By Role
Board Directors & Chairs — Executive Search
Independent directors, chairs, and Audit Committee chairs for industrial companies and family-owned groups across the US–Mexico corridor.
Board composition is one of the highest-leverage decisions a company makes. The wrong director does no harm on any single day and quiet damage across a year; the right director changes what questions get asked in the room. Silvia Flores runs board-director and chair searches for industrial and manufacturing companies, family-owned groups, and private-equity-backed platforms across the US and Mexico — as part of Alder Koten's retained practice.
Where board searches fit
Four patterns come up most often. A family-owned industrial group in Mexico moving from a family council to a formal board with independent directors. A private-equity-backed platform building an institutional board around a value-creation plan. A US parent naming a Mexico-resident director to give its Latin America operation governance depth. And a public or near-public industrial company recruiting an Audit or Compensation Committee chair with real technical bandwidth.
Roles the practice covers
- Independent Directors — non-executive board members with industry and functional pattern-recognition
- Board Chairs and Vice Chairs — for family-owned groups, private-equity platforms, and industrial mid-market boards
- Audit Committee Chairs — CPA / CFO-track directors with public-company or complex-financials experience
- Compensation Committee Chairs — directors who can hold CEO compensation and executive pay design
- Governance / Nominating Committee members — directors carrying board effectiveness and succession discipline
How a board search runs
Board searches follow The Dynamic Fit Method™ — Ability, Capability, and Capacity assessed against the specific governance context the seat carries. The engagement starts with a board composition read (skills matrix, tenure, independence, industry adjacency) and ends with an onboarding plan for the incoming director. Where cross-border coverage is needed, we coordinate with IMD International Search Group member firms in the director's home market.
Related
For companies also naming a CEO alongside a board build, see Chief Executive Officers. For private-equity portfolio boards, see Private Equity Executive Search.
Board Directors & Chairs — questions
- What kinds of board seats does the practice serve?
- Independent directors, non-executive board members, Audit Committee chairs, Compensation Committee chairs, and board chairs — for industrial and manufacturing companies, family-owned groups formalizing governance, private-equity-backed platforms building institutional boards, and US parents naming Mexico-based directors.
- How is a board search different from a C-suite search?
- The candidate pool is smaller, more networked, and less overtly on the market. Diligence focuses on governance track record, committee experience, industry pattern-recognition, and stakeholder judgment rather than day-to-day operating output. References and pre-briefings carry disproportionate weight.
- Do you work with family-owned businesses formalizing a board?
- Yes. Mexico has a deep bench of family-owned industrial groups moving from a family council to a formal board with independents. That transition needs directors who understand family dynamics, not just governance mechanics.