Principal, Business Operations and Strategy

Instructure; United States; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ownership program

Flexible work culture

Generous time off

Job summary

Instructure is seeking a Principal, Business Operations to lead high-impact initiatives spanning strategy, planning, and governance. You will oversee the enterprise initiative portfolio, OKRs, QBRs, and build visibility with dashboards to drive data-informed decisions.

You will mentor the BizOps team and scale the function from reactive to strategic, partnering with executive leadership to set priorities and allocate resources across the company.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, or business operations at a high-growth SaaS company.
• Proven success leading large-scale cross-functional programs with executive visibility.
• Analytical and structured problem solver who can convert insight into action.
• Highly skilled communicator able to influence at the executive level.
• Track record of building operational systems and governance models at scale.
• Comfortable balancing enterprise strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead Enterprise Strategy & Planning: Own the annual strategy and planning cycle — from long-range vision to yearly investment allocation.
• Drive Strategic Execution: Govern the company’s OKR and business review process to ensure accountability and measurable progress toward strategy.
• Oversee Strategic Initiative Portfolio: Manage cross-functional initiatives that advance Instructure’s strategic priorities; align resources and resolve execution bottlenecks.
• Operationalize Visibility: Build and continuously evolve the enterprise “Strategy Scorecard” and shared dashboards to quantify progress and impact.
• Build Organizational Maturity: Establish consistent systems, processes, and decision-rights frameworks to move the company from reactive to managed to strategic.
• Coach & Influence: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership; lead, mentor, and scale the BizOps team; drive cultural adoption of data-informed, strategy-driven execution.

Skills

Management consulting

Corporate strategy

Business operations

Cross-functional programs

Analytics

Executive communication

Job description

At Instructure, we believe in the power of people to grow and succeed throughout their lives. Our goal is to amplify that power by creating intuitive products that simplify learning and personal development, facilitate meaningful relationships, and inspire people to go further in their education and careers.
We do this by giving smart, creative, passionate people opportunities to create awesome. And that's where you come in:

At Instructure, our Strategy & Business Operations (BizOps) team partners directly with executive leadership to drive growth, efficiency, and execution across the enterprise. Our mission is to connect strategy to execution — ensuring everyone knows where we’re going, why we’re going there, and how far we’ve come. We accelerate Instructure’s most important strategic and operational priorities, from defining growth opportunities and optimizing performance to building the systems, governance, and data infrastructure that scale our business.

The Role

As Principal, Business Operations, you will lead high-impact initiatives that cut across functions, shaping how the company sets priorities, allocates resources, and measures progress. You’ll oversee strategic planning, execution governance (OKRs, QBRs, operating rhythm), and the enterprise initiative portfolio. You’ll also mentor and lead BizOps talent, ensuring the function matures from reactive problem-solving to predictive, insight-driven operations.

What You’ll Do

• Lead Enterprise Strategy & Planning: Own the annual strategy and planning cycle — from long-range vision to yearly investment allocation.
• Drive Strategic Execution: Govern the company’s OKR and business review process to ensure accountability and measurable progress toward strategy.
• Oversee Strategic Initiative Portfolio: Manage cross-functional initiatives that advance Instructure’s strategic priorities; align resources and resolve execution bottlenecks.
• Operationalize Visibility: Build and continuously evolve the enterprise “Strategy Scorecard” and shared dashboards to quantify progress and impact.
• Build Organizational Maturity: Establish consistent systems, processes, and decision-rights frameworks to move the company from reactive to managed to strategic.
• Coach & Influence: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership; lead, mentor, and scale the BizOps team; drive cultural adoption of data-informed, strategy-driven execution.

What you will need to know/have:

• 5+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, or business operations at a high-growth SaaS company.
• Proven success leading large-scale cross-functional programs with executive visibility.
• Analytical and structured problem solver who can convert insight into action.
• Highly skilled communicator able to influence at the executive level.
• Track record of building operational systems and governance models at scale.
• Comfortable balancing enterprise strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Get in on all the awesome at Instructure!

We offer competitive, meaningful benefits in every country where we operate. While they vary by location, here's a general idea of what you can expect:

• Competitive compensation, plus all full-time employees participate in our ownership program - because everyone should have a stake in our success.
• Flexible work culture. Our remote, hybrid and in-office collaboration spaces vary by role, team and location.
• Generous time off, including local holidays and our annual “Dim the Lights” period in late December, when teams are encouraged to step back and recharge based on departmental needs.
• Comprehensive wellness programs and mental health support
• Learning and development resources, including professional development tools and tuition reimbursement, to support your growth
• The technology and tools you need to do your best work
• Motivosity employee recognition program
• A culture rooted in inclusivity, support, and meaningful connection

We believe in hiring great people and treating them right. The more diverse we are, the better our ideas and outcomes.

Instructure is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We comply with applicable employment and anti-discrimination laws in every country where we operate.

All employees must pass a background check as part of the hiring process. To help protect our teams and systems, we’ve implemented identity verification measures. Candidates may be asked to verify their legal name, current physical location, and provide a valid contact number and residential address, in accordance with local data privacy laws.

Any attempt to misrepresent personal or professional information will result in disqualification.