Reference: GILA/ID/SME-085/REGJEW
Board seat: Independent Director, Non-Executive
Primary board location: Rajkot and Ahmedabad with store visits
Meeting model: Six boards, six Audit/Risk and migration workstreams
Mandate type: SME-to-Mainboard Governance Upgrade
Status: Confidential live-search specification; client identity released only after conflict clearance and NDA.
The anonymised enterprise
An SME-exchange-listed jewellery retailer with owned stores, franchise pilots and outsourced manufacturing across western India.
Revenue is ₹700–1,000 crore. The company plans mainboard migration after expansion into two new states and institutional capital raising.
The board problem and strategic reason for appointment
The board must upgrade inventory, purity, cash, franchise and disclosure controls before migration. This archetype is distinct from the larger pre-IPO jewellery mandate in this portfolio.
The board is not buying a credential. It is appointing an independent decision-maker who can convert this problem into a governed sequence of choices, evidence and accountability. Success will be judged by the quality of decisions and control improvement, not by the number of recommendations made.
Board position, authority and interfaces
Audit Committee Chair and Risk member; migration steering-group participant independent of advisers.
The appointee will have direct, unfiltered access to the Company Secretary and to the relevant control-function leaders. Any advisory support requested by the board must remain management-executed: the director sets questions, tolerances and evidence standards, but does not become an executive or consultant.
First 12–18 month strategic charter
- Standardise SKU-level inventory, metal reconciliation and surprise count across stores; strengthen hallmarking, exchange, repair and customer-gold custody controls; govern franchise accounting, related manufacturers and cash/UPI exceptions; build quarterly-close, disclosure and investor-KPI ownership suitable for mainboard scrutiny
- Rebuild governance for mainboard scale: committee depth, disclosure controls, investor communication, internal audit, board evaluation and management bandwidth must mature ahead of migration—not after it.
- Test whether reported growth is supported by cash, controls, customer quality and scalable systems; identify founder-dependent approvals and manual reconciliations that will fail under quarterly scrutiny.
Decision profile sought
Essential evidence
- Jewellery/retail CFO, audit, controls or consumer leader with mainboard governance; inventory and franchise depth
Differentiators
- SME migration, hallmarking or rapid regional retail scale; fraud-control remediation
GILA will assess public-market governance combined with respect for entrepreneurial operating speed, hands-on control building and the ability to challenge advisers selling migration as a transaction alone. Candidates should expect a case discussion based on an ambiguous board decision from this mandate, not a career-history interview alone.
Independence, suitability and downside diligence
The search will apply Section 149(6), Sections 164–165, Schedule IV and the applicable listing or sector rules to the entity’s legally verified status at the appointment date. Databank/proficiency status, listed-entity directorship and committee ceilings, pecuniary relationships, relatives’ interests, recent audit/advisory work and interlocking directorships will be checked. The appointment is subject to formal legal and secretarial confirmation; this posting is not a substitute for that determination.
Mandate-specific screens: Franchisee, bullion, manufacturer, valuer, adviser or competing jeweller interests; personal metal trading; recent audit work.
Before accepting the seat, the candidate will receive under NDA the latest board composition, committee charters, material litigation/regulatory schedule, related-party map, last audited accounts, current D&O policy and the specific risk papers necessary to make an informed liability assessment.
Twelve-month outcomes
The board expects a migration-ready company with credible committees, clean disclosure ownership and systems able to support larger-market scrutiny. For this particular seat, the evidence will be:
- Inventory and purity controls independently reliable; franchise/related flows transparent; close and disclosures meet mainboard-quality calendar
Commitment, protection and economics
- Expected load: 26–34 days during migration.
- Terms: Five-year term; Audit Chair fee; inventory, consumer and securities D&O cover.
- Protection: Appointment letter, deed of indemnity where legally available, appropriate D&O cover including discovery/run-off terms, access to independent advice under the board-approved protocol, and complete minuting of dissent.
- Equity: No stock options where the appointment is legally an independent-director seat subject to Section 149(9). Any private-company structure outside that perimeter will be expressly classified and separately advised; no equity is implied by this posting.
Search process
Conflict pre-clearance → GILA/SYMPHONY™ board-fit interview → mandate case → document-led diligence under NDA → references from board peers and control functions → NRC/owner interviews → statutory, regulatory and reputation checks → board recommendation. Candidate consent, disclosures and appointment approvals will follow the law and the entity’s constitutional documents.