# Specialties

> The delivery specialties that shape how a retained executive search is run — family enterprise, private equity, and nearshoring, led by Silvia Flores.

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By Specialty

The delivery contexts that shape how a search runs — family enterprise, private equity, US–Mexico cross-border, maquiladora, and nearshoring.

Silvia Flores leads retained executive search across the delivery contexts that cut through industries and roles. Specialty is _how_ the search is run — the ownership structure, the delivery model, the reporting geometry, and the operating stakes — as distinct from what the company makes or which executive seat is being filled. As Managing Partner at [Alder Koten](https://www.alderkoten.com), she delivers each engagement through the firm's footprint in Houston, Monterrey, Mexico City, and Guadalajara.

Five specialties anchor the practice: **family enterprise**, **private equity**, **US–Mexico cross-border**, **maquiladora and nearshoring**, and **nearshoring**. Most engagements combine one industry and one or two specialties — a family-owned Bajío automotive supplier looking for an external COO, a private-equity portfolio company launching a Mexico plant, a US parent hiring its first Country Manager.

## [Family Enterprise](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/family-enterprise-executive-search/)

Family-owned manufacturers, industrial groups, family offices, and multi-generational succession — where governance, family dynamics, and operating rigor have to hold together.

-   External CEO or Country Manager for a family-owned industrial group
-   Independent board directors and audit chairs for family enterprises
-   Non-family COO or CFO placed alongside a family principal
-   Generational succession searches — professionalizing the second-generation transition

## [Private Equity](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/private-equity-executive-search/)

Sponsor-backed operators, portfolio companies, and value-creation leadership — searches sized to a fund's hold period and value-creation plan.

-   Portfolio-company CEOs, COOs, and CFOs during hold and value-creation
-   Operating partners and industrial-operations advisors
-   100-day-plan hires — Manufacturing VP, Supply Chain VP, Commercial Director
-   Integration leadership for cross-border add-on acquisitions

## [US–Mexico Cross-Border](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/us-mexico-cross-border-executive-search/)

Leaders who operate across the border in both directions — bilingual, bicultural, and comfortable in US GAAP and Mexican operating reality alike.

-   Country Manager Mexico reporting into a US or global parent
-   US-based executives with real Mexico operating exposure
-   Bilingual CFOs, CHROs, and Commercial leaders across a corridor P&L
-   Cross-border M&A leadership and post-close integration

## [Maquiladora & Nearshoring](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/maquiladora-nearshoring-executive-search/)

IMMEX operations and the nearshoring build-out — the regulated, customs-driven regime that runs Mexico's export manufacturing base.

-   Plant leadership for IMMEX / maquiladora operations along the border
-   Site launch leaders for new maquiladora build-outs
-   Trade compliance, customs, and IMMEX program leadership
-   Multi-site Directors of Operations across Reynosa, Matamoros, Juárez, Tijuana, and Mexicali

## [Nearshoring](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/nearshoring-executive-search/)

Greenfield and expansion leadership for companies relocating supply chain to Mexico — from site selection through steady-state operations.

-   Greenfield Plant Director for a first Mexico site
-   VP of Manufacturing or Country Manager for a nearshoring expansion
-   Supply chain and procurement leaders rebuilding around a Mexico footprint
-   Commercial and engineering leadership to serve US and North American customers from Mexico

## How the searches run

Every specialty engagement runs through [The Dynamic Fit Method™](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/methodology/) — Alder Koten's Ability, Capability, Capacity approach — delivered via the firm's seven-step retained search process. Pair a specialty with an [industry](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/industries/) and an [executive role](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/executive-roles/) to see how the engagement takes shape. Return to the [full practice overview](https://www.silviaflores.info/en/executive-search/) for the complete picture.

## Specialty practice questions

How does a specialty differ from an industry?

An industry describes what the company makes. A specialty describes how the search runs — the ownership context (family, private equity), the delivery model (cross-border, maquiladora, nearshoring), and the operating stakes. A single engagement usually names both — for example, a plant leader for a family-owned automotive supplier in the Bajío names an industry (automotive) and a specialty (family enterprise).

Which specialty applies to a nearshoring project with a US parent?

Usually two — US–Mexico Cross-Border for the bilingual leadership and parent-reporting layer, and Nearshoring (or Maquiladora & Nearshoring if the operation runs under IMMEX) for the site build and steady-state operating leadership. The specialties compound; they are not mutually exclusive.

Are specialty searches priced or run differently?

Every search is retained and follows Alder Koten's seven-step process. The specialty shapes the market map, the assessment, and the corridor of candidates — not the commercial structure. Fees are engagement-based and scope-driven.

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