Sector practice head — Energy (India) · CMO

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Energy & Natural Resources on a senior CMO leadership mandate anchored in India. The remit explicitly spans Canada.

This is a sector or practice-head mandate combining deep domain credibility with commercial ownership of a vertical P&L or global practice line.

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: ESG and sustainability reporting — as energy companies become targets for investor scrutiny on climate transition plans, CSO and sustainability leadership is increasingly critical
• Geographic spine: Primary hub India with explicit corridor responsibility across Canada.
• 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: Energy transition leadership — finding executives who can credibly lead both the traditional energy business and new clean energy build-out simultaneously

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Brand & positioning: Refresh the brand story for the next growth chapter — consistent externally, actionable internally.
2. Demand generation: Improve funnel economics; align marketing spend to segments with defendable win rates.
3. Product marketing: Tie roadmap narratives to customer outcomes and proof points, not feature lists.
4. Customer insight: Institutionalise research, segmentation, and CLV thinking in planning conversations.
5. MarTech & data: Rationalise stack; improve attribution where possible without boiling the ocean.
6. Partnerships & ecosystem: Use alliances, co-marketing, and channel programmes to extend reach without linear cost.

Responsibilities (representative)

• Own brand architecture, positioning, and major campaign investment decisions.
• Align marketing and sales on pipeline definitions, targets, and hand-offs.
• Sponsor customer research and segmentation used in S&OP and strategy conversations.
• Rationalise MarTech spend; enforce governance on data and consent.
• Lead executive communications and high-stakes external messaging as needed.

Leadership profile

• Growth leadership: Demonstrated impact on pipeline, win rate, or brand strength in Energy & Natural Resources.
• 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 India with regular engagement across Canada.

Team & culture

Silos are real. Your job is to design forums and incentives so product, technology, risk, and commercial leaders solve problems together instead of optimising local KPIs.

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 CMO remuneration in Energy & Natural Resources 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 Energy & Natural Resources and India. For similar active mandates, browse open roles or submit a general profile through executive search inquiry.

Reference: energy-natural-resources · CMO · India · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors