VP Strategy and Programs

Company Description

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters–at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.

At IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.

We celebrate diversity and understand our responsibility to reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to promoting an inclusive workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our customers, our partners, and our communities. As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realize that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view.

By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.

We’re looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can #MakeYourMoment so that we can help others make theirs. With the power of our AI-driven solutions, we empower our team to change the status quo and make a real difference.

If you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.

Job Description

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced VP Strategy and Programs. This role will be instrumental in driving strategic initiatives, with a strong emphasis on sales and business operations. The VP will be responsible for optimizing sales processes, business performance, and ensuring seamless communication across the organization. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional leadership skills, sales operations experience, strategic vision, and a proven track record of success in a corporate environment, within the software industry

The following outlines the key areas of ownership for this role:

1. Executive Business Partner: Collaborating closely with the COO Office Leadership on a range of topics, driving operational excellence across multiple business units and sales functions. This includes driving operational excellence across multiple business units, enhancing sales performance, forecasting, pipeline management, and ensuring commercial effectiveness where required.
2. Lead Strategic Initiatives: Take ownership of key strategic initiatives,  particularly those focused on sales operations efficiency, revenue optimization, and business performance improvements. Provide strategic direction, oversight, and execution to drive successful outcomes in sales forecasting, pipeline health, and operational scalability.
3. Develop Execution Framework: Build and implement a robust execution framework to support leaders across the organization, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives. Regularly check-in and collaborate with those leaders.
4. Drive Timely Communication: Maintain a sharp focus on timelines, milestones, and progress, effectively communicating achievements and challenges to senior stakeholders across the organization. Spotlight successes and contribute to a high-performance culture.
5. Coordinate Cross-Functional Activities: Collaborate with leaders from various functions to coordinate and align activities, optimizing efficiency and effectiveness in achieving business objectives.
6. Provide Strategic Insight: Offer clear and timely feedback, insights, and advice to the based on up-to-date intelligence, input from credible thought-leaders and market trends, enabling informed decision-making.
7. Oversee Board Communications: Own the process for building Quarterly Business Reviews and other critical documents/communications for presentation to the board, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and strategic alignment.

Further Responsibilities

• Champion Sales Effectiveness: Drive improvements in sales operations by ensuring robust forecasting, reporting, CRM optimization, and data-driven decision-making.
• Optimize GTM Execution: Work closely with sales, marketing, and operations leaders to enhance go-to-market (GTM) efficiency and commercial success.
• Support Revenue Growth Strategies: Provide strategic insights and recommendations to improve sales performance, customer engagement, and business operations best practices.
• Exec Sponsor for specific high-profile sales or partner engagements.
• Promote a talent agenda, including D&I and mentorship.
• Act as a delegate for specific prior 1 programs.
• Consult for the IFS C-Level leadership (and IFS owner groups) on specific topics to promote growth and good practice within IFS and the wider groups.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Management, or related field (MBA preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in a corporate environment, with significant exposure to the business software industry.
• Proven track record of driving initiatives and operational excellence in Software industry.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and concisely.
• Self-motivated and results-driven, with a passion for working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive under pressure and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Material knowledge of enterprise software, ideally ERP/EAM/FSM and cloud technology principles.
• Identifies, cultivates, develops and promotes top talent routinely.

Desirable:

• Has supported a C-Level Executive in the enterprise software industry.
• Exposure to Management Consultancies, Private Equity or similar companies.
• Exposure to key industry concepts including but not limited to: Value Engineering, Value Management, Value Delivery, Agile, Balanced Scorecard, Objectives & Key Results, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Customer Success and Design Thinking.
• Public and social media presence in the industry. 

Additional Information

We believe that coming together as a community, in person, is important for innovation, connection and fostering a sense of belonging. Our roles have the right balance of remote and in-office working to enable flexibility for managing your life along with ensuring a real connection with your colleagues and the broader IFS community.