SVP – Digital Platforms — Water And Utilities Business

The mandate

The chair and executive committee are aligned that the immediate priority is fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys within a listed infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the water and utilities business during a balance-sheet rotation. For mandate 309, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The SVP – Digital Platforms operating perimeter covers approximately ₹22,550 crore in project and operating-asset portfolio, with activity spanning several water and utilities business customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The SVP – Digital Platforms Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 475 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a SVP – Digital Platforms who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the water and utilities business. The SVP – Digital Platforms Infrastructure seat must resolve a balance-sheet rotation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the water and utilities business. For mandate 309, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The SVP – Digital Platforms’s first year on the water and utilities business is expected to end with platform adoption, reliability and measurable process simplification. In mandate 309, 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 SVP – Digital Platforms — Water And Utilities Business 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 water and utilities business remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the SVP – Digital Platforms value-creation thesis for the water and utilities business, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹22,550 crore in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the SVP – Digital Platforms Infrastructure organisation of about 475 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the water and utilities business economics and execution constraints created by a balance-sheet rotation, with SVP – Digital Platforms-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one SVP – Digital Platforms operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the water and utilities business; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Show end-to-end ownership of a material platform or value stream, including budget, talent and measurable operating outcomes in mandate 309.
• Build the SVP – Digital Platforms’s three-year succession and capability plan for the water and utilities business, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Infrastructure organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the water and utilities business baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal SVP – Digital Platforms portfolio and organisation choices for the water and utilities business, 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 water and utilities business trend against platform adoption, reliability and measurable process simplification, 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 SVP – Digital Platforms’s agreed first-year water and utilities business value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A SVP – Digital Platforms forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the water and utilities business’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the SVP – Digital Platforms mandate’s highest-priority water and utilities business risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical water and utilities business talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the SVP – Digital Platforms’s direct reports.
• A quantified SVP – Digital Platforms-owned improvement in the water and utilities business operating constraint behind a balance-sheet rotation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 309: 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 SVP Digital, Platform Head or Technology Transformation Leader in a listed Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the water and utilities business, your SVP – Digital Platforms 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 SVP – Digital Platforms brief.

As a SVP – Digital Platforms candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Infrastructure 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 ₹13,100 crore and led an organisation of at least 350 people.

For mandate 309, the board wants two transitions: a difficult water and utilities business portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a balance-sheet rotation. As the prospective SVP – Digital Platforms for this water and utilities business, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 309 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The SVP – Digital Platforms role in Infrastructure 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 SVP Digital, Platform Head or Technology Transformation Leader, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven SVP – Digital Platforms ownership of at least ₹13,100 crore and leadership of no fewer than 350 employees in a comparable water and utilities business context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of fragmented digital platforms constraining customer and employee journeys 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 SVP – Digital Platforms-level water and utilities business consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Bengaluru location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 309.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated SVP – Digital Platforms package is ₹2.2–3.0 crore fixed + performance variable, calibrated to the final water and utilities business scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 309 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The SVP – Digital Platforms appointment in Bengaluru, centred on the water and utilities business, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 309.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 309. 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 309.