India & emerging markets CEO — Energy (regional P&L)

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Energy & Natural Resources on a senior CEO leadership mandate anchored in Africa. The remit explicitly spans India, China, USA.

This is a strategic transformation mandate at CXO level — equal parts operating leadership, change orchestration, and investor / board narrative ownership.

You inherit teams that are capable but often misaligned on priorities; your job is to simplify the story and the scorecard.

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Energy transition leadership — finding executives who can credibly lead both the traditional energy business and new clean energy build-out simultaneously
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Africa with explicit corridor responsibility across India, China, USA.
• Organisation stage: Post-integration operating model still settling — some processes are global templates, others are stubbornly local.
• Stakeholders: Expect dense matrix: global product houses, regional P&L owners, shared services, and internal audit all pull on the same calendar.
• Secondary lens: Utility transformation — moving state DISCOMs and private utilities from loss-making distribution operations to efficient, digital-first consumer energy service companies

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Portfolio & narrative: Sharpen where the enterprise wins — core segments, geographies, and capital-light adjacencies — and communicate it crisply to owners and the top team.
2. P&L cadence: Own the forecast rhythm, investment committee decisions, and trade-offs between growth, margin, and balance-sheet flexibility.
3. Top team & succession: Upgrade two to three critical seats; build a succession slate that survives board scrutiny.
4. M&A / partnerships: Where relevant, sponsor diligences and integration plans that protect culture and customer continuity.
5. External credibility: Represent the franchise with anchor clients, industry bodies, and (as appropriate) regulators and investors.
6. Transformation spine: Sponsor one enterprise programme (e.g. operating model, data, cost productivity) with visible milestones in year one.

Responsibilities (representative)

• Own the integrated business plan and executive committee cadence for the region or platform.
• Decide capital allocation across segments; escalate only true enterprise trade-offs to the board or owners.
• Be the visible leader for culture, ethics, and conduct — especially when incentives pull the other way.
• Sponsor major customer and government relationships delegated to the role.
• Lead crisis management with accuracy, speed, and alignment to legal and communications.

Leadership profile

• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Enterprise leadership: Track record owning P&L, top team, and board / owner interface in complex environments.
• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Africa with regular engagement across India, China.

Team & culture

Silos are real. Your job is to design forums and incentives so product, technology, risk, and commercial leaders solve problems together instead of optimising local KPIs.

Success measures (examples)

• Financial: Revenue and margin vs. plan; cash conversion; capital efficiency.
• Strategic: Share in priority segments; customer retention in anchor accounts; milestone delivery on transformation.
• People: Engagement trends; regrettable attrition in critical roles; diversity of succession slate.
• Risk: Audit and regulatory outcomes; conduct events; operational resilience metrics.

First 90 days (orientation arc)

• Days 1–30: Shadow key customer journeys or operations — paper over slides where reality diverges.
• Days 30–60: Cut or pause low-value projects freeing capacity for strategic work.
• Days 60–90: Publish first integrated forecast or plan under your ownership — even if directional.
• Build trust with risk, legal, and audit through transparency — surprises erode licence to move fast.
• Pick one cultural signal (e.g. meeting hygiene, promotion criteria) and model it relentlessly.

Stakeholder map (illustrative)

• Internal: Matrix of global product houses and local P&L; tension is normal — your role is to broker trade-offs with data.
• External: Customers who influence reference deals; government or industry bodies in regulated sectors.
• Capital providers: Banks, sponsors, or minority investors — each needs a slightly different narrative on risk.

Travel & mobility

Expect substantial travel — customer, hub, and owner meetings. Specific cadence discussed with shortlisted candidates.

Compensation

Competitive CEO compensation for Energy & Natural Resources leadership: cash, incentive, benefits, and potential equity or carry (case-dependent). Discussed with finalists only.

Application status

This mandate is no longer accepting new applications. The search progressed through Q4 2025 and closed for submissions in February 2026. We retain this posting for transparency on the type of leadership work we carry in Energy & Natural Resources and Africa. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: energy-natural-resources · CEO · Africa · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors