Country Managing Director — Wealth Division

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing a country business needing renewed licence to grow within a privately held regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the wealth division during a cost-to-income reset. For mandate 084, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Country Managing Director operating perimeter covers approximately S$81,600 million in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several wealth division customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Country Managing Director Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 975 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a Country Managing Director who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the wealth division. The Country Managing Director Banking seat must resolve a cost-to-income reset, while preserving the underlying strengths of the wealth division. For mandate 084, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Country Managing Director’s first year on the wealth division is expected to end with local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment. In mandate 084, 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 Country Managing Director — Wealth Division seat. The incumbent continues to lead the wealth division 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 cost-to-income reset 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 Country Managing Director value-creation thesis for the wealth division, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately S$81,600 million in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Country Managing Director Banking organisation of about 975 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the wealth division economics and execution constraints created by a cost-to-income reset, with Country Managing Director-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Country Managing Director operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the wealth division; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability in mandate 084.
• Build the Country Managing Director’s three-year succession and capability plan for the wealth division, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Banking organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the wealth division baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a country business needing renewed licence to grow, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Country Managing Director portfolio and organisation choices for the wealth division, 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 wealth division trend against local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment, 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 Country Managing Director’s agreed first-year wealth division value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Country Managing Director forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the wealth division’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Country Managing Director mandate’s highest-priority wealth division risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical wealth division talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Country Managing Director’s direct reports.
• A quantified Country Managing Director-owned improvement in the wealth division operating constraint behind a cost-to-income reset, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 084: 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 Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager in a privately held Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the wealth division, your Country Managing Director track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Country Managing Director brief.

As a Country Managing Director candidate, you bring 28+ years of progressive Banking or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 28-plus experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of S$47,350 million and led an organisation of at least 675 people.

For mandate 084, the board wants two transitions: a difficult wealth division portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a cost-to-income reset. As the prospective Country Managing Director for this wealth division, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 084 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Country Managing Director must be based in Singapore; international relocation is supported, but this Banking role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Banking governance forum.
• Proven Country Managing Director ownership of at least S$47,350 million and leadership of no fewer than 675 employees in a comparable wealth division context.
• One completed Banking or adjacent-sector example of a country business needing renewed licence to grow with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Country Managing Director-level wealth division consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Singapore location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 084.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Country Managing Director package is S$700,000–950,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final wealth division scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 084 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Country Managing Director appointment in Singapore, centred on the wealth division, offers regular exposure to the board and its investment committee. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 084.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 084. 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 084.