India & emerging markets CFO — Healthcare (regional P&L)

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Healthcare & Life Sciences on a senior CFO leadership mandate anchored in USA. The remit explicitly spans Australia, Middle East, Malaysia.

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.

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Navigating complex regulatory frameworks (NABH, NABL, CDSCO, NPPA) while driving commercial growth and operational efficiency
• Geographic spine: Primary hub USA with explicit corridor responsibility across Australia, Middle East, Malaysia.
• 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: Finding leaders who can bridge clinical credibility with strong business acumen — the 'clinical-commercial' leader who can drive EBITDA while earning physician trust

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.

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.

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 Australia, Middle East.

Team & culture

Expect some fatigue from prior change programmes. Your success depends on simpler priorities, fewer initiatives, and leaders who model accountability. Culture is how decisions get made when spreadsheets disagree — you set that tone.

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.

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.

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.

Travel & mobility

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

Compensation

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

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 Healthcare & Life Sciences and USA. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: healthcare-life-sciences · CFO · USA · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors