EVP – Operations Transformation — Payments Portfolio

The mandate

Customer and operating evidence now point to an operations reset after service and cost drift within a multinational-owned diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the payments portfolio during a channel migration. For mandate 008, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The EVP – Operations Transformation operating perimeter covers approximately ₹3,250 crore in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several payments portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The EVP – Operations Transformation Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 600 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a EVP – Operations Transformation who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the payments portfolio. The EVP – Operations Transformation Financial Services seat must resolve a channel migration, while preserving the underlying strengths of the payments portfolio. For mandate 008, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The EVP – Operations Transformation’s first year on the payments portfolio is expected to end with stable delivery, structurally lower cost and accountable operating rhythms. In mandate 008, 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 EVP – Operations Transformation — Payments Portfolio seat, established because a channel migration 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 payments portfolio, 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 EVP – Operations Transformation value-creation thesis for the payments portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹3,250 crore in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the EVP – Operations Transformation Financial Services organisation of about 600 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the payments portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a channel migration, with EVP – Operations Transformation-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one EVP – Operations Transformation operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the payments portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Demonstrate enterprise authority across functions and markets, with outcomes visible in cash, customers or controlled risk in mandate 008.
• Build the EVP – Operations Transformation’s three-year succession and capability plan for the payments portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the payments portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to an operations reset after service and cost drift, 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 – Operations Transformation portfolio and organisation choices for the payments 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 payments portfolio trend against stable delivery, structurally lower cost and accountable operating rhythms, 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 – Operations Transformation’s agreed first-year payments portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A EVP – Operations Transformation forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the payments portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the EVP – Operations Transformation mandate’s highest-priority payments portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical payments portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the EVP – Operations Transformation’s direct reports.
• A quantified EVP – Operations Transformation-owned improvement in the payments portfolio operating constraint behind a channel migration, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 008: 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 Operations, COO or Transformation Director in a multinational-owned Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the payments portfolio, your EVP – Operations Transformation track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this EVP – Operations Transformation brief.

As a EVP – Operations Transformation candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Financial Services 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 ₹1,900 crore and led an organisation of at least 600 people.

For mandate 008, the board wants two transitions: a difficult payments portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a channel migration. As the prospective EVP – Operations Transformation for this payments portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 008 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The EVP – Operations Transformation role in Financial Services 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 EVP Operations, COO or Transformation Director, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven EVP – Operations Transformation ownership of at least ₹1,900 crore and leadership of no fewer than 600 employees in a comparable payments portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of an operations reset after service and cost drift with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks EVP – Operations Transformation-level payments portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Bengaluru location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 008.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated EVP – Operations Transformation package is ₹2.2–3.0 crore fixed + performance variable, calibrated to the final payments portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 008 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The EVP – Operations Transformation appointment in Bengaluru, centred on the payments portfolio, 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 008.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 008. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 008.