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Jose J. Ruiz

Practice · Industries

Retail & Consumer Executive Search — US & Mexico Leadership

Retained search for country manager, merchandising, operations, digital, and development leadership across retail, convenience, restaurant, and hospitality operators in the US and Mexico — delivered through Alder Koten and coordinated globally through IMD International Search Group.

Overview

Retail and consumer executive search across the US and Mexico sits at the center of two consumer economies whose largest operators run inside a shared corridor. Delivered through Alder Koten and coordinated globally through IMD International Search Group, the practice places leadership for the operators that reach the consumer directly — modern retail, convenience and proximity, department and specialty, restaurants and quick-service, hospitality and lifestyle destinations, and pure-play e-commerce and omnichannel brands.

Mexico is one of the largest and fastest-modernizing consumer markets in the Americas. The country hosts one of the world's largest convenience-store networks by unit count, the largest modern grocery footprint in Latin America, and department-store brands with more than a century of trading history. Restaurant leadership sits alongside it — from the multi-brand franchisee groups that operate global QSR systems inside Mexico to the domestic chains that have scaled across the Bajío and the border. The US corridor of that same market runs through Texas, Arizona, California, Florida, and the Southeast, where Mexican operators are opening stores and where US operators are hiring bilingual and bicultural leadership to build for the Hispanic and cross-border consumer.

Leadership challenges

Consumer-facing leaders live inside a clock speed that most industries do not carry. Comps and traffic report weekly, labor and inventory move daily, menu and merchandising cycles are measured in weeks not quarters, and the workforce is tens of thousands of hourly team members whose experience defines the brand every hour of every day. Layered on top of that operational reality: real-estate pipelines and landlord relationships that shape a company for a decade, franchisee and joint-venture partners whose interests do not always align with the operator's, and a digital P&L that has to integrate with the store P&L instead of competing with it. The leaders who succeed hold merchandising instinct and unit economics in the same head, move with a consumer trend without breaking the brand, and treat operations, digital, and development as one system rather than three departments.

Typical roles

Sectors served

The practice covers modern grocery, hypermarket, convenience and proximity, department stores, specialty retail, warehouse club, apparel and lifestyle, quick-service and casual-dining restaurants, franchise groups operating global QSR systems, hospitality and lifestyle destinations, and omnichannel and pure-play e-commerce brands. Each sub-segment carries its own operating rhythm, workforce profile, and capital cycle — a country-manager search for a modern-retail operator is not the same search as a chief development officer search for a multi-brand restaurant franchisee, even where the titles overlap on paper.

Mexico & United States relevance

The US–Mexico consumer corridor is the reality of this industry. Mexican multi-brand restaurant operators run global QSR systems inside Mexico and expand into the US Sunbelt; US retail and restaurant brands enter Mexico through direct operation, joint venture, and franchise; and hospitality and lifestyle destinations from San Antonio to San Miguel de Allende draw talent, capital, and management practice from both markets. Leadership for these operations has to be bilingual and bicultural by default — not as a language skill but as an operating fluency in two labor markets, two supplier ecosystems, two regulatory frames, and two consumer cultures. Jose J. Ruiz, who leads the practice, serves on the boards of Silver Ventures (owner of The Pearl and Hotel Emma in San Antonio) and Alis Foods (operator of Papa John's in Mexico) — direct board-level exposure to the operator reality of hospitality and restaurant leadership in both the US and Mexico.

Why our search model fits

Retained search delivered through Alder Koten pairs with leadership assessment calibrated by the Anker Bioss Framework, applied through The Dynamic Fit Method™. In consumer-facing industries, assessment has to reach the candidate's actual operating judgment — the comp cycles they managed, the menu or category decisions they owned, the real-estate pipelines they executed, the franchisee and landlord relationships they carried, and the digital and store P&Ls they integrated. Reference work is built around those real events with the operators, franchisees, and boards a candidate worked alongside. That depth of reference is what separates a plausible shortlist from a leader who can hold a weekly-comp cadence from day one.

