Chief-of-staff to regional chair (CSO calibre) — Manufacturing · India

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Manufacturing & Industrial on a senior CSO leadership mandate anchored in India. The remit explicitly spans Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa.

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

You inherit teams that are capable but often misaligned on priorities; your job is to simplify the story and the scorecard.

---

Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Building digital-physical hybrid leadership — plant heads and operations leaders who can drive automation, IIoT adoption, and data-driven decision-making alongside traditional operational excellence
• Geographic spine: Primary hub India with explicit corridor responsibility across Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa.
• 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: Attracting top talent to manufacturing careers that compete with the glamour and compensation of technology and services sectors

---

The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Where to play: Refresh corporate strategy — segments, geographies, and capability bets with explicit trade-offs.
2. M&A funnel: Build a disciplined pipeline — themes, targets, and valuation guardrails aligned with balance sheet.
3. Competitive intelligence: Institutionalise insight on rivals, substitutes, and regulatory direction.
4. Board narrative: Equip the CEO with crisp strategy materials — problem, choice, path, and metrics.
5. Strategic initiatives: Run the PMO for cross-enterprise programmes with clear owners and milestones.
6. Scenario planning: Stress-test strategy under downside macro, regulatory, or technology shocks.

---

Responsibilities (representative)

• Facilitate corporate strategy process — options, choices, and capital implications.
• Run strategic initiative PMO across the enterprise or region.
• Build M&A theme development and early diligences with corp dev.
• Deliver competitive and market intelligence to the executive committee.
• Support board strategy discussions with crisp materials and scenarios.

---

Leadership profile

• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Strategy craft: Experience framing corporate choices with analytical rigour and executive alignment.
• 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 Continental Europe, 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)

• 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

Expect substantial travel — customer, hub, and owner meetings. Specific cadence discussed with shortlisted candidates.

---

Compensation

Competitive CSO compensation for Manufacturing & Industrial leadership: cash, incentive, benefits, and potential equity or carry (case-dependent). Discussed with finalists only.

---

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.

---

Reference: manufacturing-industrial · CSO · India · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors