Strategic CHRO — Telecom transformation & growth (Canada)

Position overview

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

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

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: TechCo transformation — reorienting a network-centric organisation into a technology and digital services company requires leaders who can disrupt from within
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Canada with explicit corridor responsibility across Continental Europe, China, Africa.
• 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: Talent retention — telecom companies struggle to compete with technology sector compensation packages for engineering and digital talent

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 Canada with regular engagement across Continental Europe, China.

Team & culture

Inclusion and psychological safety are not separate programmes — they are prerequisites for honest debate on strategy and risk. Model curiosity, direct feedback, and consequences for conduct lapses.

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.

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 Telecommunications 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 Telecommunications and Canada. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: telecommunications · CHRO · Canada · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors