Buy-in CEO in Technical Installations for Livestock Housing in West Flanders

A specialist in the technical fit-out of livestock housing, based in West Flanders, is looking for an entrepreneurial, hands-on Buy-in CEO. The company designs, installs, commissions and services the complete technical package inside a modern livestock housing: ventilation and climate control, feeding and drinking systems, heating, lighting, electrical installations, control panels and emission-reducing techniques. It is a small, highly specialised team with a strong reputation among professional farmers and a loyal customer base. Companions is acquiring the company and is looking for the entrepreneur who will take it from here.

Your Role

This is not a desk job. In the first year you will spend a substantial part of your time on site, in work clothes, learning the trade from the founder, who will transition during multiple months.

• Own the technical heart of the business: validation of quotations, work preparation, planning, site supervision, and the customer relationships that come with it.

• Learn and then own the commissioning of installations: setting ventilation parameters and running smoke tests to verify how the air moves through the house.

• Scale the team and spread the technical knowledge across the team so the business no longer depends on one person.

• Take full P&L responsibility, with a firm grip on project calculation and profitability.

• Lead the integration of add-on acquisitions, supported by the Companions M&A team that sources and executes the deals.

Your Profile

• Hands-on above all. You want to understand the work by doing it, you are comfortable on a construction site and in an animal house, and you are willing to start early when the job requires it. A candidate who wants to lead from behind a desk will not enjoy this role.

• A technical (engineering) background. Electromechanical or electrical background, from education or from practice. You read a technical drawing, you understand air flow and you are not intimidated by a control panel. A degree matters less than demonstrable experience.

• At least 4 years professional experience in technical project coordination, service, installation, site management or technical operations.

• Entrepreneurial. You want to own a business, not manage a department, and you are prepared to invest your own money alongside Companions.

• Fluent in Dutch, because your customers are Flemish farmers and your team works in Dutch.

What We Offer

• Co-investment and a minority equity stake. You invest alongside Companions, which takes the majority, and share directly in the value you create. We will walk you through the numbers early in the process.

• A company you lead end to end, with a healthy foundation, a loyal customer base and no debt, in a niche with a structural regulatory tailwind.

• Concrete support from the Companions team, not just advice: an M&A team for add-on acquisitions and due diligence, shared services for accounting, HR, payroll and fleet, a Strategy and Operations team that works inside the portfolio companies, and a sparring partner who has done this before.

Practical

• Location: West Flanders. The company will move to new premises within the region. Proximity to customers is essential and the role requires daily on-site presence, so we are looking for someone living in the Bruges, Roeselare or Kortrijk area, or prepared to move there.

• Combination of office, workshop and customer sites, with travel across Flanders and occasional work abroad.

• Start date: early 2027.