How to Hire Executives for a Growing CPG Company: A Step-by-Step Guide
Hiring executives for a growing CPG company requires more than finding someone with an impressive resume. The right process starts by identifying the business need, defining the role around that need, and then finding candidates with the right combination of CPG experience, functional expertise, leadership ability, and growth-stage experience.
A practical executive hiring process looks like this:
Identify the leadership gap
Define what the role needs to accomplish
Build the ideal executive profile
Identify and map potential candidates
Reach passive executive talent
Evaluate candidates against the business need
Conduct interviews and references
Close the candidate and plan for onboarding
For growing CPG companies, an executive search firm can help manage this process and provide access to qualified passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new role.
1. Identify the Leadership Gap
Before creating a job description, determine why you need to hire an executive in the first place.
Are you:
Growing faster than the current team can support?
Entering new retail channels?
Expanding nationally?
Preparing for an acquisition or investment?
Struggling with sales, operations, finance, or marketing?
Asking existing leaders to manage responsibilities outside their expertise?
The problem should determine the role—not the other way around.
If you're unsure where the gap exists, start with How to Identify Leadership Gaps in a Growing Consumer Brand.
2. Define What the Executive Needs to Accomplish
Don't start with a title. Start with outcomes. Instead of simply saying you need a CFO, VP of Sales, or CMO, define what you need that person to accomplish over the next 12–24 months.
For example:
VP of Sales
Expand retail distribution
Build the sales organization
Improve forecasting
Strengthen retailer relationships
CFO
Build financial infrastructure
Improve forecasting and reporting
Support fundraising or financing
Prepare the company for its next stage of growth
CMO
Clarify brand positioning
Build the marketing organization
Improve customer acquisition
Develop a scalable growth strategy
The more clearly you define the business problem, the easier it becomes to identify the right executive.
3. Build the Ideal Executive Profile
Once you know what the role needs to accomplish, determine what experience the executive needs to have.
Consider:
Functional expertise
CPG experience
Category experience
Retail and channel experience
Company-stage experience
Team-building experience
P&L responsibility
Founder-led or entrepreneurial experience
Cultural fit
Not every requirement needs to be a hard requirement.
For example, the best candidate for a growing natural products company may come from an adjacent CPG category rather than a direct competitor. The important question is whether their experience translates to the challenges your business is facing.
See What Makes a Great CPG Executive? for more on evaluating executive talent.
4. Identify the Right Candidate Pool
Once the profile is defined, build a target list of potential candidates.
Look at executives working at:
Comparable CPG brands
Larger companies with relevant experience
Emerging consumer brands
Adjacent categories
Companies that have recently scaled
Businesses with similar retail or e-commerce models
Don't limit the search to people who are actively applying.
Many strong executive candidates are passive candidates who would consider the right opportunity but aren't actively looking for one.
This is where a targeted executive search can provide value: instead of waiting for candidates to find your job posting, the search goes directly to the talent market.
5. Evaluate Candidates Based on the Business Need
An impressive resume doesn't necessarily mean someone is right for your company.
Evaluate candidates against the specific challenges you identified at the beginning of the process.
Ask:
Have they solved a similar problem?
Have they operated at a similar stage of growth?
Do they understand your channels?
Have they built teams before?
Have they worked in a founder-led environment?
What did they personally accomplish?
Can they operate with the resources and constraints of a growing company?
Focus on what they actually did, not just the companies they've worked for.
6. Interview for Leadership, Not Just Experience
Executive interviews should go beyond confirming qualifications.
Ask candidates to walk through specific situations they've faced:
What was the challenge?
What did they do?
What decisions did they make?
What changed as a result?
What would they do differently?
You also need to evaluate how the executive will work with the existing leadership team.
For a growing CPG company, cultural alignment and leadership style can be just as important as functional expertise.
7. Conduct References
References should validate the story you've heard throughout the interview process.
Ask former colleagues, managers, or board members about:
Leadership style
Strengths and weaknesses
Ability to build teams
Decision-making
Communication
Performance under pressure
Specific accomplishments
Areas where the executive needed support
For a senior hire, references should be treated as an important part of the evaluation—not a final formality.
8. Close the Right Executive
Once you've identified the right candidate, don't assume the offer will close itself.
Senior executives are evaluating the opportunity too.
Be prepared to clearly communicate:
Why the company is growing
What the executive will own
What success looks like
Where the business is headed
What resources they'll have
How they'll work with the founder and leadership team
Compensation and equity structure
Why this is the right time to join
The best candidates are often choosing between opportunities. Your company needs to sell the opportunity and impact, not just the position.
When Should a Growing CPG Company Use an Executive Search Firm?
An executive search firm can be particularly useful when you're hiring a business-critical leader, need specialized CPG experience, or want access to passive candidates.
A search firm can help with:
Defining the executive profile
Mapping the relevant talent market
Identifying target candidates
Reaching passive executives
Evaluating candidates
Managing the interview process
Supporting references and negotiations
Learn more about CPG Executive Search: What Consumer Brands Should Know Before Hiring a Leadership Team.
Hire for Where the Business Is Going
The biggest mistake growing CPG companies can make is hiring an executive solely for the business they are today.
Think about where the company needs to be in the next two to three years.
The right executive should have the experience to solve today's challenges and the leadership ability to help build what's next.
For a deeper look at how to structure your leadership team, read How to Build an Executive Leadership Team for a Growing Consumer Brand.
How Fairfield Partners Helps Growing CPG Companies Hire Executives
Fairfield Partners specializes in executive search for high-growth consumer brands, with experience across food, beverage, supplements, personal care, and pet care.
The firm works with companies to understand the business, define the leadership need, identify qualified candidates, and reach executives who aren't necessarily looking for their next role.
