Vice President, Strategic Growth

Power/mation; Saint Paul (MN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Power/mation is seeking a Vice President of Strategic Growth to lead market-facing and customer-facing growth functions, aligning them to drive profitable growth and strengthen relationships. This executive will partner with the leadership team to identify, evaluate, and execute opportunities that enhance market position and organizational value.

The role entails developing long-term growth strategies, leading strategic partnerships, and guiding commercial capabilities while mentoring future

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, marketing, or finance; MBA strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in strategic growth, business development, sales leadership, or related field.
• Minimum of five years in senior/executive leadership responsible for leading leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Proven track record of strategies leading to profitable growth or measurable value.
• Experience building strategic customer, manufacturer, supplier, or partner relationships.
• Experience using financial, market, and operational data to guide decisions; industry experience in industrial automation or related field preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the company's long-term growth strategy across markets and initiatives.
• Build executive-level relationships with customers, manufacturers, and strategic partners.
• Lead enterprise partnership strategy, alliances, and joint business plans.
• Align resources across industry, product, marketing, and sales to priority markets.
• Evaluate acquisitions, investments, and new ventures aligned with objectives.
• Represent the company with customers, partners, and industry associations.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Business development

Partnerships & alliances

Executive leadership

Customer experience

Talent development

Education

MBA or equivalent

Bachelor's degree in business/engineering/marketing/finance

Job description

Power/mation is seeking a Vice President, Strategic Growth to provide executive level leadership to our market-facing and customer-facing growth functions. The role is responsible for aligning these functions to drive profitable growth, strengthen customer relationships, develop future leaders, and support the company's long-term strategic objectives.

This executive leader partners with the broader leadership team to identify, evaluate, and execute opportunities that strengthen the company's market position, accelerate profitable growth, and increase organizational value.

What You'll Do

Strategic Growth Leadership

• Develop and execute the company's long-term growth strategy, including market expansion, customer development, strategic partnerships, commercial capabilities, and new business initiatives.
• Evaluate emerging markets, industries, technologies, customer segments, and geographic opportunities using market, competitive, economic, and customer insights.
• Develop and recommend annual sales and go-to-market priorities that strengthen competitive positioning, protect existing revenue and customer relationships, mitigate market risk, and elevate the company's long-term growth potential.
• Identify and evaluate acquisitions, mergers, investments, new ventures, and other strategic opportunities aligned with company objectives.
• Lead or support strategic assessments, due diligence, negotiations, and integration planning.
• Recommend investments and initiatives that strengthen the company's market position and create long-term organizational value.

Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

• Build executive-level relationships with key customers, manufacturers, technology providers, industry organizations, and other strategic partners.
• Identify and pursue significant revenue opportunities, strategic alliances, and market expansion initiatives.
• Lead enterprise partnership strategy, alliances, joint business plans, and vendor relationships.
• Build relationships with strategic vendors to maximize business opportunities, improve market positioning, and support enterprise growth initiatives.
• Lead the evaluation, negotiation, and management of vendor partnerships and joint business plans that create mutual value and competitive differentiation.
• Partner with sales leadership to strengthen customer acquisition, retention, market penetration, and long-term customer, vendor, and supplier relationships.

Industry, Product, and Technical Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership to Industry Segment Leaders and Product Segment Leaders in developing industry growth strategies, technology roadmaps, solution opportunities, and competitive positioning.
• Align industry, product, technical, marketing, sales, and customer support resources around priority markets and growth opportunities.
• Ensure industry expertise, technical knowledge, and market intelligence are used effectively to strengthen customer engagement and differentiate the company.

Customer Experience & Customer Excellence

• Provide strategic oversight of Customer Experience and other customer-facing functions to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction.
• Use customer feedback and business insights to guide commercial strategy, service improvements, and investment priorities.
• Guide and influence organizational structure, workflows, and internal procedures that support efficient execution, exceptional customer experience, and effective support for the Sales Representatives.
• Promote a customer-first culture across the organization.

Talent and Organizational Development

• Develop commercial, sales, and leadership capabilities through training, coaching, career development, and succession planning.
• Mentor leaders and high-potential employees and strengthen the organizational capabilities needed to support sustainable growth and scalability.

Executive Leadership

• Serve as a strategic advisor to the President and contribute to enterprise-wide decisions.
• Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives and organizational improvement efforts.
• Represent the company with customers, manufacturers, industry associations, conferences, and community organizations.
• Champion company culture, values, and organizational initiatives while fostering teamwork, accountability, and business excellence.
• Maintain a strong understanding of company operations, financial performance, culture, and strategic priorities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, marketing, finance, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. MBA strongly preferred.
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in strategic growth, business development, sales leadership, commercial operations, corporate development, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of five years of previous senior or executive level leadership experience with responsibility for leading leaders, cross-functional teams, or enterprise-level initiatives.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing strategies that produced profitable growth or measurable organizational value.
• Experience building strategic customer, manufacturer, supplier, or business partner relationships.
• Experience using financial, market, customer, and operational information to evaluate opportunities and guide decisions.
• Previous experience in the industrial automation, industrial distribution, manufacturing or closely related technical industry.
• Previous experience working with manufacturer, distributor, or channel-partner business models strongly preferred.
• Ability to travel as required to support customers, partners, company locations, and industry activities.

About Power/mation

With a rich history dating back to 1961, Power/mation is at the forefront of the automation industry. We partner with customers across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas with innovative solutions in motion control, logic control, robotics, pneumatics, software, sensors, vision, machine safety, power transmission, control panel components, and services. Visit our website at www.powermation.com to learn mor about our history and future.