Chief-of-staff to regional chair (CMO calibre) — Chemicals · Malaysia

Position overview

Gladwin International Leadership Advisors is representing a confidential organisation in Chemicals & Materials on a senior CMO leadership mandate anchored in Malaysia. The remit explicitly spans Singapore, Middle East, Canada.

This is a strategic transformation mandate at CXO level — equal parts operating leadership, change orchestration, and investor / board narrative ownership.

The client values executives who build repeatable operating mechanisms, not heroic firefighting that resets every quarter.

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Context you will inherit

• Market & sector: Sustainability transformation — bio-based, circular, and green chemistry are becoming competitive necessities; R&D and strategy leaders who can navigate this transition
• Geographic spine: Primary hub Malaysia with explicit corridor responsibility across Singapore, Middle East, Canada.
• Organisation stage: Recent leadership turnover created ambiguity on priorities; you will need to re-establish a crisp enterprise storyline.
• Stakeholders: Key interfaces include headquarters strategy, regional risk and legal, local regulators (where material), and anchor channel partners.
• Secondary lens: China+1 opportunity capture — scaling operations, building quality systems, and developing customer relationships to capture global chemical supply chain diversification requires experienced export-oriented commercial leaders

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The mandate (12–24 month arc)

1. Win/loss intelligence: Systematise why deals are won or lost; feed insights to product and pricing weekly.
2. Channel conflict: Clarify rules of engagement where direct and indirect routes overlap.
3. Localization at scale: Templates and playbooks that local markets can adapt without fragmenting the brand.
4. Analyst & influencer relations: Where sector norms apply, strengthen third-party validation without over-promising.
5. Marketing operations: SLAs between marketing, sales ops, and RevOps — fewer dropped leads, faster follow-up.
6. Budget agility: Shift spend quarterly toward working channels — kill sacred cows with weak CAC/LTV.

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Responsibilities (representative)

• Build product marketing capability tied to roadmap and revenue plays.
• Improve marketing ROI measurement — acceptable proxies where full attribution is impossible.
• Develop partner and channel marketing where indirect routes dominate.
• Instil crisis communications readiness with legal and corporate affairs.
• Coach the organisation on narrative discipline — one story, many channels.

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Leadership profile

• Judgment: High signal-to-noise under pressure; ethical clarity; willingness to halt initiatives that break risk appetite.
• Education: Strong undergraduate grounding; MBA / advanced degree / professional qualification common at this level.
• Communication: Executive presence in English; additional languages valued where market-relevant.
• Modern marketing: Fluency with data, segmentation, and accountable spend — not only creative excellence.
• Geographic muscle: Comfort operating from Malaysia with regular engagement across Singapore, Middle East.

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Team & culture

You inherit a mixed-tenure team — pockets of excellence beside roles that need upgrade. The mandate is to raise the bar without demoralising the organisation: clear standards, fair process, and visible wins that prove the new pace is achievable.

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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

Multi-hub rhythm — plan for weekly or bi-weekly cross-border travel during integration or transformation peaks.

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Compensation

Package aligned to CMO benchmarks in Chemicals & Materials — 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: chemicals-materials · CMO · Malaysia · Gladwin International Leadership Advisors