Jacob Sondergaard is a globally accomplished executive whose career has been defined by transforming industrial B2B organizations into stronger, more competitive, and more profitable enterprises. With more than 35 years of international leadership experience spanning North America, Europe, Southeast Asia Pacific, and South America, he has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to align business strategy, organizational design, and commercial execution to create sustainable competitive advantage. As both a European national and American citizen, Jacob brings a uniquely global perspective to executive leadership, combining strategic vision with operational discipline and a deep appreciation for cultural diversity. His career reflects a commitment to helping organizations navigate complex market environments while positioning them for long-term growth and value creation.
Throughout his executive journey, Jacob has served as President, Chief Executive Officer, Vice President, and General Manager for multiple multinational organizations operating in regulated industrial B2B markets. He has led business units exceeding $100 million in annual revenue, carrying full P&L responsibility while overseeing manufacturing, operations, sales, marketing, supply chain, finance, engineering, and human resources. Whether restructuring organizations, launching new regional operations, or repositioning businesses for accelerated growth, he has consistently delivered measurable improvements in profitability, market share, operational efficiency, and organizational performance. His executive leadership has been characterized by meaningful analytics, thoughtful decision-making, disciplined execution, and an unwavering focus on creating lasting enterprise value.
Jacob currently serves as President and CEO for Rivulis Irrigation’s North American operations, where he leads a $125 million business with approximately 450 employees across multiple manufacturing facilities. Reporting directly to the Global CEO and as a member of the executive leadership team, he has led significant organizational restructuring, established a renewed strategic vision, and aligned manufacturing, distribution, sales, and operational priorities with evolving market conditions. His leadership has emphasized operational excellence, quality culture, profitability through margin optimization, and the development of a high-performing executive team capable of delivering sustainable long-term growth.
Prior to joining Rivulis, Jacob served as Vice President and General Manager for BlastOne International, where he transformed the North American business by implementing innovative growth strategies, improving operational efficiencies, expanding geographic reach, and strengthening customer value propositions. Under his leadership, the organization achieved impressive year-over-year gross profit growth, improved margins through disciplined product mix optimization, expanded into new regional markets, and significantly enhanced supply chain performance. His ability to combine technology leadership, customer-focused innovation, and organizational restructuring established BlastOne as a recognized industry leader while simultaneously building stronger leadership accountability and operational discipline.
Jacob’s tenure as President and CEO of Jacobi Carbons further illustrates his ability to guide organizations through transformational change. Responsible for a $110 million business across the Americas, he successfully repositioned the company through strategic business transformation, value-based selling, operational improvement, and disciplined financial management. During his leadership, the business generated approximately 30% compound annual EBITDA growth, significantly increased margin performance, consolidated supply chain operations for substantial cost savings, launched new service-based business models, strengthened workplace safety, and maintained operational continuity during the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. His balanced approach to commercial growth and operational excellence enabled the organization to emerge stronger while creating meaningful long-term value for customers, employees, and shareholders alike.
Much of Jacob’s global executive foundation was built during more than two decades with FLSmidth, where he progressed through increasingly senior leadership positions across Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and North America. During this period, he established regional operations throughout Southeast Asia, led significant organizational consolidations across the Americas, managed complex acquisitions and strategic negotiations, developed innovative market-entry strategies, and built multicultural leadership teams that consistently exceeded ambitious commercial objectives. His international assignments provided firsthand experience navigating diverse business environments while strengthening his expertise in executive leadership, industrial manufacturing, engineered solutions, and global business development. These experiences also reinforced his ability to identify hidden market opportunities and translate customer needs into differentiated value propositions that consistently outperform competitors.
Jacob’s executive philosophy centers on the belief that exceptional businesses are created when strategy, organizational structure, and customer value are fully aligned. Throughout his career, he has specialized in business model optimization, go-to-market strategy with meaningful value propositions, organizational restructuring, profitability maximization, commercial growth, operational excellence, and sustainable business transformation. Rather than focusing solely on financial performance, he develops organizations capable of consistently delivering superior customer outcomes while empowering employees to achieve their highest potential. His collaborative leadership style emphasizes coaching, accountability, continuous improvement, and values-based decision making, creating workplace cultures where individuals are inspired to innovate, embrace change, and exceed expectations. This leadership philosophy has allowed him to repeatedly transform underperforming teams into high-performing organizations capable of sustaining success.
Academically, Jacob complements his extensive executive experience with an Executive MBA and Executive Scholar Certificates from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a Bachelor of International Business from The Open University in the United Kingdom, and executive leadership studies through Henley Business School. His educational background reflects his commitment to continuous learning and strategic leadership development while reinforcing his expertise in operations, technology, supply chain management, acquisitions, alliances, and corporate leadership. Fluent in both English and Danish, with working proficiency in German, Spanish, and Portuguese, he is well equipped to build trusted relationships across international markets and lead culturally diverse organizations with authenticity and confidence.
Today, Jacob is actively seeking board service opportunities where he can leverage decades of executive leadership experience to help organizations navigate growth, transformation, and strategic change. Having successfully led businesses through market disruptions, organizational restructuring, geographic expansion, and operational modernization, he brings both the strategic oversight and practical operating experience that boards increasingly value. His passion lies in helping executive teams identify opportunities others overlook, build resilient organizations, and create sustainable competitive advantage through disciplined strategies, thoughtful governance, and strong leadership. With a career built upon integrity, accountability, collaboration, and measurable results, Jacob offers boards an experienced global executive capable of guiding organizations through both opportunity and complexity with confidence.
Character:
Jacob leads with integrity, humility, and a deep sense of accountability that earns the trust of employees, customers, investors, and fellow executives. He believes strong organizational cultures are built through authentic leadership, coaching, and empowering individuals to achieve extraordinary results.
Knowledge:
His extensive expertise spans executive leadership within B2B, engineered solutions, global industrial manufacturing and distribution, business model optimization, operational excellence, commercial strategy, and organizational transformation across multiple continents. Combined with advanced executive education and decades of hands-on experience, he brings a rare combination of strategic insight and operational depth to every organization he serves.
Strategic:
Jacob consistently aligns business models, organizational structures, and go-to-market strategies to create measurable competitive advantage and sustainable growth. He excels at identifying emerging opportunities, optimizing financial performance, and guiding organizations through complex change while maintaining long-term strategic focus.
Communication:
A collaborative communicator who builds consensus across executive teams, boards, employees, customers, and global stakeholders. His ability to simplify complex business challenges and inspire action enables organizations to execute strategy with clarity, confidence, and shared purpose.
