Chief Strategy Officer — Enterprise-Operations Centre

The mandate

The enterprise is entering a phase in which leadership must resolve strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences within a privately held multinational global-capability-centre network. The immediate arena is the enterprise-operations centre during a chargeback-model redesign. For mandate 246, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Strategy Officer operating perimeter covers approximately PLN 3,050 million in annual global services budget, with activity spanning several enterprise-operations centre customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Strategy Officer Global Capability Centres remit carries direct influence over roughly 850 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a Chief Strategy Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the enterprise-operations centre. The Chief Strategy Officer Global Capability Centres seat must resolve a chargeback-model redesign, while preserving the underlying strengths of the enterprise-operations centre. For mandate 246, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Strategy Officer’s first year on the enterprise-operations centre is expected to end with fewer priorities, explicit trade-offs and a funded execution path. In mandate 246, 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 Strategy Officer — Enterprise-Operations Centre seat, established because a chargeback-model redesign now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the enterprise-operations centre, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Strategy Officer value-creation thesis for the enterprise-operations centre, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately PLN 3,050 million in annual global services budget, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Strategy Officer Global Capability Centres organisation of about 850 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the enterprise-operations centre economics and execution constraints created by a chargeback-model redesign, with Chief Strategy Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Strategy Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the enterprise-operations centre; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have converted strategy into explicit capital and resource choices and then tracked execution through board governance in mandate 246.
• Build the Chief Strategy Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the enterprise-operations centre, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Global Capability Centres organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the enterprise-operations centre baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences, 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 Strategy Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the enterprise-operations centre, 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 enterprise-operations centre trend against fewer priorities, explicit trade-offs and a funded execution path, 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 Strategy Officer’s agreed first-year enterprise-operations centre value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Strategy Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the enterprise-operations centre’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Strategy Officer mandate’s highest-priority enterprise-operations centre risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical enterprise-operations centre talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Strategy Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Strategy Officer-owned improvement in the enterprise-operations centre operating constraint behind a chargeback-model redesign, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 246: 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 Chief Strategy Officer, EVP Strategy or Corporate Development Head in a privately held Global Capability Centres or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the enterprise-operations centre, your Chief Strategy 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 GCCs, shared services, enterprise technology, business services or multinational operations will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Strategy Officer brief.

As a Chief Strategy Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Global Capability Centres 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 PLN 1,750 million and led an organisation of at least 600 people.

For mandate 246, the board wants two transitions: a difficult enterprise-operations centre portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a chargeback-model redesign. As the prospective Chief Strategy Officer for this enterprise-operations centre, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 246 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Strategy Officer must be based in Krakow; international relocation is supported, but this Global Capability Centres role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Chief Strategy Officer, EVP Strategy or Corporate Development Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Global Capability Centres governance forum.
• Proven Chief Strategy Officer ownership of at least PLN 1,750 million and leadership of no fewer than 600 employees in a comparable enterprise-operations centre context.
• One completed Global Capability Centres or adjacent-sector example of strategy cycles producing choices without resource consequences with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from GCCs, shared services, enterprise technology, business services or multinational operations; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Strategy Officer-level enterprise-operations centre consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Krakow location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 246.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Strategy Officer package is PLN 1.0–1.35 million base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final enterprise-operations centre scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 246 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Strategy Officer appointment in Krakow, centred on the enterprise-operations centre, 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 246.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 246. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 246.