COO – Regional Operations — Refining And Marketing System

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing regional delivery split across incompatible operating models within a multinational-owned integrated energy producer and services platform. The immediate arena is the refining and marketing system during a major-project recovery. For mandate 394, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The COO – Regional Operations operating perimeter covers approximately £42,850 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, with activity spanning several refining and marketing system customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The COO – Regional Operations Oil & Energy remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,100 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a COO – Regional Operations who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the refining and marketing system. The COO – Regional Operations Oil & Energy seat must resolve a major-project recovery, while preserving the underlying strengths of the refining and marketing system. For mandate 394, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The COO – Regional Operations’s first year on the refining and marketing system is expected to end with one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity. In mandate 394, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created COO – Regional Operations — Refining And Marketing System seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the refining and marketing system remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the COO – Regional Operations value-creation thesis for the refining and marketing system, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately £42,850 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the COO – Regional Operations Oil & Energy organisation of about 1,100 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the refining and marketing system economics and execution constraints created by a major-project recovery, with COO – Regional Operations-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one COO – Regional Operations operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the refining and marketing system; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have carried end-to-end delivery accountability across multiple sites, channels or markets with quantified service and cost outcomes in mandate 394.
• Build the COO – Regional Operations’s three-year succession and capability plan for the refining and marketing system, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Oil & Energy organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the refining and marketing system baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to regional delivery split across incompatible operating models, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal COO – Regional Operations portfolio and organisation choices for the refining and marketing system, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable refining and marketing system trend against one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the COO – Regional Operations’s agreed first-year refining and marketing system value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A COO – Regional Operations forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the refining and marketing system’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the COO – Regional Operations mandate’s highest-priority refining and marketing system risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical refining and marketing system talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the COO – Regional Operations’s direct reports.
• A quantified COO – Regional Operations-owned improvement in the refining and marketing system operating constraint behind a major-project recovery, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 394: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive in a multinational-owned Oil & Energy or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the refining and marketing system, your COO – Regional Operations track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from energy, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals, renewables or industrial services will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this COO – Regional Operations brief.

As a COO – Regional Operations candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Oil & Energy or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of £24,850 million and led an organisation of at least 950 people.

For mandate 394, the board wants two transitions: a difficult refining and marketing system portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a major-project recovery. As the prospective COO – Regional Operations for this refining and marketing system, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 394 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The COO – Regional Operations must be based in London; international relocation is supported, but this Oil & Energy role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Oil & Energy governance forum.
• Proven COO – Regional Operations ownership of at least £24,850 million and leadership of no fewer than 950 employees in a comparable refining and marketing system context.
• One completed Oil & Energy or adjacent-sector example of regional delivery split across incompatible operating models with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from energy, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals, renewables or industrial services; experience that is purely functional and lacks COO – Regional Operations-level refining and marketing system consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the London location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 394.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated COO – Regional Operations package is £290,000–390,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final refining and marketing system scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 394 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The COO – Regional Operations appointment in London, centred on the refining and marketing system, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 394.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 394. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking, and the composite facts here must not be reverse-engineered or circulated for mandate 394.