Non-Profit

SOS Children's Villages is a private, non-political welfare organisation that offers orphaned and destitute children a new home and prepares them for an independent life. All national SOS Children's Village associations are affiliated to an umbrella organisation called SOS-Kinderdorf International, which is present in 132 countries worldwide.

SOS Children's Villages of India is the biggest national association in the SOS organisation. Egon Zehnder International was approached to find a high profile, well-respected individual to act as the association’s new president. Given the highly visibility of the role, the ideal candidate was defined as a charismatic leader with an impeccable public image. Previous experience in the social/charity sector was also identified as an advantage.

On top of emotional intelligence and compassion, the organisation was looking for a new president with strong marketing, finance and people management skills. The successful candidate also required an in-depth understanding of SOS-Kinderdorf International's principles and operations to be able to liaise with government officials and other external agencies. The target pool of candidates included CEOs/chairmen of leading private and public sector companies, senior officials in international organizations and several high profile female candidates.

SOS appointed S. Sandilya, former Chairman and Group Chief Executive of Eicher Group, a leading Indian engineering conglomerate operating in the high growth sectors of agricultural-machinery, construction & material handling equipment, railway equipment and auto components.

Mr. Sandilya is a commerce graduate from Madras University and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He started his career in 1969 in the finance division of the DCM Group. After leaving DCM in 1970 he joined Union Carbide where he worked for five years with the multinational. In 1975, he joined Eicher and moved to Eicher Motors Limited, or EML, as its chief executive in 1987. He became the managing director of EML in 1994 and subsequently moved to the Eicher Group headquarters in 1998.

Mr. Sandilya was an active member of the Confederation of Indian Industry, or CII. He was also an executive committee member of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and a governing council member of the Automobile Research Association of India.

Egon Zehnder International conducted this search as a pro bono assignment.