Country Managing Director — Enterprise-Operations Centre

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing a country business needing renewed licence to grow within a privately held multinational global-capability-centre network. The immediate arena is the enterprise-operations centre during a captive-to-global mandate expansion. For mandate 234, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Country Managing Director operating perimeter covers approximately PLN 3,850 million in annual global services budget, with activity spanning several enterprise-operations centre customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Country Managing Director Global Capability Centres remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,950 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a Country Managing Director who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the enterprise-operations centre. The Country Managing Director Global Capability Centres seat must resolve a captive-to-global mandate expansion, while preserving the underlying strengths of the enterprise-operations centre. For mandate 234, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Country Managing Director’s first year on the enterprise-operations centre is expected to end with local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment. In mandate 234, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the Country Managing Director — Enterprise-Operations Centre seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the enterprise-operations centre, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because a captive-to-global mandate expansion cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Country Managing Director value-creation thesis for the enterprise-operations centre, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately PLN 3,850 million in annual global services budget, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Country Managing Director Global Capability Centres organisation of about 1,950 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the enterprise-operations centre economics and execution constraints created by a captive-to-global mandate expansion, with Country Managing Director-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Country Managing Director operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the enterprise-operations centre; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability in mandate 234.
• Build the Country Managing Director’s three-year succession and capability plan for the enterprise-operations centre, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Global Capability Centres organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the enterprise-operations centre baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a country business needing renewed licence to grow, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Country Managing Director portfolio and organisation choices for the enterprise-operations centre, 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 enterprise-operations centre trend against local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment, 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 Country Managing Director’s agreed first-year enterprise-operations centre value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Country Managing Director forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the enterprise-operations centre’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Country Managing Director mandate’s highest-priority enterprise-operations centre risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical enterprise-operations centre talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Country Managing Director’s direct reports.
• A quantified Country Managing Director-owned improvement in the enterprise-operations centre operating constraint behind a captive-to-global mandate expansion, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 234: 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 Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager in a privately held Global Capability Centres or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the enterprise-operations centre, your Country Managing Director track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from GCCs, shared services, enterprise technology, business services or multinational operations will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Country Managing Director brief.

As a Country Managing Director candidate, you bring 28+ years of progressive Global Capability Centres or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 28-plus experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of PLN 2,250 million and led an organisation of at least 1,375 people.

For mandate 234, the board wants two transitions: a difficult enterprise-operations centre portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a captive-to-global mandate expansion. As the prospective Country Managing Director for this enterprise-operations centre, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 234 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Country Managing Director must be based in Krakow; international relocation is supported, but this Global Capability Centres role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Global Capability Centres governance forum.
• Proven Country Managing Director ownership of at least PLN 2,250 million and leadership of no fewer than 1,375 employees in a comparable enterprise-operations centre context.
• One completed Global Capability Centres or adjacent-sector example of a country business needing renewed licence to grow with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from GCCs, shared services, enterprise technology, business services or multinational operations; experience that is purely functional and lacks Country Managing Director-level enterprise-operations centre consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Krakow location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 234.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Country Managing Director package is PLN 2.0–2.8 million base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final enterprise-operations centre scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 234 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Country Managing Director appointment in Krakow, centred on the enterprise-operations centre, 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 234.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 234. 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 234.