SVP – Digital Platforms — Powertrain Division

The mandate

The chair and executive committee are aligned that the immediate priority is fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys within a listed integrated automotive and components manufacturer. The immediate arena is the powertrain division during a warranty-cost challenge. For mandate 259, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The SVP – Digital Platforms operating perimeter covers approximately ₹11,750 crore in regional revenue and programme portfolio, with activity spanning several powertrain division customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The SVP – Digital Platforms Automotive remit carries direct influence over roughly 650 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a SVP – Digital Platforms who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the powertrain division. The SVP – Digital Platforms Automotive seat must resolve a warranty-cost challenge, while preserving the underlying strengths of the powertrain division. For mandate 259, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The SVP – Digital Platforms’s first year on the powertrain division is expected to end with platform adoption, reliability and measurable process simplification. In mandate 259, 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 SVP – Digital Platforms — Powertrain Division seat, established because a warranty-cost challenge now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the powertrain division, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the SVP – Digital Platforms value-creation thesis for the powertrain division, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹11,750 crore in regional revenue and programme portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the SVP – Digital Platforms Automotive organisation of about 650 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the powertrain division economics and execution constraints created by a warranty-cost challenge, with SVP – Digital Platforms-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one SVP – Digital Platforms operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the powertrain division; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Show end-to-end ownership of a material platform or value stream, including budget, talent and measurable operating outcomes in mandate 259.
• Build the SVP – Digital Platforms’s three-year succession and capability plan for the powertrain division, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Automotive organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the powertrain division baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal SVP – Digital Platforms portfolio and organisation choices for the powertrain division, 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 powertrain division trend against platform adoption, reliability and measurable process simplification, 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 SVP – Digital Platforms’s agreed first-year powertrain division value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A SVP – Digital Platforms forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the powertrain division’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the SVP – Digital Platforms mandate’s highest-priority powertrain division risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical powertrain division talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the SVP – Digital Platforms’s direct reports.
• A quantified SVP – Digital Platforms-owned improvement in the powertrain division operating constraint behind a warranty-cost challenge, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 259: 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 SVP Digital, Platform Head or Technology Transformation Leader in a listed Automotive or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the powertrain division, your SVP – Digital Platforms track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from automotive, industrial manufacturing, mobility, components or engineering services will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this SVP – Digital Platforms brief.

As a SVP – Digital Platforms candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Automotive or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of ₹6,800 crore and led an organisation of at least 450 people.

For mandate 259, the board wants two transitions: a difficult powertrain division portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a warranty-cost challenge. As the prospective SVP – Digital Platforms for this powertrain division, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 259 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The SVP – Digital Platforms role in Automotive is based in Bengaluru; relocation is expected, although a structured weekly commute may be considered during the first quarter.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of SVP Digital, Platform Head or Technology Transformation Leader, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Automotive governance forum.
• Proven SVP – Digital Platforms ownership of at least ₹6,800 crore and leadership of no fewer than 450 employees in a comparable powertrain division context.
• One completed Automotive or adjacent-sector example of fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from automotive, industrial manufacturing, mobility, components or engineering services; experience that is purely functional and lacks SVP – Digital Platforms-level powertrain division consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Bengaluru location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 259.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated SVP – Digital Platforms package is ₹2.2–3.0 crore fixed + performance variable, calibrated to the final powertrain division scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 259 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The SVP – Digital Platforms appointment in Bengaluru, centred on the powertrain division, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 259.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 259. 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 259.