India & emerging markets CIO — Logistics (regional P&L)

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Logistics & Supply Chain on a senior CIO leadership mandate anchored in Australia. The remit explicitly spans India, Middle East, USA.

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

Expect to partner closely with technology and risk leaders — the enterprise strategy is increasingly inseparable from data and resilience.

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Technology integration — deploying WMS, TMS, AI route optimisation, and supply chain visibility platforms requires technology-forward operations leaders
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Australia with explicit corridor responsibility across India, Middle East, USA.
• 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: Cross-border supply chain — as Indian companies internationalise and global companies source from India, cross-border logistics leadership with customs, compliance, and multimodal expertise

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Service catalogue: Clear offerings, owners, and SLAs — reduce bespoke IT arrangements that don’t scale.
2. Major incident command: Practised playbooks, comms templates, and executive briefing discipline.
3. Technical debt register: Visible to leadership; fund pay-down in proportion to risk and customer impact.
4. License optimisation: True-up discipline and shelf-ware elimination — partner with procurement.
5. Regulatory projects: Ring-fence capacity for supervisor-driven change without starving business roadmap.
6. Geographic IT: Harmonise standards across hubs while respecting data residency and local support needs.

Responsibilities (representative)

• Own IT service delivery, run cost, and major business system programmes.
• Partner with business on digital initiatives — clear roles vs. product/engineering where split.
• Lead infrastructure, cloud, and workplace technology strategy.
• Co-own cyber resilience with CISO; prioritise by business criticality.
• Rationalise application portfolio — retire, replace, or integrate duplicates.

Leadership profile

• Business systems: Large programme delivery — ERP, core platforms, or digital workplace at scale.
• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Australia with regular engagement across India, Middle East.

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)

• 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.

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.

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.

Travel & mobility

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

Compensation

Package aligned to CIO benchmarks in Logistics & Supply Chain — typically fixed, variable, benefits, and mobility where applicable. Structure detailed at shortlist.

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 Logistics & Supply Chain and Australia. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: logistics-supply-chain · CIO · Australia · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors