Commercial Manager for Metro Performance Glass

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

The company

Metro Performance Glass is one of Australasia’s leading innovators in advanced glass solutions, shaping the way homes and commercial spaces across New Zealand and Australia look, feel and function. With more than 30 years of industry leadership, the company has earned a strong reputation for pushing the boundaries of glass technology, creating products that improve comfort, energy efficiency, safety and modern architectural design. Their scale, expertise and unwavering commitment to quality have made them the trusted partner for architects, builders and developers who want beautifully engineered glass that enhances spaces and elevates everyday living.

Our brief

With the previous incumbent moving on, this Commercial Manager role became essential at a critical time for Metroglass, a business operating within a construction sector that has faced sustained trading pressures in recent years. The position sits at the heart of understanding the company’s financial story - identifying risks, uncovering opportunities and providing clear insight into performance across the organisation.

Working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and connecting right through to branch managers, this role ensures the business has the visibility and analysis needed to navigate challenging market conditions and make confident, well‑informed decisions that drive stability and future growth.

The challenges

This role demanded a blend of capabilities - someone with sharp commercial and strategic acumen, and a leader who could not only interpret performance but actively influence it. Equally crucial was strong relationship management and the ability to work confidently across a complex stakeholder landscape, from the SLT to operational teams.

On top of that, the ideal candidate needed hands‑on experience in a product‑driven environment, with manufacturing exposure seen as a significant advantage.

Finding someone who could bring together strategic insight, commercial depth and the people skills to drive alignment across the business required a highly targeted and thoughtful search.

Our approach

Our recruitment approach blended targeted search with carefully positioned advertising, allowing us to reach both active and passive talent while casting a wide enough net to engage the calibre of commercial leaders this role required.

Although the broader market was moving more slowly, senior candidates with the right mix of commercial capability and strategic influence remained in high demand, adding a layer of competitiveness to the process. Even so, our methodical outreach and thorough market engagement enabled us to build a strong shortlist of impressive individuals, each genuinely viable for the position.

This combination of proactive headhunting and market visibility ensured we attracted a diverse, credible range of candidates and ultimately gave Metroglass real confidence in selecting from a high‑quality, well‑balanced talent pool.

The outcome

Ultimately, the role was filled by a candidate outside the original shortlist - someone Claire knew well, who quickly proved to be the true unicorn for this appointment.

Bringing a wealth of international experience across London, Singapore and New Zealand, they offered a rare combination of global perspective, commercial depth and nuanced local understanding. Highly regarded for their expertise in commercial finance and stakeholder engagement, they have consistently demonstrated the ability to influence at every level of an organisation and to deliver genuine strategic and operational impact. Their strong track record in shaping financial performance and guiding sound business decision making makes them an exceptional fit for this pivotal role, positioning Metroglass for continued strength and future success.

Metro Performance Glass have been pioneering the way in glass innovation for more than 38 years - read more here: https://metroglass.co.nz/