PHM recruits the engineers and operators who run modern plants — process and production, quality, automation and robotics, maintenance and reliability, and plant leadership. Specialist, sector-fluent search for manufacturers modernizing their operations, on an exclusive, fee-on-hire basis.
Canadian manufacturing employment is down about 61,000 jobs from its January 2025 peak, and Ottawa’s own analysis of the steel quota regime counts roughly a thousand jobs lost in that sector alone. Meanwhile factory orders are at a record backlog while output stays flat, which is a throughput problem rather than a demand one. The unusual part is that both things are true at once: experienced operators and supervisors are genuinely on the market, and the plants that need them cannot convert backlog fast enough to wait.
An unfilled process or quality seat shows up as scrap, downtime and a customer audit finding — costs that are recorded somewhere other than the hiring budget.
Our manufacturing recruiters place engineers and plant leadership assessed on the lines they actually ran, not the systems they listed — and move quickly, because availability in this market has a shelf life.
Genuine depth across the advanced manufacturing disciplines — we understand the roles and the work they answer for, not just the titles. A sample of the work and the projects we recruit for:
Recruiting for the cell rather than the plant? Controls, robotics and integration sit with our automation and robotics team.
Levels from process and manufacturing engineers through quality, automation, and reliability leads, plant and operations managers, and directors of manufacturing.
Retained-level rigour, on an exclusive basis, for a fee paid on the hire — no upfront retainer and the delivery risk on us. We also work standard contingency where a role suits it. How we engage →
Because we don’t run volume, an exclusive manufacturing mandate gets our full bandwidth — and we’re driven to deliver in less time than industry norms.
Process, production, and quality engineering for discrete and process manufacturers.
Controls, robotics, and mechatronics — the automation modernizing how plants run.
Maintenance and reliability, continuous improvement, and the plant and operations leaders who deliver.
The specialties and levels are listed above. We recruit them for consultancies, owners, contractors and industrial employers across Canada and the USA.
Yes. Controls, PLC, robotics, and mechatronics are core to how we cover advanced manufacturing — the automation talent modernizing plants across the sector.
Exclusive contingency. You get the reach and rigour of a retained search, invoiced only when you hire — so an unsuccessful search costs us, not you.
Yes. We provide real-time compensation insight for the specific role, region, and seniority you’re hiring for — so an offer is competitive without overpaying.
Across Canada and the United States. We’re headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada and work on-site where it counts and remote-fluent by design.
Often not. Many of the strongest manufacturing and operations roles are filled discreetly, through direct search — filled before a posting exists, often before the role is announced internally.
An advisory conversation about the manufacturing hire ahead of you — and where the right person is likely to come from. Not a commitment.