Vice President, Delivery Governance

VP - Delivery Governance

Leading at Cognizant

This is a Leadership role at Cognizant. We believe how you lead is as important as what you deliver. Cognizant leaders at every level: Drive our business strategy and inspire teams around our future. Live the leadership behaviors, leading themselves, others and the business. Uphold our Values, role modeling them in every action and decision. Nurture our people and culture, creating a workplace where all can thrive.

At Cognizant, leadership transcends titles and is embodied in actions and behaviors. We empower our leaders at every level to drive business strategy, inspire teams, uphold our values, and foster an inclusive culture.

About the role

Ensure governance and delivery management across companywide GCC engagements across service lines by aligning delivery outcomes with client expectations, managing risks, and driving operational rigor, The GCC Service Line Leader for Delivery Management is accountable for the strategic direction, operational excellence, and overall health of the entire portfolio of GCC deliveries under the BOTT model. This role transcends individual account management to define the standards, frameworks, and culture of delivery for the various BOTT engagement s. The leader ensures consistent, predictable, and high-quality outcomes for all clients, drives innovation in the service offering, and is ultimately responsible for the client satisfaction of the delivery portfolio for all BOTT engagements across Cognizant.

In this role, you will:

Partnering with client Executive Leadership and each GCC BOTT engagement’s Delivery Leader will have a dotted line reporting into this role.

In the upcoming 12-18 months Cognizant is projected to run 12 -15 GCC engagements both BOTT model and Greenfield GCC set up across geos and the incumbent of this role will ensure delivery management for a revenue size of ~2B

Strategic Portfolio Governance & P&L Management:

• Own the end-to-end P&L for the GCC delivery service line, ensuring profitability and revenue growth across all accounts.
• Define and implement the overall delivery strategy, including standardized methodologies, tools, and governance frameworks for the BOTT model.
• Make strategic decisions on resource allocation, risk mitigation, and investment to optimize portfolio performance.

Delivery Excellence & Standardization:

• Establish and enforce a common set of KPIs, SLAs, and reporting standards for all GCC deliveries to ensure consistency and transparency.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement, leveraging best practices from across accounts to elevate the entire service line's capabilities.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of a "Delivery Playbook" for the BOTT model.

Leadership & Talent Development:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of senior Delivery Governance Managers and other delivery leaders.
• Build a strong talent pipeline and ensure the service line has the necessary competencies (in areas like AI, cloud, data analytics) to meet future client demands.
• Foster a collaborative environment where knowledge sharing across accounts is the norm.

Client Portfolio Health & Escalation Management:

• Will be the face of Delivery for Client Exec leadership. Act as the ultimate point of escalation for critical delivery issues or major client relationship challenges across the portfolio.
• Proactively monitor the health of all client engagements through structured reviews (e.g., Monthly Business Reviews, Quarterly Business Reviews).
• Ensure high levels of client satisfaction and reference ability, leading to contract renewals and expansion.

Service Innovation & Transformation:

• Continuously evolve the service offering by incorporating new technologies (e.g., GenAI, Advanced Analytics) and innovative operating models into the standard BOTT delivery.
• Work with the sales and solutioning teams to design compelling, differentiated offerings for new clients.

Risk and Compliance Management:

• Govern the overall risk posture of the delivery portfolio, ensuring compliance with internal and client-specific security, data privacy, and regulatory requirements.

Consistently demonstrate the Cognizant Way to Lead, which means operating with Personal Leadership (building trust, collaboration, and inclusion), Organizational Leadership (driving vision and purpose, demonstrating a strategic and enterprise mindset, and creating and communicating a bold direction that inspires purpose), and Business Leadership (exemplifying client focus, managing ambiguity with accountability and results, and operating with financial acumen)

What you need to have to be considered

• 24+ years in IT services delivery, governance leadership, vendor management. PMP/ITIL/COBIT preferred
• Proven track record of running Delivery and Transformational projects when setting up new shops for clients.
• Experience in building from scratch delivery score cards and frameworks that will ensure hygiene of the accounts that are running the BOTT/GCC model.
• Has successfully managed relationship with stakeholders across organizations including client, vendor, various enabling functions and different service lines to drive a single agenda of smooth service delivery.

This will help you succeed

• Deep GCC Domain Expertise: Thorough understanding of the GCC lifecycle, operating models, and common challenges across functions.
• Mastery of Service Delivery Frameworks: Strong knowledge of the BOTT model and its governance requirements at each stage.
• Stakeholder Management & Influencing Skills: Exceptional ability to build trust, manage expectations, and influence senior client stakeholders (up to the C-level) and internal teams without direct authority.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Proficiency in using data and metrics to monitor performance, identify trends, diagnose problems, and make informed decisions about the delivery landscape.
• Risk Management and Problem-Solving: A proactive mindset with strong analytical skills to anticipate risks, resolve complex issues, and navigate escalations calmly and effectively.
• Commercial Acumen: Understanding of commercial models (e.g., FTE, Fixed Price, Outcome-based), P&L management, and contract management to ensure delivery is commercially viable.
• Leadership and Communication: Strong leadership presence to guide delivery teams and the ability to communicate complex issues clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences. Ability to navigate a matrixed organization.

Work model –

Based on this role’s business requirements, this role will require 5 days a week in a client or Cognizant office. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.