Automotive Software Solutions – Chief Operations Officer (Coo)

Stonewood Group Inc.; Canada; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Canadian company in the automotive software sector is seeking a Chief Operations Officer (COO) to enhance customer success and operational efficiencies. This strategic role will oversee multiple departments and directly contribute to the company's growth strategy while ensuring a high standard of customer service.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package including base, variable, and equity

Qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in services roles like professional services and training.
• Five to seven years in leadership roles required.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise SaaS companies.

Responsibilities

• Manage customer-facing processes across multiple departments.
• Ensure customer success and address issues efficiently.
• Develop operational strategies to exceed customer expectations.

Skills

Customer Orientation

Results Orientation

Problem Solving

People Management

Team Skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

MBA considered an asset

Job description

Our client is a Canadian, publicly-traded company that designs and sells a range of software solutions for the automotive sector. With 300+ employees and offices across Canada, our client is a leader in its sector and continues to grow significantly across North America.

With $30M+ in revenue, the company’s cloud based, SaaS solutions help clients drive greater customer engagement, operational efficiencies and profitability.

Scope of Position

Reporting to the CEO and as a key member of the senior leadership team, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) will contribute to the health and performance of the organization, by providing leadership to the company’s customer-facing processes including customer success, professional services, business development center and training and support. The role spans all business units and will have over 200 direct reports across multiple departments.

In essence, the COO shall be responsible for ensuring that customers are successful at generating value from the firm’s suite of products and services and remains a loyal and happy customer.

Functional Tasks

The COO will have the chance to continue to foster the company’s growth by:

• Onboarding: Ensuring every new customer is quickly and efficiently educated and launched with the company’s offerings to ensure long term success.
• Support: Resolving all customer problems quickly and efficiently and seek opportunities to provide differentiated levels of support to meet different customer needs.
• Services: Ensuring services are well defined and articulated technically and commercially. Ensure processes, policies, procedures and manuals are developed to help professional services team build capacity and drive excellence.
• Grow the firm’s customer support and business development center business, ensuring maintenance revenue and other KPI targets.
• Participate as an engaged, open and committed member of the Senior Management Team; contribute to and support SMT initiatives and strategies.
• Provide feedback to software development/product marketing on product issues that impact the customer experience and ensure that continuous improvement and best practices are in place.
• Manage customer retention, churn and other key SaaS metrics to top industry standards and ensure that Customer Success objectives align and meet those of the organization.
• Develop and execute a strategy that drives excellence across the operational organizations, leveraging best-of-class processes, technology and team members to meet and exceed customer expectations as measured by output and efficiency.
• Understand and apply efficient and cost-effective operations knowledge, to sustain profitable day-to-day operations that enable service delivery which meets or exceeds customer expectations.
• Ensure operational milestones are met on time and on-budget, ensuring that customer commitments for both timing and quality are achieved.
• Collaborate with the executive team to develop strategic plans for all aspects of the organization

Key Performance Deliverables

Performance metrics will be discussed and agreed upon with the successful candidate.

Competency Profile

Customer/Client Orientation

Strives to provide customers with personalized and efficient service; Anticipates customers’ needs; Quickly follows up on customer contacts and complaints; Monitors and acts on measures of customer/client satisfaction.

Results Orientation

Focuses strongly on achieving agreed upon outcomes and ensures that key objectives are met. Conveys a sense of urgency and drives issues to closure. Aims to improve upon past performance. Establishes aggressive personal targets and strives to achieve them.

Planning and Objective Setting

Systematic in approach to work; Produces action plans in which objectives are defined and steps for achieving them are clearly specified; Plans by breaking down large tasks into subtasks; Is realistic about time-scales and incorporates appropriate milestones and controls to ensure desired results.

Problem Solving

Draws parallels across situations and contexts; Divides problems into their individual elements; Develops several explanations or alternatives; Separates the core of a problem from its symptoms and can identify cause and effect.

People Management

Establishes and communicates clear priorities and sense of direction; Clarifies roles and responsibilities; Adapts management style to achieve optimum results.

Team Skills

Helps to create a sense of team spirit and harmonious relations through cooperation and support; Balances personal goals with those of the team; Fosters collaboration among team members.

Preferred Experience / Education

The following describes industry, academic and functional experience/qualifications that are important to the successful achievement of the identified responsibilities and performance deliverables.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, MBA considered an asset.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience with a majority spent in services roles such as professional services, customer enablement, and training and support. Five to seven years in leadership role(s).
• Strong working knowledge of enterprise SaaS companies and recurring revenue business models.
• Experience leading large, geographically-distributed, customer-facing implementation teams within dynamic and fast-paced environments. Experience with call center operations is an asset.
• Experience working in founder-led, growth-oriented companies is highly desirable.
• Effective leadership skills, with a strong focus on mentoring and motivating an employee base of professionals.
• Passion for customer service, building processes and developing an organization that will exceed customer expectations.
• Able to identify key issues; creatively and strategically overcome internal and external challenges or obstacles.
• A well-defined sense of diplomacy, including solid negotiation, conflict resolution, and people management skills.
• A competitive base, variable and equity compensation package to the successful candidate.