Non-Executive Chair — Utility Strategy and Stakeholder Governance
Italy·Water & Environmental Services·Water and environmental services· Rome·Posted 7 August 2026
Applications close 26 November 2026
Water and environmental services organisation in Italy
The problem this seat exists to solve
The chair will guide a utility board in decisions that balance service reliability, investment, financial sustainability and stakeholder expectations. The role requires independent judgement and the ability to create a clear collective position where there is no option that satisfies every objective equally. It is a non-executive chair appointment, with management authority remaining with the executive team.
Set the conditions for sound decisions
Ensure strategic proposals identify trade-offs, alternatives and the consequences of delay. Encourage directors to test assumptions and bring relevant expertise while maintaining responsibility for the decision as a whole. The chair should prevent important disagreements from being hidden in vague wording that leaves management without a usable direction.
Engage stakeholders through accountable channels
Maintain appropriate engagement with stakeholders through agreed channels. Listen to concerns and ensure material issues reach the board, while avoiding commitments outside the chair's authority. The organisation needs transparent accountability, not informal instructions that bypass collective governance.
Executive relationship and board effectiveness
Support clear objectives and evaluation for executive leadership. The chair must be available for consequential issues without becoming a shadow chief executive. Review the board's information, committee structure and succession needs so that oversight remains effective as the organisation changes.
Chairing experience and appointment conditions
Candidates should have substantial board leadership or senior governance experience in utilities, infrastructure or another public-interest organisation. They need evidence of handling disagreement, long-term investment decisions and demanding stakeholder relationships. Integrity, preparation and the ability to communicate decisions clearly are essential.
The appointment is distinct from statutory audit, inspection or separate supervisory offices. Any applicable eligibility, independence and appointment conditions will be assessed specifically. Candidates must disclose relevant political, commercial and advisory connections.
Evidence of effective leadership
The chair's contribution should be visible in a coherent strategy, clear executive accountability and timely decisions on difficult issues. They should be willing to revisit a board position when evidence changes, while ensuring that revisions are explained and recorded. Success is a board that can govern the service responsibly through uncertainty, rather than one that avoids disagreement by postponing choices until operating pressure removes most of the available options.
Terms
- Where the board sits
- Rome, Italy
- Applications close
- 26 November 2026
- Appointment
- Board chair appointment
- Compensation
- EUR 75,000–140,000 per year (indicative annual board fee)
- Time commitment in this market
- Typically 8–12 board meetings a year plus committees; Italian boards meet more often than the European average.
Before you apply — Italy
No nationality or residency test applies to an Italian director. The route in that matters is procedural rather than legal: a place on a slate.
- Residency test
- None.
- Nationality test
- None.
- Work authorisation
- A non-executive director attending board meetings does not require a permit. Executive roles for non-EU nationals do, and are subject to the immigration decree quotas.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- No hard statutory cap. The 2020 Corporate Governance Code treats service exceeding nine years in the previous twelve as a circumstance that compromises independence, requiring the board to assess and disclose.
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