Director, India GCC — Shared Services
A Nasdaq-listed, US-headquartered firm is opening its first India office in Mumbai — and is looking for the person to build the non-technology side of it from the ground up.
- Location
- Mumbai (BKC), India — on-site
- Level
- Director
- Reports to
- Deputy COO (global), with a dotted line to the Managing Director of the India entity
- Team
- Small at launch, scaling to a multi-function organisation over 6–12 months
- Employer
- The client’s India entity
A clean sheet of paper, at a firm that already has scale.
A publicly-listed (Nasdaq), US-headquartered firm operating at the intersection of digital assets and data-centre infrastructure is establishing its first India office in Mumbai (BKC), and is looking for the person to build the non-technology side of it from the ground up.
Often described as “the Goldman Sachs of digital assets,” the firm serves institutional clients across trading, asset management, advisory, and custody. This is institutional-grade financial services, built for institutions rather than a retail consumer app.
The company has a market cap of roughly $8 billion and 500+ employees globally, across offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. India is set to become one of its most important hubs — this role is central to that.
This is a founding leadership role. You will design the operating model, stand up processes from scratch, and build and lead the team that runs institutional-grade shared services out of India — finance & accounting operations, HR operations, compliance/legal operations, procurement & vendor management, and general operations — in close partnership with functional leaders in New York and across the firm’s global offices.
It is a builder’s mandate, not a caretaker’s. You should be equally comfortable setting multi-year strategy and personally doing the first 90 days of work — writing the first process document, running the first reconciliation, sitting across from the first vendor.
What you’ll own.
- 01 Design and stand up the India-based shared services function — finance & accounting support, HR operations, compliance/legal operations, procurement & vendor management, facilities/admin, and general operations.
- 02 Define the multi-year GCC roadmap — which functions and processes move to India, in what sequence, and with what governance and quality controls.
- 03 Build the organisation from the ground up — write job descriptions, recruit, onboard, and develop a team across multiple functional pods as scope expands.
- 04 Partner directly with global (New York-based) functional leads across Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance and Operations to map current-state processes, document them, and redesign them for a distributed delivery model.
- 05 Establish the operating fabric — SLAs, quality metrics, and reporting cadences between the India centre and global stakeholders.
- 06 Own day-to-day delivery personally in the early stages — this role requires doing the work, not just directing it, until the team is built out.
- 07 Set up the centre’s operational infrastructure — workspace, vendor relationships, local HR policies, and compliance with Indian labour and regulatory requirements, in coordination with Legal and People teams.
- 08 Drive process improvement and automation as the function matures.
- 09 Be the on-the-ground leader for India shared services — representing it in global planning and budget discussions.
What you’ll bring.
10+ years in shared services, GCC/GBS, or business-operations leadership
With direct experience building a centre or function from an early stage — not just operating an established one.
A proven track record of scaling a team
From a handful of people to a larger, multi-function organisation — including hiring, structuring, and developing managers.
Breadth across non-technology corporate functions
Finance operations, HR operations, procurement, compliance operations, or business operations — deep expertise in at least one, working knowledge across several.
Experience in a global, matrixed organisation
Comfortable partnering with and influencing HQ-based stakeholders across time zones.
A genuinely scrappy operating style
Willing to personally build the first process document, run the first payroll reconciliation, or sit with a vendor — especially in the early phase.
Strong process-design and documentation skills
With hands-on experience of SLA/KPI frameworks for shared-services delivery.
Excellent written and verbal communication
Able to synthesise and present to senior global leadership.
Financial services, fintech, or digital-assets exposure is a plus
Not a requirement — but comfort operating in a regulated, fast-evolving industry matters.
What success looks like.
Functional scope prioritised and agreed with global stakeholders. First hires identified. Foundational infrastructure — space, systems access, local compliance — in place.
First one to two functional pods operational, with documented processes and SLAs. Initial team hired and onboarded.
A scaled, multi-function shared services organisation running independently, with strong stakeholder satisfaction and a clear roadmap for further expansion.
Most GCC leadership roles are about running a centre someone else built. This one is about building it — the operating model, the team, the culture, the standard.
You’d be the founding leader of a global firm’s India presence, with direct line of sight to senior leadership in New York. If you’ve built once and want to build again, with real ownership and a clean sheet of paper, this is that role.
Apply, or point us at someone better.
This search is being managed by InCommon, which builds and runs India capability centres for global companies.
For queries: Piyush Kedia — piyush@incommon.ai
All conversations are confidential. The client’s identity is disclosed to shortlisted candidates under NDA.