Chief-of-staff to regional chair (CEO calibre) — Telecom · Africa

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Telecommunications on a senior CEO leadership mandate anchored in Africa. The remit explicitly spans Canada, China, Singapore.

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

Expect to partner closely with technology and risk leaders — the enterprise strategy is increasingly inseparable from data and resilience.

---

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Talent retention — telecom companies struggle to compete with technology sector compensation packages for engineering and digital talent
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Africa with explicit corridor responsibility across Canada, China, Singapore.
• Organisation stage: Portfolio under review: non-core assets, JVs, and country footprints are actively questioned each planning cycle.
• Stakeholders: Stakeholders span board or regional executive committee, global functional heads, JV partners, and strategic account buyers.
• Secondary lens: Rural and deep-rural connectivity — the government's BharatNet programme and expanding rural data services create operational leadership requirements in non-metro markets

---

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Segment economics: Force transparency on true profitability by segment, channel, and geography — then reweight resources accordingly.
2. Pricing & mix: Sponsor commercial excellence — fewer one-off discounts, clearer walk-away rules, better contract discipline.
3. Innovation bets: Protect a thin portfolio of R&D or new ventures with stage-gates; kill duplicates across business units.
4. Operating resilience: Stress-test supply, cyber, and third-party dependencies; fund fixes before the next shock.
5. Leadership climate: Reduce meeting load; elevate written pre-reads and decision memos so the enterprise thinks more clearly.
6. Legacy clean-up: Retire zombie initiatives and committees that consume leadership attention without moving KPIs.

---

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

• 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.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Africa with regular engagement across Canada, 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)

• Value creation: EBITDA / cash trajectory vs. owner or board case — especially under stress scenarios.
• Execution: On-time delivery of named transformation milestones; reduction in repeat incidents or audit findings.
• Leadership: External hires and internal promotions that stick; reduction in key-person concentration.
• Innovation: Launched offers or capabilities that move the needle on differentiation, not pilots that stall.

---

First 90 days (orientation arc)

• Days 1–30: Map cash, covenant, and customer concentration risks before announcing initiatives.
• Days 30–60: Align owners and board on a 12-month value story — financial and non-financial.
• Days 60–90: Launch two quick operational fixes that build credibility with frontline managers.
• Deep-dive on talent — who is load-bearing, who is blocking, where external hire is mandatory.
• Socialise a simple KPI tree so every function sees how their metrics roll up.

---

Stakeholder map (illustrative)

• Internal: Executive committee, functional peers, shared services leads, and programme PMOs.
• External: Key suppliers, technology partners, and joint-venture boards where applicable.
• Board / owners: Expect deep dives on risk, liquidity, talent, and transformation — slides light, substance heavy.

---

Travel & mobility

Role requires face-to-face presence in the primary hub with regular regional travel; remote-only not viable.

---

Compensation

Package aligned to CEO benchmarks in Telecommunications — typically fixed, variable, benefits, and mobility where applicable. Structure detailed at shortlist.

---

Application process

Gladwin International is managing this search confidentially. Shortlisted candidates will engage in structured conversations with the firm’s partners before client introduction. Please apply through the careers portal with a concise note on why this geography, sector, and remit fit your trajectory.

We review every submission personally; unsolicited outreach to the end client is discouraged and may disqualify candidacy.

---

Reference: telecommunications · CEO · Africa · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors