Chief-of-staff to regional chair (CFO calibre) — Aviation · USA

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Aviation & Aerospace on a senior CFO leadership mandate anchored in USA. The remit explicitly spans Africa, Middle East, Continental Europe.

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

The brief rewards leaders who can translate group strategy into market wins without burning the organisation on vanity initiatives.

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Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Regulatory compliance leadership — DGCA's increasingly active oversight and global compliance requirements (IOSA, IS-BAH) require dedicated compliance and safety leadership
• Geographic spine: Primary hub USA with explicit corridor responsibility across Africa, Middle East, Continental Europe.
• Organisation stage: Digital and data maturity uneven across business lines — quick wins exist beside multi-year platform investments.
• Stakeholders: Expect dense matrix: global product houses, regional P&L owners, shared services, and internal audit all pull on the same calendar.
• Secondary lens: Rapid fleet and network expansion — building the operational, technical, and commercial leadership bench fast enough to support aggressive growth plans

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The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Forecast integrity: Rebuild credibility of the rolling forecast — bridge gaps between FP&A, business units, and capital planning.
2. Capital allocation: Lead investment committee analytics; enforce hurdle rates and post-investment reviews.
3. Liquidity & funding: Stress-test funding plans; tighten working capital levers and covenant headroom narratives.
4. Controllership: Upgrade close, reporting, and internal controls where integration or growth created gaps.
5. Investor / lender interface: Own the numbers story with banks, rating agencies, or PE lenders — calm, conservative, accurate.
6. Transformation economics: Partner with COO / CIO on productivity programmes with clear ROI and tracking.

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Responsibilities (representative)

• Own external reporting narrative, lender covenants, and rating / investor conversations as delegated.
• Lead FP&A, controllership, tax, and treasury with clear accountability and talent depth.
• Partner with business units on pricing, deal economics, and post-merger synergy realisation.
• Ensure internal controls and audit findings are remediated with sustainable fixes.
• Challenge growth plans that lack capital discipline or credible downside cases.

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Leadership profile

• Finance leadership: Controllership-quality foundations plus credible FP&A and external stakeholder experience.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from USA with regular engagement across Africa, Middle East.

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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.

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Success measures (examples)

• Growth quality: Mix of recurring revenue, new logos, and cross-sell — not volume for its own sake.
• Productivity: Unit cost, automation savings, or throughput improvements with audited baselines.
• Customer: NPS / CSAT where tracked; contract renewals; reference-ability in strategic accounts.
• Franchise: Clean compliance record; reputation stability in industry and government forums.

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First 90 days (orientation arc)

• Days 1–30: Listening tour — customers, regulators (as appropriate), top team 1:1s, and unfiltered view of numbers; pause major reorganisation.
• Days 30–60: Publish a short memo on priorities, non-goals, and decision rights; align executive committee on three enterprise bets.
• Days 60–90: Lock operating cadence; fill or upgrade one to two critical seats; deliver one visible win (customer, cost, or culture).
• Commission a pragmatic view of data, cyber, and automation posture; sponsor one bounded pilot with ROI hypothesis.
• Establish escalation discipline with matrix partners — fewer meetings, clearer decision logs.

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Stakeholder map (illustrative)

• Internal: CEO or regional president, CFO, risk / legal, CHRO, CIO or CDO, business GMs, internal audit.
• External: Strategic accounts, channel partners, industry associations, regulators (where material).
• Owners: PE operating partners, promoter office, or public investors — pace and clarity matter as much as vision.

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Travel & mobility

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

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Compensation

Market-aligned CFO remuneration in Aviation & Aerospace with performance linkage; sign-on and relocation considered for exceptional fits.

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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.

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Reference: aviation-aerospace · CFO · USA · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors