CHRO — Global BFSI practice (based China)

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Banking, Financial Services & Insurance on a senior CHRO leadership mandate anchored in China. The remit explicitly spans Singapore, Continental Europe, Africa.

This is a country CEO / MD-class mandate with board- and headquarters-facing accountability for strategy execution, regulatory relationships, and brand in-market.

The organisation wants a leader who can hold tension — growth vs. control, global standards vs. local speed — without false trade-offs.

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Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Managing credit risk leadership as NPAs cycle and credit costs rise in an increasingly unsecured lending environment
• Geographic spine: Primary hub China with explicit corridor responsibility across Singapore, Continental Europe, 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: Leading the transition from branch-centric to digital-first customer acquisition and service models

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The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Leadership pipeline: Build succession depth for critical roles; reduce key-person risk in revenue and operations.
2. Performance culture: Reset standards, feedback, and consequences — especially for the leadership population.
3. Rewards alignment: Tie incentive design to strategy; simplify schemes that accumulated complexity over years.
4. Talent acquisition: Fix hiring velocity and quality in scarce skill areas; partner with business on workforce planning.
5. Employee experience: Address engagement drivers linked to retention — career paths, manager capability, hybrid ways of working.
6. HR operating model: Clarify HRBP, centres of excellence, and shared services — reduce overlap and hand-off friction.

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Responsibilities (representative)

• Set talent strategy for critical roles; chair succession and calibration processes with the CEO.
• Modernise HR operating model — clarity between HRBP, COE, and shared services.
• Partner with CFO on workforce cost, productivity, and location strategy.
• Lead executive hiring for direct reports and key-2 roles with diverse slates.
• Ensure ER / IR stability during restructuring or automation programmes.

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Leadership profile

• People leadership: Experience resetting leadership standards and succession in matrix or multi-country settings.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from China with regular engagement across Singapore, Continental Europe.

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Team & culture

The organisation runs hot — ambitious targets and thin buffers. You need to channel energy into sustainable rhythms: predictable planning, honest risk surfacing, and recovery time for teams after major pushes.

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Success measures (examples)

• Value creation: EBITDA / cash trajectory vs. owner or board case — especially under stress scenarios.
• Execution: On-time delivery of named transformation milestones; reduction in repeat incidents or audit findings.
• Leadership: External hires and internal promotions that stick; reduction in key-person concentration.
• Innovation: Launched offers or capabilities that move the needle on differentiation, not pilots that stall.

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First 90 days (orientation arc)

• Days 1–30: Map cash, covenant, and customer concentration risks before announcing initiatives.
• Days 30–60: Align owners and board on a 12-month value story — financial and non-financial.
• Days 60–90: Launch two quick operational fixes that build credibility with frontline managers.
• Deep-dive on talent — who is load-bearing, who is blocking, where external hire is mandatory.
• Socialise a simple KPI tree so every function sees how their metrics roll up.

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Stakeholder map (illustrative)

• Internal: Executive committee, functional peers, shared services leads, and programme PMOs.
• External: Key suppliers, technology partners, and joint-venture boards where applicable.
• Board / owners: Expect deep dives on risk, liquidity, talent, and transformation — slides light, substance heavy.

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Travel & mobility

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

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Compensation

Package aligned to CHRO benchmarks in Banking, Financial Services & Insurance — typically fixed, variable, benefits, and mobility where applicable. Structure detailed at shortlist.

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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.

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Reference: banking-financial-services · CHRO · China · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors