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Meet the Staff

Todd Ziems, CPC
Fred Ziems, CPC
Helmut Lauff, ME
Carlos Hurtado


Todd M. Ziems, CPC, Managing Partner
Todd Ziems is a Managing Partner with Sanford Rose Associates – Toledo, an executive search firm specializing in mid-to-senior level positions within the energy, mining, power generation, industrial manufacturing and healthcare industries.

In addition to expertise in recruiting, during his corporate career he held positions of increasing responsibility from sales, marketing and business unit management to general business management. His industry knowledge spans the spectrum of his career, including heavy equipment manufacturing, transportation, automotive, heavy construction and power generation.

Todd has a wide array of expertise in managing and directing commercial, technical and full cross-functional teams to deliver outstanding results. He thrives on working with companies and people to solve complex issues and possesses a natural ability to assess the “right fit” for both his clients and candidates – a major key in driving for retention of talent. With a considerable winning track record in business, you can be assured that he understands the critical nature of having the right person in the right position to deliver sustained outstanding results.

His mission in executive search is simple: Finding People Who Make A Difference^® for his client companies.

Todd has a B.A. in Business Administration from Lourdes College and has completed MBA studies at the University of Indiana. He holds membership in AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers), SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers), SME (Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration), AWS (American Welding Society) and AMA (American Marketing Association).

Fred R. Ziems, CPC, Consultant
Building upon 35 years of combined experience in management positions across a variety of industries, Fred joined Sanford Rose Associates - Toledo in February of 2007.  Fred has driven results as both a manager and individual contributor in the following functional areas throughout the course of his career:

• Sales Management
• Project Management
• Sourcing and Material Management
• Transportation and Logistics
• Corporate Planning and Structure
• Supplier Development

His areas of specialization include mid-to-senior level positions in manufacturing and transportation: including operations, engineering, quality, supply chain management, logistics, sales and marketing.

Fred has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toledo and completed graduate studies in Finance at the University of Toledo. Back to top

Helmut Lauff, ME (Master of Engineering), Consultant
Helmut Lauff is an executive search consultant with Sanford Rose Associates – Toledo. He has more than 45 years of experience in producing top results for his corporations, in roles ranging from engineer to C-Level.

Before accepting his invitation to join Sanford Rose Associates – Toledo, Helmut held various senior management and CEO positions within major corporations/divisions for the last 20 years of his career, spanning industries from mining to building materials and construction. He possesses strong expertise in identifying top-performing talent, as well as organizing business start-ups, formulating/executing business turn-arounds, leading organizational change, lean implementation, team building and leadership coaching, value innovation and market space creation.

Helmut understands the power of Finding People Who Make a Difference^® for his clients – he has driven this philosophy in his own successful businesses his entire career, and strives to bring this same value to his client companies. He recognizes that people within a company are the only asset which drives sustainable differentiation versus competition.

Helmut possesses a Bachelor degree in Mining, a Masters degree in Ceramic Engineering, and he completed business and administration studies, all at Universities in Essen, Germany. Helmut is fluent in German and English.

In his free time, Helmut enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing and seeing different parts of the world with his wife Marianne, their children and grandchildren. He likes to study different types of management coaching, consulting, team building and the art of leadership, relationship and creativity providing directions, relationships and capabilities.  Back to top

Carlos Hurtado, Consultant - Mexico
Carlos is an Executive Search Consultant covering Mexico and Latin America for Sanford Rose Associates - Toledo.  Carlos brings nearly 20 years of commercial and technical individual contributor and management experience in major manufacturing companies to our practice.  He is a seasoned leader who possesses a keen understanding of candidate qualities leading to success across many functions.  Carlos possesses a BS in Industrial Engineering from Tecnologico De Monterrey (ITESM), and is fluent in both Spanish and English.  In his free time, Carlos likes to spend time with his children and cooking and traveling and is an avid sports enthusiast. Back to top