Reporting to: Group CEO, Teqnion West
Location: Hybrid / Birmingham
Scope: 8–10 subsidiary businesses within the Teqnion West portfolio
Do you want to drive growth and commercial performance across a portfolio of British industrial SMEs — inside a listed serial acquirer built on permanent ownership and long-term thinking?
About Teqnion
Teqnion is a listed serial acquirer founded in 2006, today made up of around 40 subsidiaries across Sweden and the UK. The group acquires profitable, well-run businesses operating in narrow technology niches across a broad spectrum of industries and holds them for the long term. Our strategy is built on active ownership, steady operational improvement of each subsidiary, and growth through acquisition.
Teqnion West is the group’s UK platform, currently the UK holds 16 acquired SME businesses. Each company keeps its own identity, its own Managing Director and full operational autonomy — Teqnion adds patient capital, a long-term home, and senior commercial support rather than central control.
Role Overview
Strategic oversight of a portfolio of 8–10 acquired SME businesses operating within the Teqnion West group, each turning over between £1–5m. Each subsidiary has its own Managing Director with full operational autonomy. This role exists to ensure portfolio companies are performing against plan, that MDs have a credible senior sounding board, that underperformance is identified and challenged early, and that Group has clear visibility across the portfolio. Intervention is the exception, not the norm.
Key Responsibilities
- Monitor financial and operational performance across the portfolio — own the narrative to the Group CEO on each business.
- Challenge and support MDs on strategy, pricing, hiring decisions, and growth plans.
- Identify early warning signs of underperformance and escalate or intervene proportionately.
- Support M&A integration for newly acquired businesses entering the portfolio.
- Spot cross-portfolio opportunities (referrals, shared suppliers, talent moves) without forcing them.
- Represent portfolio interests in Group-level planning and resource allocation discussions.
What This Role Is Not
- This is not a day-to-day operational management role.
- It is not a reporting or administrative function — the expectation is that this person adds genuine commercial value to the MDs they work with, not merely extracting information from them.
Ideal Background
- Has operated either as an MD, senior leader within an SME or equivalent strategic consulting position — credible to the people they are overseeing.
- Experience within a buy-and-build, PE-backed, or listed acquirer model.
- Comfortable being influential without being directive — this person leads through trust, not authority.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen — can read a P&L and ask the right questions without being prompted.
Soft Skills & Personal Attributes
At Teqnion West we don’t do hierarchy. This person earns influence through credibility and trust, not title. The following attributes are non-negotiable:
- High humility — comfortable that the MDs, not them, run the businesses. Takes no satisfaction from authority and seeks none.
- Enabler mindset — measures success by how much better the MDs perform, not by how visible or important they appear.
- Builds trust fast — MDs must want their input. Earns a seat at the table rather than demanding one.
- Listens before speaking — asks sharp questions and genuinely hears the answer before offering a view.
- Reads people and situations — knows when to push, when to back off, and when intervention would do more harm than good.
- Gives credit, absorbs blame — celebrates MDs’ wins and shields them rather than grandstanding.
- Comfortable without control — operates through influence rather than command, and is at ease with ambiguity.
- Self-starting and low-maintenance — needs little oversight and creates no drama or politics.
- The role looks to actively remove obstacles from in front of the people reporting to them, not to sit above them. This person exists to clear the path for the MDs and make them more effective; if they are not enabling, they are in the way.
What We Offer
This is a role with a real mandate and direct influence on how Teqnion West develops. You will work closely with subsidiary MDs, Group leadership and owners in a business with short decision paths, and a strong acquisition-driven growth culture. It is an environment where commercial sharpness and operational judgement are valued equally — and where your ability to move between strategy and the day-to-day reality of running a business makes a tangible difference.
Compensation & Benefits
We offer a competitive package reflecting the scope and seniority of this role. Base salary is £80,000–£100,000, depending on background, complemented by a performance-related annual bonus, a car allowance, and an employer pension contribution.
Hiring manager
Meet the hiring manager David.
…