

• Chief executives and managing directors
• Chief operating officers, site directors and operations directors
• Technical, research and development directors
• Health, safety, environment and quality directors
• Commercial and business development directors
• Supply chain and procurement directors
• Non-executive directors and chairs with chemical industry experience

Our briefs in the sector have included a chief operating officer search covering three European manufacturing sites and two distribution centres, and a commercial director role for a speciality coatings manufacturer. Where a site keeps or uses dangerous substances above set threshold quantities, its operator has duties under the COMAH Regulations, which the Health and Safety Executive says apply mainly to the chemical industry. We therefore assess safety leadership as closely as commercial and operational experience.

Process & Chemical markets we cover

Our Process & Chemical practice covers speciality chemicals, coatings and adhesives, lubricants, polymers and plastics, and wider process manufacturing. Every market has its own customers, technologies and leadership group, and we match each search to the segment of the industry in which the appointed leader will work.

Our chemical industry executive search work spans businesses supplying consumer, industrial and trade markets, from family-owned specialists to the UK operations of international groups. Where a brief extends into refining or petrochemicals, it runs alongside our oil and gas leadership practice, and process engineering appointments draw on our engineering leadership searches.

Chemical businesses are appointing leaders while cost pressure continues. In the Chemical Industries Association business survey for the second quarter of 2026, 44% of companies said planned investment had been delayed, reduced or cancelled, with the cost of UK energy cited as the dominant issue. Leaders who can manage energy costs, protect margin and make a sound case for investment are especially valuable in this climate.

Why discretion matters in Process & Chemical appointments

Discretion matters in Process & Chemical appointments because senior candidates, their current employers and the appointing organisation often know one another, and if an approach becomes public, relationships on all sides can suffer. Candidates are far more willing to engage with a search when they trust that their interest will be kept confidential.

Candidates who have worked with Stone Executive describe the same priority. Warren James, Chief Operating Officer of Rust-Oleum Corporation, wrote of his own appointment that “the UK Chemical Industry at senior level is a very close and small community where the utmost of respect of privacy for all parties is required.” In the same testimonial he notes that the offer stage fell over the summer, when annual holidays had to be worked around. Ian Lowe, Manufacturing General Manager at Comma Oil & Chemicals Limited, wrote: “I would have no hesitation in recommending Stone Executive to anybody looking to advance their career within the Process & Chemical Manufacturing industry.”

Our Process & Chemical executive search process

Our Process & Chemical executive search process is retained and led by a partner from the first briefing, and for any site-based role the assessment gives particular weight to process safety. Once the brief is agreed, a typical search reaches an accepted offer in four to eight weeks, although the notice periods of senior leaders can delay the start date.

For a site or operations director at a COMAH establishment, the process safety record carries as much weight as commercial results, including the major accident hazards the candidate has been responsible for and how they have worked with the regulators.

Roles covering a number of countries, such as the chief operating officer brief noted above, call for leaders who have operated plants under more than one set of regulations. The HSE notes that UK REACH, which has applied in Great Britain since 1 January 2021, operates independently of EU REACH, so a business selling into both markets must comply with each.

Given the size of the senior community, the way an approach is worded and the choice of organisations to approach both affect whether a search stays confidential. Each shortlisted candidate comes with a written profile of their site, safety and commercial record, and we remain involved until the new leader has started.

FAQs

To discuss a senior Process & Chemical appointment in confidence, please call our team on 0333 800 1560.