Regional Chief Executive Officer — Enterprise-Operations Centre

The mandate

A Krakow enterprise-operations centre supports customers in more than a dozen European markets through multilingual finance, customer, procurement and data services. It has historically executed process fragments designed by regional businesses. The board now wants the centre to own several end-to-end service products, including roadmaps, performance and improvement. Authority, however, remains distributed among country leaders who carry legal and customer obligations.

The Regional Chief Executive Officer will be accountable for approximately 3,050 employees and partners and a services budget near PLN 1.35 billion. The executive must determine which services are sufficiently standard and mature for Krakow ownership, negotiate product contracts with markets and create leadership capable of making decisions beyond local delivery. Employee representation, language capability and national controls make this a European operating transformation rather than a simple centralisation.

The centre has real strengths: experienced managers, strong process knowledge and a trusted record during operational disruption. Its weaknesses include passive demand acceptance, underfunded product change and escalation paths that return even modest decisions to sponsors. The incoming CEO must preserve confidence while replacing the habits that keep ownership elsewhere.

Language and calendar design will require deliberate attention. Several markets depend on small cohorts for customer communication and local reporting peaks, while product consolidation can make those dependencies less visible. The CEO must decide where multilingual capacity belongs inside a product, how it is funded outside peak periods and what minimum local interface remains with each country. Those arrangements should survive holiday, absence and severe-event scenarios rather than rely on goodwill from named employees.

Data ownership must be settled with equal care. A regional product may process country information, but access, retention and correction duties still need a reachable local decision-maker. The operating agreement should name that interface and test it during both routine requests and incidents.

Why this seat is open

The incumbent will complete a planned regional rotation and supports an orderly succession. The board has allowed four to six months for assessment, regulatory and reference diligence and structured transfer of market relationships. This is a planned replacement, not a response to performance or conduct. Communication will be sequenced carefully with employees and their representatives.

What you will own

• Select service products appropriate for Krakow ownership and define the authority that must move with each one.
• Negotiate funding, roadmap, performance, risk and exit terms with regional and country business leaders.
• Reorganise leadership around end-to-end products while preserving local control contacts and language expertise.
• Establish service-product economics, demand tiers and improvement investment rather than reporting utilisation alone.
• Lead consultation on role, reporting and working-practice changes under applicable European frameworks.
• Hold operational and resilience accountability for centre-owned services, including cross-market incidents.
• Decide which fragmented activities should remain local, be consolidated later or stop.
• Build the centre’s external talent, community and regulatory relationships without revealing confidential client operations.

The first 12 months

The first quarter will produce a market-by-market service and authority map. The CEO will agree transition principles with employee representatives and select two products with willing sponsors, stable controls and sufficient capability. No authority transfer should proceed on a verbal understanding or without funded product change.

By month eight, the pilot services should operate under signed product agreements, with Krakow leaders making roadmap and performance decisions. The executive team will be appointed, consultation obligations met and shared measures in use. At least one unsuitable consolidation proposal should be redirected or declined with evidence.

After 12 months, 55% of addressable activity should sit within end-to-end service products, pilot improvement lead time should fall by 20%, and service objectives should be met for two quarters. Sponsor confidence should improve by 15 points from baseline, with no material employee-relations or customer disruption caused by transition.

What the board will measure

• Real decision authority exercised in Krakow and recognised by country executives.
• Product outcomes, service economics and funded improvement rather than larger delivery volumes.
• Compliance with consultation, employment and local-control obligations.
• Retention of 90% of pivotal multilingual and product talent.
• A regional leadership bench with credible successors for the most consequential roles.

The person

You are a Regional CEO, business-services president or enterprise-operations leader who has transferred cross-border service ownership under European governance. You know how to secure authority without dismissing local fiduciary and customer responsibilities. Experience with multilingual operations, employee representation and persistent service products is highly relevant.

At least 28 years of experience is expected. You should have controlled €180 million or more and led 2,100 employees across several markets or service lines. The board will explore a centralisation you refused, a consultation that changed your plan and a product decision made away from headquarters.

The position is onsite in Krakow, with regular travel throughout the operating region.

Compensation and terms

The base range is PLN 2.0–2.8 million with annual incentive and long-term participation. Performance will reflect authority transfer, service outcomes, stakeholder confidence, employee obligations and successor depth. Final terms depend on relevant scale and current mix and include standard performance and conduct provisions. Up to six months’ notice can be considered.

Confidentiality

The served markets, service products and parent organisation are intentionally anonymous. Qualified executives will receive controlled details after establishing reciprocal interest and signing confidentiality. The Krakow location and rounded workforce are not an invitation to identify the employer.