Multi-geography CHRO — Pharma & Biotech · anchored Continental Europe

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology on a senior CHRO leadership mandate anchored in Continental Europe. The remit explicitly spans India, Singapore, Australia.

This is a multi-geography leadership role requiring orchestration across time zones, matrix stakeholders, and often dual-reporting into global and regional lines.

The role suits an operator who treats integration, culture, and capital allocation as one system — not three separate programmes.

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: USFDA and EMA compliance — finding quality and regulatory leaders who can restore and maintain approval status for facilities under import alert or warning letter, one of the sector's most acute leadership demands
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Continental Europe with explicit corridor responsibility across India, Singapore, Australia.
• Organisation stage: Working capital, liquidity, and funding mix are under scrutiny alongside headline revenue growth.
• Stakeholders: Stakeholders span board or regional executive committee, global functional heads, JV partners, and strategic account buyers.
• Secondary lens: CDMO scale-up — as global pharma companies diversify manufacturing into India, building world-class CDMO leadership with both technical excellence and customer relationship management

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Critical role risk: Map single points of failure; run targeted retention and backup plans for revenue- and risk-critical leaders.
2. Manager effectiveness: Raise the bar on people leadership skills for anyone managing managers — non-negotiable training and coaching.
3. Hybrid / remote policy: Clarify principles that balance flexibility with collaboration and regulatory / client needs.
4. Executive hiring process: Speed and quality — fewer panels, sharper scorecards, better candidate experience for senior roles.
5. Comp & benefits benchmarking: Refresh positioning vs. talent competitors; fix anomalies that drive regrettable attrition.
6. People risk dashboard: Surface trends on conduct, grievances, and investigations early to the executive committee.

Responsibilities (representative)

• Set talent strategy for critical roles; chair succession and calibration processes with the CEO.
• Modernise HR operating model — clarity between HRBP, COE, and shared services.
• Partner with CFO on workforce cost, productivity, and location strategy.
• Lead executive hiring for direct reports and key-2 roles with diverse slates.
• Ensure ER / IR stability during restructuring or automation programmes.

Leadership profile

• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• People leadership: Experience resetting leadership standards and succession in matrix or multi-country settings.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Continental Europe with regular engagement across India, Singapore.

Team & culture

You inherit a mixed-tenure team — pockets of excellence beside roles that need upgrade. The mandate is to raise the bar without demoralising the organisation: clear standards, fair process, and visible wins that prove the new pace is achievable.

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.
• Add a timezone-friendly cadence for matrix decisions; rotate forum times to share pain fairly.

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

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

Compensation

Competitive CHRO compensation for Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 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 Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology and Continental Europe. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: pharmaceuticals-biotech · CHRO · Continental Europe · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors