Interim Chief Operating Officer — Enterprise Software Delivery

The mandate

A multi-country implementation missed its contractual acceptance date after configuration, data migration and client dependencies were reported as separate green workstreams. The customer has filed a material service claim, and the operating chief departed when the board requested an integrated portfolio review.

The interim must join within three weeks for ten months, covering recovery of the named programme and two quarterly portfolio cycles. A permanent COO search begins once delivery governance is reset; extension is possible for six weeks if final client acceptance overlaps successor notice.

Handover is complete when the strategic client signs acceptance or a board-approved settlement, the top twenty programmes carry validated cost-to-complete, portfolio gross margin meets the revised threshold for two quarters, and the successor chairs one delivery review using the new controls.

The interim may reassign delivery leaders, pause unapproved change, redeploy ₹16 crore within the recovery budget and negotiate operational milestones. Settlements above ₹15 crore, contract scope changes with revenue impact above ₹25 crore, permanent executive hires and site closures require board or CEO approval.

Product engineering, new-logo sales and corporate acquisition strategy are excluded. The COO owns implementation and support commitments after contract, but cannot promise roadmap features or rewrite commercial terms without reserved approval.

Why this seat is open

The client claim showed that functional reporting concealed an unowned end-to-end commitment. Portfolio leaders also relied on inconsistent cost-to-complete methods. An interim COO can recover the reference client while creating a common operating discipline before the permanent appointment.

What you will own

• Re-baseline the strategic implementation around client acceptance artefacts, integrated dependencies and executable recovery dates.
• Decide delivery leadership and capacity changes required to close configuration, migration and operational-readiness gaps.
• Validate cost-to-complete for the top twenty programmes using remaining effort, defects, dependencies and contractual exposure.
• Approve change control only where scope, price, capacity, acceptance and margin consequences are signed by both parties.
• Negotiate a recovery or settlement path for the strategic claim within delegated authority and document board choices above it.
• Run two portfolio quarters using consistent margin, milestone, defect and acceptance evidence.
• Transfer client positions, delivery forecasts, contractual exposures, talent decisions and the next operating cadence to the successor.

Candidate qualifications

• Held COO, global delivery chief or enterprise implementation director authority in a sizeable software company.
• Recovered a strategic implementation dispute through signed acceptance or controlled settlement.
• Built reliable cost-to-complete and margin governance across a complex project portfolio.
• Directed distributed delivery organisations exceeding 1,500 people across implementation and support.
• Made leadership and capacity changes under visible client pressure without obscuring contract facts.
• Can distinguish product obligations, client dependencies and delivery failure in executive negotiations.

Non-negotiables

• Can work full-time from Chennai within three weeks and travel to client steering meetings.
• No current role with the strategic client, implementation partner or claims adviser.
• Will not recognise unsigned scope change as delivered value.
• Must have held direct P&L and client-acceptance authority.

1. 49 words maximum. Confirm your start date and any client or systems-integrator conflict.
2. 49 words maximum. Describe a disputed implementation you brought to signed acceptance and the decisive artefact.
3. 49 words maximum. How do you test whether a programme's cost-to-complete is credible?