Chief Information Officer — Aftermarket Franchise

The mandate

An aftermarket franchise is resetting the footprint of warehouses, repair centres, remanufacturing and technical support. Its systems encode the old network through location-specific inventory, dealer interfaces, warranty rules and integrations. Closing or repurposing a site without changing that digital map can strand parts, route orders incorrectly or remove service history. The board has created an urgent CIO role before the first footprint moves.

The CIO will lead approximately 725 employees and material partners and a technology perimeter near ₹3,900 crore supporting parts, dealer management, workshop workflow, warranty, customer care and logistics. Operations owns the physical footprint; finance owns the investment case. The CIO owns information continuity, system design, data migration, service resilience and technology economics.

The transformation cannot be a single cutover. Dealers and customers require uninterrupted ordering, repair and claim visibility, while new hubs need tested capacity and recovery. The CIO must map dependencies, sequence dual running deliberately and retire old routes fully after reconciliation.

Master data is a commercial control. Part supersession, fitment, vehicle history and inventory ownership must remain correct as stock moves. Access for dealers, suppliers and employees must follow new responsibilities immediately rather than linger after site closure.

Why this seat is open

No current technology leader has authority across the entire aftermarket estate. The footprint decision created an urgent new role with no predecessor. Interim teams can maintain platforms but cannot set architecture and migration priorities. The board aims to appoint within eight weeks.

What you will own

• Map applications, data, integrations, users and recovery dependencies to every footprint move.
• Define target platforms and migration sequence for parts, workshops, warranty and customer service.
• Protect part, fitment, vehicle and inventory master data through transfer.
• Establish dealer and supplier access aligned to new operating responsibilities.
• Govern dual running, reconciliation, rollback and complete legacy retirement.
• Test capacity and resilience before volume enters a new hub.
• Control technology vendors, contracts and lifecycle economics.
• Build platform, data and service leadership with credible successors.

Every site move will have a technology readiness dossier tied to the physical operating plan. It will cover network capacity, scanning and labelling, device availability, identity, interfaces, cut-off rules, support rosters and the exact reconciliation proving that stock and open work arrived intact. Parts supersession and vehicle-fitment data need special protection: a technically successful migration that offers an incompatible component to a workshop is an operating failure. Warranty history, technician notes and customer consent must retain usable lineage after archival or platform change.

The CIO will establish rehearsal environments that reflect peak dealer ordering and warehouse events rather than average transaction volume. Business continuity tests will include unavailable carrier links, corrupt messages and the loss of a critical vendor specialist. Dual running requires an expiry date, cost owner and measurable exit conditions, because permanent duplication creates competing records and masks defects. Vendor contracts will be reviewed for data extraction, transition assistance, software escrow and service credits that matter in an actual move. The target estate should be simpler to operate after the footprint reset, not merely redistributed across newer facilities.

Operational leaders will sign readiness on observable service criteria, while the CIO retains authority to delay migration when reconciliation or recovery evidence is incomplete.

The first 12 months

Within 45 days, the CIO will identify critical dependencies and block moves lacking system readiness. By day 90, the board will receive a migration map, interim access controls and recovery requirements for the first footprint wave.

By month eight, two contrasting location moves should complete with reconciled inventory and uninterrupted dealer service. At least one obsolete integration family will be retired, and new hubs will pass peak-volume and recovery tests before full cutover.

At year-end, 95% of footprint activity should use approved platforms, order or claim errors caused by location data should fall by 40% and legacy run cost by 15%. Critical services must meet availability objectives, with no material customer, inventory or access failure from migration.

What the board will measure

• Footprint moves enabled without dealer or customer interruption.
• Inventory, fitment and vehicle data remaining accurate.
• Real legacy retirement rather than indefinite dual running.
• Technology cost and capacity aligned to the future network.
• Technical leadership and succession below the CIO.

The person

You are a CIO, automotive retail-platform or service-technology leader who has migrated systems during network consolidation. You understand parts, warranty, dealer and customer workflows and can manage data as an operating control. Experience in automotive, distribution, retail or field service is relevant.

You bring 18–22 years of experience and have controlled at least ₹2,250 crore while leading 500 technology employees and partners or more. The board will test a cutover you delayed, inventory you reconciled and a legacy route you retired.

This is an onsite Chennai appointment with nationwide footprint travel.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is ₹3.2–4.6 crore plus performance variable and long-term incentives. Measures include continuity, data integrity, retirement, economics and succession. Migration dates alone do not define success. Final terms reflect the agreed technology perimeter.

Confidentiality

The footprint, platforms, dealers and manufacturer remain confidential. Controlled details follow qualification and mutual confidentiality. Chennai and the rounded technology scope must not be used to infer the business.