Retail and consumer executive search — frequently asked questions

What is retail and consumer executive search in Mexico and the United States?
It is retained recruiting for leadership across modern retail, convenience, department and specialty, restaurant and food service, and omnichannel commerce — on both sides of the border. Delivered through Alder Koten and coordinated globally through IMD International Search Group, the practice places country managers, chief merchandising officers, chief digital and e-commerce officers, VPs of operations, and real-estate and development leaders for retailers and restaurant groups operating across US and Mexican markets.
Which retail and consumer segments do you cover?
Modern grocery and hypermarket, convenience and proximity, department stores and specialty, restaurants and quick-service, hospitality and lifestyle destinations, and pure-play e-commerce and omnichannel brands. The practice also serves consumer packaged goods leadership when the seat sits on the retail-customer line — commercial, category management, and shopper-marketing roles that live where the retailer meets the brand.
Where does retail and consumer talent concentrate in Mexico?
Corporate retail sits primarily in Mexico City and Monterrey — headquarters for the country's largest grocery, convenience, department, and restaurant operators. E-commerce and digital talent concentrates in CDMX and Guadalajara. Real-estate and development leadership tracks the store footprint — CDMX, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla, Querétaro, and the Bajío corridor. Restaurant-group operations leadership is heavily CDMX-based, with regional depth around the metropolitan markets each chain has scaled into.
How is retail search different from B2B industrial search?
The clock speed is faster and the leadership question is closer to the consumer. A retail or restaurant leader is running weekly comps, daily labor, real-time inventory and menu, and a workforce measured in tens of thousands of hourly team members. The judgment being assessed is different — merchandising instinct, unit economics, operational rhythm, franchisee and landlord relationships, and the ability to move with a consumer trend without breaking the P&L. The search calibrates for that reality, not for capital-project cadence.
What roles do you typically place in retail and consumer?
Country manager and CEO, chief operating officer, chief merchandising officer, chief digital and e-commerce officer, VP of store operations, VP of real estate and development, VP of supply chain, chief marketing officer, and chief HR officer. In restaurant groups, VP of operations, VP of franchise, chief development officer, and brand-president seats sit at the center of the practice.
Do you handle cross-border retail and consumer searches between the US and Mexico?
Yes — this is a defining part of the practice. Mexican operators are opening in Texas, Arizona, California, and the Southeast; US chains are franchising and directly operating in Mexico; and hospitality and lifestyle destinations along the border and in Texas draw talent from both markets. Alder Koten runs those searches from Houston, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, with IMD International Search Group partners in the US and Latin America carrying the balance of the cross-border mandate.
How long does a retail or consumer executive search take?
Country manager, COO, and chief merchandising or digital officer searches typically complete in 90 to 120 days from launch to signed offer. Franchise and brand-president roles that require deep operator experience within a specific restaurant category can run longer where the qualified pool is narrow and confidentiality with the incumbent is part of the process.
How do you assess retail and restaurant leaders?
Assessment is calibrated to the operating reality of the role — comps and traffic managed through a real cycle, category or menu decisions owned end to end, real-estate and development pipelines executed on schedule, franchise-system health improved measurably, and digital and store P&Ls integrated rather than treated as separate lines. Reference work reaches the operators, franchisees, landlords, and boards a candidate has actually worked with — not just the résumé timeline.

Start a conversation

If you are hiring a country manager, COO, chief merchandising officer, chief digital officer, VP of operations, or brand president for a retail, restaurant, hospitality, or omnichannel operator in the US or Mexico, start a conversation with the practice.

Jose J. Ruiz is CEO and Managing Partner of Alder Koten, President of IMD International Search Group, and Chairman of Anker Bioss. He also serves on the boards of Silver Ventures (The Pearl / Hotel Emma) and Alis Foods (Papa John's Mexico).