Multi-geography CHRO — Technology · anchored Continental Europe

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Technology & Digital 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.

Expect a mandate where credibility is earned in rooms with customers and regulators, not only in headquarters workshops.

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Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Building diverse, inclusive engineering organisations in a sector historically skewed toward homogeneity
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Continental Europe with explicit corridor responsibility across India, Singapore, Australia.
• Organisation stage: Growth agenda collides with legacy cost base; productivity and automation are board-level topics, not staff functions.
• Stakeholders: Owners may include PE operating partners, a promoter family office, or public-market investors — each with different tempo and KPIs.
• Secondary lens: Leading AI/ML and GenAI transformations at pace — requiring leaders who can bridge deep technical architecture with business product strategy

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The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Transformation people plan: Align organisation design to strategy — spans, layers, and decision rights.
2. Change leadership: Equip executives to lead through restructuring, automation, or geographic shifts without burning trust.
3. Diversity & inclusion: Move from programmes to measurable outcomes in hiring, promotion, and succession data.
4. Industrial relations / employee relations: Stabilise hotspots; ensure policies match local law and company values.
5. Learning: Invest in leadership curricula tied to business priorities — not generic catalogues.
6. HR analytics: Give the CEO and CFO a clear view of workforce cost, productivity, and risk signals.

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Responsibilities (representative)

• Upgrade manager capability — especially feedback, coaching, and performance management at scale.
• Simplify rewards; reduce exception culture that undermines internal equity.
• Own employee listening and action planning tied to retention drivers.
• Partner with legal on investigations, policies, and regulatory people topics.
• Build HR analytics that support board and audit committee oversight.

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Leadership profile

• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Business partnership: HR seen as a strategic function, not only policy and service delivery.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Continental Europe with regular engagement across India, Singapore.

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Team & culture

The organisation runs hot — ambitious targets and thin buffers. You need to channel energy into sustainable rhythms: predictable planning, honest risk surfacing, and recovery time for teams after major pushes.

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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.

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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.
• Clarify RACI for cross-border deals, staffing, and pricing exceptions.

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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.

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Travel & mobility

Travel weighted to priority markets and quarterly global or regional forums; flexibility for crisis windows.

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Compensation

Package aligned to CHRO benchmarks in Technology & Digital — typically fixed, variable, benefits, and mobility where applicable. Structure detailed at shortlist.

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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: technology-digital · CHRO · Continental Europe · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors