Country Managing Director — Industry-Solutions Business

The mandate

A US industry-solutions business retains strong customers, technology and talent. Local leaders argue for greater autonomy, while enterprise stakeholders see inconsistent adoption of common priorities and controls. Customers want reliable outcomes rather than internal debate. The Country Managing Director will earn a renewed licence to grow by aligning local market choices with the wider enterprise and delivering what is promised.

The country perimeter covers approximately US$1.15 billion in AI product and services revenue and around 400 employees and material partners across the USA, San Francisco and the wider operating region. It includes several sector, customer, product and delivery clusters rather than one homogeneous asset. Some local variation is commercially valuable; other variation creates duplication, weak economics or control uncertainty. The MD must separate them through evidence.

The trust gap operates in several directions. The board needs dependable forecasts and execution. Country leaders need timely enterprise decisions and clarity about non-negotiable standards. Customers need confidence that local counsel and delivery draw on the full platform. Employees need a strategy that explains priorities and stopped work. Rebuilding trust requires visible operating choices, not a communications exercise.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement with an orderly incumbent handover. The board has allowed four to six months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while stakeholder confidence is rebuilt. Communications will be sequenced for employees, customers and partners. The permanent onsite appointment is based in San Francisco, supports international relocation and reports to the Group Chief Executive and board.

What you will own

You will establish a country thesis around sectors and customer problems where the organisation holds distinctive capability and credible economics. Product and service choices should account for adoption, delivery capacity, model and platform cost, and enterprise investment. Resources must move towards the strongest opportunities, while weak or duplicative activity receives a dated repair or stop decision.

Commercial execution needs one country view of pipeline, pricing, customer commitments, delivery and expansion. You will review major accounts, strengthen qualification and ensure local promises fit product and operating reality. Strategic customers should have clear executive ownership and access to wider enterprise expertise without navigating competing internal structures.

Enterprise alignment will be explicit. Agree which decisions sit in-country, which belong to global product or functions and how disagreements escalate. Common controls and platforms should be adopted unless a quantified local requirement justifies variation. In return, enterprise teams must respond to country needs through clear service and investment decisions.

You will assess the 400-person employee and partner perimeter, appoint leaders able to own full outcomes and build successors. The operating cadence should reconcile revenue, cash, customers, delivery, technology, people and risk. Material issues must reach the Group Chief Executive and board with a recommendation, not competing narratives.

The first 12 months

During the first 90 days, validate country performance at sector, product and customer level. Meet key customers, enterprise counterparts and local leaders, examine forecast and delivery evidence and stabilise urgent commitments. Assess the executive team and bring the board a country thesis, decision-rights map, immediate portfolio choices and scorecard.

From months four to nine, reallocate capital and talent, resolve priority enterprise interfaces and execute the first organisation changes. Reset weak accounts or offers, scale evidence-backed opportunities and demonstrate an early commercial outcome that combines local relevance with enterprise capability. Communicate stopped work and the reasons behind it.

At year end, the business should show local growth, greater stakeholder confidence and visible enterprise alignment across multiple reporting periods. The next plan must reconcile customers, products, delivery, platform capacity and people. Present a three-year country case with downside measures if market demand, execution or enterprise support varies.

What the board will measure

Annual country delivery should remain within 10% of the approved case, with variance communicated before quarter close. Three successive forecasts must align revenue, cash, customers, delivery and workforce. A selected driver of the enterprise-trust gap needs measurable improvement from a verified baseline under one accountable owner.

Priority customer and execution risks should close by board dates with evidence that corrective action lasts. At least 90% of critical country talent should remain, and ready-now successors should cover 70% of direct reports. Material surprises cannot bypass governance, while severe escalations need resolution or formal acceptance within 30 days.

The person

You are a Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager with at least 28 years in AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics, applied research or a comparable technology business. You have directly owned at least US$1 billion of P&L, budget, book or portfolio and led at least 400 people.

Your record includes restoring a country business after uneven results and rebuilding confidence with both local and enterprise stakeholders. You can quantify market, portfolio, organisation and operating changes and identify what you stopped. The board values independent local judgement within clear enterprise commitments. References should isolate your decisions and confirm sustained performance.

Compensation and terms

This country leadership seat carries an anticipated US$600,000–850,000 base, annual incentive and long-term equity; final positioning will reflect the confirmed remit and candidate mix. Equity follows standard vesting and performance conditions. A notice period of up to six months can be accommodated. The MD will have recurring access to the board and investment committee.

Confidentiality

The client name, exact footprint, predecessor details and transaction history remain outside this brief. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking; composite facts must not be reverse-engineered or circulated.