Interim Managing Director — Commercial and Operating Reset

Reconnect what is sold with what can be delivered

Review how work enters the business, how priorities are decided and where customer promises become difficult or uneconomic to fulfil. Identify whether underperformance is driven by weak demand, poor selection of work, execution constraints or a combination. The first decisions should be based on evidence from contracts, operating performance and cash rather than on the loudest internal explanation.

Shape the work the business accepts

Set clear rules for prioritising opportunities and commitments. Resolve conflicts between commercial targets and delivery capacity. Where existing obligations require corrective action, agree a practical approach with the accountable teams and ensure customer communication reflects what can actually be delivered.

Rebuild operating control

Create an executive rhythm that follows the same commitments from sale through delivery and cash. Establish ownership for cross-functional issues and remove decisions that repeatedly stall between departments. Adjust resources and working practices within delegation, escalating changes that require board or shareholder approval.

The interim leader must avoid improving one function's measure by transferring cost or delay to another. Decisions should be assessed against the performance of the business as a whole.

The leadership evidence required

Candidates need managing director, chief operating officer or comparable general-management experience with genuine profit-and-loss accountability. They should have led a reset involving both customers and operations, including difficult choices about work mix or service commitments. Sector knowledge will be assessed for the specific assignment; no specialist background is assumed from the source archetype.

Applicants should explain how they gained agreement across functions while retaining accountability for decisions. Strong financial literacy and the ability to lead through incomplete information are essential.

The handover must include an achievable operating plan, clear commercial guardrails and a management team able to resolve routine trade-offs without escalation to the interim leader. Performance will be judged on improved reliability, transparent economics and sustained customer delivery, with remaining risks stated plainly rather than hidden by a short-lived increase in activity.