Senior Director, Strategic Growth Initiatives & Transformation (Ref: 197807)

Forsyth Barnes Consultancy; Needham (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan with company

Employee stock purchase programme

Job summary

Forsyth Barnes Consultancy is supporting a high-growth global consumer products and technology organisation to appoint a Senior Director of Strategic Growth & Transformation.

You will lead high-priority growth and transformation initiatives, translate strategic goals into executable programmes, and partner across Commercial, Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations, and Technology to drive measurable revenue and efficiency.

Qualifications

• 12+ years' experience across strategy execution, transformation, business operations, management consulting, programme leadership or commercial strategy.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-wide initiatives with measurable outcomes.
• Strong cross-functional influence across multiple functions and senior stakeholders within matrix organisations.
• Experience delivering growth initiatives such as market expansion, channel development, commercial transformation or new business models.
• Demonstrable experience leading AI-enabled or technology-enabled transformation initiatives.
• Strong change management and organisational adoption capability.
• Excellent commercial acumen with the ability to connect transformation initiatives to revenue, margin, efficiency or other measurable value.
• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-priority global growth and transformation initiatives.
• Translate strategic objectives into integrated execution plans with clear milestones, dependencies, risks, ownership and success measures.
• Lead programmes involving geographic expansion, market entry, new channels, DTC, social commerce and other commercial growth opportunities.
• Develop robust business cases and support executive investment decisions.
• Identify barriers to execution and drive rapid cross-functional decision-making.
• Ensure initiatives deliver measurable commercial and operational outcomes.
• Identify opportunities where AI and emerging technologies can materially improve business performance.
• Partner with Technology, Data and functional leadership to evaluate and implement AI-enabled solutions.
• Translate AI capabilities into practical business use cases with clearly defined value and measurable outcomes.
• Drive experimentation, adoption and scaling of successful AI initiatives across the organisation.
• Support the development of an increasingly AI-enabled operating culture and ways of working.
• Ensure AI initiatives transition from pilots and experimentation into sustainable business capabilities.
• Lead complex initiatives across multiple business functions, geographies and stakeholder groups.
• Build alignment between executive leadership, functional teams and delivery organisations.
• Establish clear accountability while influencing stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Develop change and adoption strategies that ensure new capabilities become embedded within the organisation.
• Communicate progress, risks, decisions and recommendations clearly to executive leadership.
• Establish integrated programme plans, governance structures, executive dashboards and performance metrics.
• Monitor delivery against agreed commercial and operational objectives.
• Provide executives with clear visibility of progress, dependencies and risks.
• Recommend corrective actions where programmes are not delivering expected outcomes.
• Conduct post-launch reviews to measure business impact and identify opportunities for further optimisation.
• Develop repeatable playbooks and scalable approaches for launching new markets, channels and capabilities.
• Identify organisational, process and capability gaps that could restrict future growth.
• Design and implement operating-model improvements that sustain transformation beyond individual programmes.
• Establish enterprise operating rhythms that improve accountability, transparency and speed of execution.

Skills

Strategy execution

Transformation leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

AI awareness

Commercial acumen

Executive communication

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA or equivalent

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

About Us

Our client is a high-growth, global consumer products and technology organisation with a portfolio of market-leading brands sold through major retailers, digital channels and distribution partners around the world.

The business has built an exceptional track record of disruptive product innovation, successfully entering new categories, geographies and channels while continuing to deliver significant international growth.

As the organisation enters its next phase of expansion, it is investing heavily in strategic transformation, digital capabilities and AI. The ambition is to create an increasingly AI-enabled organisation where new technologies are embedded into the way teams operate, make decisions and deliver value.

We are supporting the organisation in the appointment of a Senior Director of Strategic Growth & Transformation to help turn these ambitions into measurable business outcomes.

Job Description

The Senior Director, Strategic Growth & Transformation will be a highly influential individual contributor responsible for leading the execution of some of the organisation's highest-priority global growth and transformation initiatives.

Working across the enterprise, this individual will translate strategic priorities into executable programmes and lead them from initial business case through implementation, adoption and scale.

The portfolio may include geographic expansion, new market entry, channel development, direct-to-consumer growth, social commerce, AI-enabled transformation and other strategic commercial opportunities.

This is not a traditional PMO role. The successful candidate will operate across strategy, transformation and execution, bringing together senior stakeholders from Commercial, Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations, Supply Chain, Digital & Technology, Data & Analytics, Finance and Customer Experience.

