Joint Managing Director – Operations — Project-Development Pipeline

The mandate

A multinational-owned developer is adopting split leadership as its public-private partnership pipeline moves from origination into simultaneous mobilisation. The existing Managing Director will retain strategy, capital relationships and board sponsorship. The Joint MD – Operations must own development execution, bid-to-delivery transfer and operating readiness. The model will fail if teams can appeal between leaders or if strategy and operations maintain competing versions of commitment.

The joint operating perimeter covers approximately ₹21,100 crore in projects and operating assets and 900 employees and material partners. The role owns development operations, mobilisation, project controls, partner readiness, authority deliverables, operating design and execution leadership. The existing MD owns portfolio strategy and capital formation. Both leaders share enterprise performance and must resolve boundaries before they reach teams.

PPP projects require operational evidence before bid commitment. Land, utilities, approvals, design, contractor capacity, service standards and handback obligations can determine value. The Joint MD will establish gates at which operations validates assumptions and has authority to condition commitments. Commercial urgency cannot convert an untested operating concept into an irreversible promise.

The split model needs a written charter. Decision classes, information, escalation deadlines and board routes will be explicit. Joint decisions may include bid approval, capital, CEO appointments and material claims; operating recovery must have one final authority. Dissent will be documented, not resolved through ambiguous consensus.

Why this seat is open

The previous Joint MD has accepted an external role and an accelerated transition is under way. Interim operating cover protects live projects, but PPP expansion requires permanent authority within six to eight weeks. The departure is unrelated to an undisclosed project failure or conduct issue.

What you will own

• Establish the joint-leadership charter and operational decision rights.
• Validate bid assumptions and mobilisation readiness before commitment.
• Lead project controls, partner performance and authority deliverables.
• Design operating models that meet PPP service and handback obligations.
• Resolve cross-project capacity, leadership and contractor conflicts.
• Build successors across development operations and mobilisation.

Bid-to-delivery transfer will become a controlled event. Commercial models, exclusions, authority commitments, risk acceptance and partner terms will enter one baseline. Project leaders will sign what they have received and identify unresolved assumptions. Late discovery will trigger review of bid governance, not merely pressure for project recovery.

Mobilisation dossiers will cover land and access, designs, permits, people, contractors, systems, spares, safety and service testing. Readiness will be proven through evidence and rehearsal. A mobilisation date will move where critical acceptance is absent, with the Joint MD presenting customer, capital and reputation consequences transparently.

Partner governance will distinguish responsibility and dependency. Joint-venture and EPC partners need authority, information, performance and recovery rules. The platform must retain enough capability to challenge progress and recover critical work. Relationship sensitivity will not override safety or public-service obligations.

The operating cadence will connect pipeline and live delivery. Weekly reviews will resolve constrained specialists, contractors and authority actions; monthly forums will reconsider bid assumptions using current project evidence. Shared lessons must change future commitments rather than remain within a troubled project.

Change and claims governance will sit inside operating control. Scope instructions, design decisions, authority correspondence and contractor notices need timely ownership before entitlement and schedule positions diverge. The Joint MD will distinguish documented claim, negotiated exposure and delivery action, ensuring project teams do not delay necessary recovery while waiting for commercial resolution. Settlements that alter service, handback or lifecycle obligations will return to joint leadership and, where material, the board.

Document control will be tested through live change events, not measured solely through filing compliance.

The first 12 months

During the first 60 days, the Joint MD will agree the leadership charter, review the ten most material pipeline commitments and stabilise mobilisation risk. By day 90, the board will receive an operating-readiness baseline and leadership assessment.

By month eight, three PPP opportunities should use formal operational validation, two projects should complete controlled bid-to-delivery transfer and partner reviews should include recovery evidence. Critical operating roles will be filled.

At year-end, 90% of mobilisation milestones should meet approved dates, cost-to-complete variance remain within 5% and severe cross-project escalations close within 21 days. Every material bid must carry an operations sign-off or documented board exception, with no public-service commitment accepted without funded capability.

What the board will measure

• Joint leadership producing clear, timely decisions.
• Operational evidence changing bids before commitment.
• Reliable mobilisation and partner recovery.
• Learning from delivery improving the pipeline.
• Strong development-operations succession.

The person

You are a Joint MD, infrastructure COO or development-operations president with 28+ years of experience. You have governed at least ₹12,250 crore and 900 employees. Evidence must include a split-leadership model, a PPP bid you conditioned and a mobilisation recovery involving authorities and delivery partners.

This onsite New Delhi role requires extensive authority, partner and project travel. You are comfortable sharing enterprise leadership while holding unmistakable operating authority.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is ₹5.0–7.5 crore plus performance variable and LTI. Measures include mobilisation, delivery evidence, partner performance, joint leadership, service readiness and succession. Final calibration will follow the agreed decision charter and operating perimeter.

Confidentiality

The developer, leaders, bids, authorities and project evidence remain confidential. Controlled details follow qualification and an undertaking. New Delhi and rounded figures do not identify the business.