Chief Risk Officer — Urban Infrastructure Platform

The mandate

A deliberate change of pace is required to deal with a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance within a multinational-owned infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the urban infrastructure platform during a project-delivery recovery. For mandate 320, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Risk Officer operating perimeter covers approximately ₹26,400 crore in project and operating-asset portfolio, with activity spanning several urban infrastructure platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Risk Officer Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 725 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Risk Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the urban infrastructure platform. The Chief Risk Officer Infrastructure seat must resolve a project-delivery recovery, while preserving the underlying strengths of the urban infrastructure platform. For mandate 320, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Risk Officer’s first year on the urban infrastructure platform is expected to end with early-warning quality, control effectiveness and regulator-ready evidence. In mandate 320, 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 Chief Risk Officer — Urban Infrastructure Platform seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the urban infrastructure platform remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Risk Officer value-creation thesis for the urban infrastructure platform, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹26,400 crore in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Risk Officer Infrastructure organisation of about 725 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the urban infrastructure platform economics and execution constraints created by a project-delivery recovery, with Chief Risk Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Risk Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the urban infrastructure platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have held independent challenge authority and closed material issues with evidence accepted by board or supervisory review in mandate 320.
• Build the Chief Risk Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the urban infrastructure platform, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Infrastructure organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the urban infrastructure platform baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Risk Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the urban infrastructure platform, 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 urban infrastructure platform trend against early-warning quality, control effectiveness and regulator-ready evidence, 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 Chief Risk Officer’s agreed first-year urban infrastructure platform value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Risk Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the urban infrastructure platform’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Risk Officer mandate’s highest-priority urban infrastructure platform risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical urban infrastructure platform talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Risk Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Risk Officer-owned improvement in the urban infrastructure platform operating constraint behind a project-delivery recovery, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 320: 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 CRO, Deputy CRO or Chief Compliance and Risk Officer in a multinational-owned Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the urban infrastructure platform, your Chief Risk Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Risk Officer brief.

As a Chief Risk Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Infrastructure 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 ₹15,300 crore and led an organisation of at least 500 people.

For mandate 320, the board wants two transitions: a difficult urban infrastructure platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a project-delivery recovery. As the prospective Chief Risk Officer for this urban infrastructure platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 320 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Risk Officer role in Infrastructure is based in Ahmedabad; 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 CRO, Deputy CRO or Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven Chief Risk Officer ownership of at least ₹15,300 crore and leadership of no fewer than 500 employees in a comparable urban infrastructure platform context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Risk Officer-level urban infrastructure platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Ahmedabad location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 320.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Risk Officer package is ₹2.2–3.0 crore fixed + performance variable, calibrated to the final urban infrastructure platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 320 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Risk Officer appointment in Ahmedabad, centred on the urban infrastructure platform, 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 320.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 320. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 320.