Success will ultimately be measured through tangible business outcomes including revenue growth, margin improvement, operational efficiency, speed to market and organisational adoption.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Growth & Execution

• Lead the execution of high-priority global growth and transformation initiatives.
• Translate strategic objectives into integrated execution plans with clear milestones, dependencies, risks, ownership and success measures.
• Lead programmes involving geographic expansion, market entry, new channels, DTC, social commerce and other commercial growth opportunities.
• Develop robust business cases and support executive investment decisions.
• Identify barriers to execution and drive rapid cross-functional decision-making.
• Ensure initiatives deliver measurable commercial and operational outcomes.

AI-Enabled Transformation

• Identify opportunities where AI and emerging technologies can materially improve business performance, productivity or decision-making.
• Partner with Technology, Data and functional leadership to evaluate and implement AI-enabled solutions.
• Translate AI capabilities into practical business use cases with clearly defined value and measurable outcomes.
• Drive experimentation, adoption and scaling of successful AI initiatives across the organisation.
• Support the development of an increasingly AI-enabled operating culture and ways of working.
• Ensure AI initiatives transition from pilots and experimentation into sustainable business capabilities.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Change

• Lead complex initiatives across multiple business functions, geographies and stakeholder groups.
• Build alignment between executive leadership, functional teams and delivery organisations.
• Establish clear accountability while influencing stakeholders without relying on direct authority.
• Develop change and adoption strategies that ensure new capabilities become embedded within the organisation.
• Communicate progress, risks, decisions and recommendations clearly to executive leadership.

Programme Governance & Performance

• Establish integrated programme plans, governance structures, executive dashboards and performance metrics.
• Monitor delivery against agreed commercial and operational objectives.
• Provide executives with clear visibility of progress, dependencies and risks.
• Recommend corrective actions where programmes are not delivering expected outcomes.
• Conduct post-launch reviews to measure business impact and identify opportunities for further optimisation.

Operating Model & Transformation

• Develop repeatable playbooks and scalable approaches for launching new markets, channels and capabilities.
• Identify organisational, process and capability gaps that could restrict future growth.
• Design and implement operating-model improvements that sustain transformation beyond individual programmes.
• Establish enterprise operating rhythms that improve accountability, transparency and speed of execution.

Requirements

• 12+ years' experience across strategy execution, transformation, business operations, management consulting, programme leadership or commercial strategy.
• Proven experience leading complex, enterprise-wide initiatives with measurable business outcomes.
• Strong track record of operating across multiple functions and influencing senior stakeholders within matrix organisations.
• Experience delivering growth initiatives such as market expansion, channel development, commercial transformation or new business models.
• Demonstrable experience leading AI-enabled or technology-enabled transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of how AI technologies can be applied to business problems, processes and organisational performance.
• Experience moving strategic initiatives from concept and business case through implementation, adoption and scale.
• Strong change management and organisational adoption capability.
• Excellent commercial acumen with the ability to connect transformation initiatives to revenue, margin, efficiency or other measurable value.
• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in highly dynamic, fast-growth environments.
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification advantageous.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Leadership Profile

• Highly execution-oriented and comfortable taking ownership of complex strategic initiatives.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and creating structure where none currently exists.
• Commercially minded and focused on measurable business outcomes rather than transformation activity alone.
• Able to influence executives and functional leaders without direct reporting authority.
• Curious about emerging technology and enthusiastic about the practical application of AI.
• Comfortable challenging established ways of working.
• Collaborative, pragmatic and capable of bringing diverse stakeholder groups together.
• Able to balance speed of execution with appropriate governance and organisational discipline.

The Successful Individual Will Be

• Highly execution-oriented and comfortable taking ownership of complex strategic initiatives.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and creating structure where none currently exists.
• Commercially minded and focused on measurable business outcomes rather than transformation activity alone.
• Able to influence executives and functional leaders without direct reporting authority.
• Curious about emerging technology and enthusiastic about the practical application of AI.
• Comfortable challenging established ways of working.
• Collaborative, pragmatic and capable of bringing diverse stakeholder groups together.
• Able to balance speed of execution with appropriate governance and organisational discipline.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching.
• Employee stock purchase programme.
• Health savings and flexible spending accounts.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Generous paid time off and company holidays.
• Parental leave.
• Employee wellbeing programmes.
• Product discounts.
• Learning and professional development opportunities.
• Additional employee and family support benefits.

Benefits will vary depending on location and applicable eligibility requirements.

Other

This is a highly visible enterprise role with significant exposure to executive leadership and some of the organisation's most strategically important growth initiatives.

The position is suited to an individual who enjoys operating at the intersection of strategy, commercial growth, transformation, technology and execution.

The organisation is particularly interested in leaders who understand how emerging AI capabilities can move beyond experimentation to create measurable enterprise value.

Moderate domestic and international travel will be required.