Interim President, International Markets — Controls

Neither a cost-cutter nor a growth champion

Read quickly, this appointment could pass for either job, and it is neither. An interim president asked to weigh near-term cash against strategic capacity is not there to squeeze every international market for cash, and is not there to defend every expansion plan in the name of the future. The job is the judgement between the two: deciding, market by market, which commitments earn their place now, which are worth funding for what they will become, and which do neither.

The seat reports to the Board Chair, carries executive authority across the international markets, and lasts 12 months.

Where the controls come in

Priorities mean little unless the controls behind them hold. You will set how international decisions are structured, including the thresholds retained by local leadership, and you will define the test any request for spending, capacity or a control change has to pass in every market in scope. Once the full cost of a commitment is visible you will decide whether it carries on, waits or stops. Plans that would leave a market team or partner holding exposure it never agreed to are sent back, and an investment case silent on adoption, on what it leans on or on what failure would cost is declined. You sign off who leads each market and how problems reach you, and you resolve any clash between the Board Chair and market heads before money or staff are moved.

In healthcare and life-science services, a capacity decision is rarely only financial. Specialist teams, accredited facilities and clinical pathways take years to build and very little time to lose. A sound international president can tell the difference between capacity that is idle and capacity that is held in reserve for a reason, and will want the evidence to show which is which.

Joint ventures, succession and a long bench

During a joint venture you redrew who could decide, how money flowed and how often the business met to review itself; professionalisation and succession are in your record too. The organisations behind that record had revenue of $930 million or more, at least 5,500 people and a presence in three or more countries. In past roles, evidence has moved staff, capital and leadership time from one place to another, and you can show where. The seat asks for strategy formation at level 4 and for P&L ownership, operating cadence and risk judgement at level 3.

You keep controls that work instead of swapping them for your own, you put a price on every exception so it can be seen, and the managers you leave behind are better than the ones you found. You can tell a board chair what remains unresolved without using the uncertainty as a reason to defer. Anyone who must have each market head's consent before ending a commitment, or who would trade twelve months of accountability for influence, will not fit.

The year ahead, and how it begins

The first ninety days should give the international markets an agreed control baseline: which spending and capacity decisions are taken locally and which come upward. Around month nine the cash and strategic priorities for each market should be ranked, with the lower-ranked commitments paused or ended. By month 12 those controls should have been tested and should be holding, with exceptions visible to the board and owned by market leaders.

Selection begins in week one, when the Board Chair speaks with you confidentially over video. The third week is given to the Risk Committee Chair, who will work with you on how the controls would be tested. By week five you will meet in person with senior leaders from every function, and the seventh week is a session with the full board. We will write to you with our view inside four working days of each stage.