Interim Managing Director or Interim CSO: which responsibility does the business need?

I take Managing Director responsibility when the whole system needs leadership

Interim Managing Director is the right role when a vacancy needs immediate cover or the decisive levers cannot be resolved inside sales alone. Customer priorities then affect capacity, investment, leadership, culture and financial accountability.

In this role I lead the business as one connected system. I restore decision-making capacity, clarify commercial focus and ensure that sales, engineering and operations genuinely execute the same priorities.

I take an Interim CSO mandate when the scope is clearly commercial

An Interim CSO or Interim Sales Director fits when executive leadership is stable and the performance gap is primarily in market, sales and order intake. Typical responsibilities include target accounts, positioning, pipeline quality, key accounts, sales organisation and a dependable forecast.

The role still needs a real mandate. Without access to decisions, numbers and the relevant technical and operating functions, sales leadership quickly becomes additional activity rather than impact.

I lead as Transformation Lead when accountability disappears between functions

Sometimes there is no vacancy. Strategy is agreed and leadership is in place, but sales, engineering, operations and support functions are not moving the change together. The business needs no additional hierarchy; it needs an accountable operator for execution.

I translate direction into decisions, roles, operating cadence and visible results. Existing leaders remain accountable; I create the connection and discipline that brings the plan into daily operations.

I clarify mandate fit through five questions

In the initial conversation I test which decisions must be made, who can make them today and where the problem is actually created. The appropriate title follows from that diagnosis, not the other way around.

• Which decision cannot remain unresolved for another 30 days?
• Is the performance gap commercially contained or enterprise-wide?
• Who owns P&L, people and operating decisions?
• Which functions must change how they work together?
• Does the business need transitional leadership, commercial leadership or a transformation operator?