COO – Regional Operations — Urban Infrastructure Platform

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing regional delivery split across incompatible operating models within a multinational-owned infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the urban infrastructure platform during a public-private partnership expansion. For mandate 344, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The COO – Regional Operations operating perimeter covers approximately C$28,550 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, with activity spanning several urban infrastructure platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The COO – Regional Operations Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 950 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a COO – Regional Operations who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the urban infrastructure platform. The COO – Regional Operations Infrastructure seat must resolve a public-private partnership expansion, while preserving the underlying strengths of the urban infrastructure platform. For mandate 344, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The COO – Regional Operations’s first year on the urban infrastructure platform is expected to end with one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity. In mandate 344, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the COO – Regional Operations — Urban Infrastructure Platform seat. The incumbent continues to lead the urban infrastructure platform through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a public-private partnership expansion is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the COO – Regional Operations 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 C$28,550 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the COO – Regional Operations Infrastructure organisation of about 950 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 public-private partnership expansion, with COO – Regional Operations-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one COO – Regional Operations operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the urban infrastructure platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have carried end-to-end delivery accountability across multiple sites, channels or markets with quantified service and cost outcomes in mandate 344.
• Build the COO – Regional Operations’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 regional delivery split across incompatible operating models, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal COO – Regional Operations 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 one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity, 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 COO – Regional Operations’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 COO – Regional Operations 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 COO – Regional Operations 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 COO – Regional Operations’s direct reports.
• A quantified COO – Regional Operations-owned improvement in the urban infrastructure platform operating constraint behind a public-private partnership expansion, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 344: 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 Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive in a multinational-owned Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the urban infrastructure platform, your COO – Regional Operations 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 COO – Regional Operations brief.

As a COO – Regional Operations 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 C$16,550 million and led an organisation of at least 950 people.

For mandate 344, the board wants two transitions: a difficult urban infrastructure platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a public-private partnership expansion. As the prospective COO – Regional Operations for this urban infrastructure platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 344 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The COO – Regional Operations must be based in Toronto; international relocation is supported, but this Infrastructure role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven COO – Regional Operations ownership of at least C$16,550 million and leadership of no fewer than 950 employees in a comparable urban infrastructure platform context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of regional delivery split across incompatible operating models 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 COO – Regional Operations-level urban infrastructure platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Toronto location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 344.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated COO – Regional Operations package is C$460,000–620,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final urban infrastructure platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 344 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The COO – Regional Operations appointment in Toronto, 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 344.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 344. 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 344.