EVP – Customer Operations — Upstream Portfolio

The mandate

The board has concluded that incremental adjustment will not resolve customer operations fragmented across channels and markets within a institutionally backed integrated energy producer and services platform. The immediate arena is the upstream portfolio during an operating-model separation. For mandate 381, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The EVP – Customer Operations operating perimeter covers approximately NOK 45,350 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, with activity spanning several upstream portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The EVP – Customer Operations Oil & Energy remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,225 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a EVP – Customer Operations who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the upstream portfolio. The EVP – Customer Operations Oil & Energy seat must resolve an operating-model separation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the upstream portfolio. For mandate 381, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The EVP – Customer Operations’s first year on the upstream portfolio is expected to end with service consistency, lower failure demand and improved retention. In mandate 381, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

The EVP – Customer Operations — Upstream Portfolio requirement was not included in the approved hiring calendar. It became urgent after an operating-model separation created an immediate need for one accountable owner of the upstream portfolio. Interim coverage protects essential decisions, but split ownership cannot continue through the next operating gate. The board intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 4–6 weeks while preserving confidential, evidence-led diligence.

What you will own

• Set the EVP – Customer Operations value-creation thesis for the upstream portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately NOK 45,350 million in operated asset and trading portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the EVP – Customer Operations Oil & Energy organisation of about 1,225 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the upstream portfolio economics and execution constraints created by an operating-model separation, with EVP – Customer Operations-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one EVP – Customer Operations operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the upstream portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Demonstrate enterprise authority across functions and markets, with outcomes visible in cash, customers or controlled risk in mandate 381.
• Build the EVP – Customer Operations’s three-year succession and capability plan for the upstream portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Oil & Energy organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the upstream portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to customer operations fragmented across channels and markets, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal EVP – Customer Operations portfolio and organisation choices for the upstream portfolio, 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 upstream portfolio trend against service consistency, lower failure demand and improved retention, 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 EVP – Customer Operations’s agreed first-year upstream portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A EVP – Customer Operations forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the upstream portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the EVP – Customer Operations mandate’s highest-priority upstream portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical upstream portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the EVP – Customer Operations’s direct reports.
• A quantified EVP – Customer Operations-owned improvement in the upstream portfolio operating constraint behind an operating-model separation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 381: 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 EVP Customer Operations, Service COO or Customer Experience Head in a institutionally backed Oil & Energy or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the upstream portfolio, your EVP – Customer 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 EVP – Customer Operations brief.

As a EVP – Customer 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 NOK 26,300 million and led an organisation of at least 850 people.

For mandate 381, the board wants two transitions: a difficult upstream portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during an operating-model separation. As the prospective EVP – Customer Operations for this upstream portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 381 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The EVP – Customer Operations must be based in Stavanger; 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 EVP Customer Operations, Service COO or Customer Experience Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Oil & Energy governance forum.
• Proven EVP – Customer Operations ownership of at least NOK 26,300 million and leadership of no fewer than 850 employees in a comparable upstream portfolio context.
• One completed Oil & Energy or adjacent-sector example of customer operations fragmented across channels and markets 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 EVP – Customer Operations-level upstream portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Stavanger location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 381.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated EVP – Customer Operations package is NOK 3.0–4.0 million base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final upstream portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 381 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The EVP – Customer Operations appointment in Stavanger, centred on the upstream portfolio, offers regular exposure to the board and its investment committee. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 381.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 381. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 381.