Vice President Strategy

CPI Card Group; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

CPI Card Group in the United States seeks a Vice President of Strategy to lead enterprise strategy, identify growth opportunities, and drive cross-functional initiatives that enhance shareholder value. You will partner with the Executive Leadership Team and Board to shape long-range plans, governance, and performance measurement.

Ideal candidates bring 12+ years in corporate strategy or consulting, experience with publicly traded companies, and a track record in mergers and acquisitions, market

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, investment banking, or related fields.
• Experience with mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and growth transactions.
• Experience in a publicly traded company.
• Exposure to manufacturing, financial services, banking, technology, or business services industries.
• Strong financial modeling, valuation, and analytical capabilities.
• Excellent executive presence and communication skills.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations.
• Proven leadership and stakeholder-management abilities.
• Skilled at influencing without direct authority across functions.
• Bachelor's degree; MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead development, refinement, and execution of the company's short- and long-term strategic plans.
• Partner with executive leadership to identify growth opportunities, emerging risks, and strategic priorities.
• Facilitate annual and multi-year strategic planning processes across functions.
• Develop recommendations and business cases that support enterprise growth and profitability.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Executive presence

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Engineering

MBA preferred

Job description

CPI Card Group® is a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions delivered physically, digitally and on-demand. CPI helps our customers foster connections and build their brands through innovative and reliable solutions, including financial payment cards, personalization and fulfillment, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) instant issuance. Learn more at www.cpicardgroup.com

The Vice President, Strategy is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company's enterprise strategy, identifying and evaluating growth and diversification opportunities, and driving strategic initiatives that accelerate business performance and shareholder value. This role serves as a trusted advisor to the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors on matters related to corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, market expansion, competitive positioning, and long-term value creation. The role identifies the strengths, weaknesses, and business opportunities of the organization. The successful incumbent specializes in change management strategy, with the aim to align people, process, and technology initiatives of the company more closely with the business strategy and vision. The VP Strategy combines strategic vision with analytical rigor and execution excellence, leveraging experience in management consulting, banking, corporate strategy, strategic finance, business development, and/or M&A to evaluate complex business opportunities and drive transformational outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development, refinement, and execution of the company's short- and long-term strategic plans.
• Partner with executive leadership to identify growth opportunities, emerging risks, and strategic priorities.
• Facilitate annual and multi-year strategic planning processes across business functions.
• Develop recommendations and business cases that support enterprise growth and profitability objectives.

Strategic Initiatives

• Lead high-impact enterprise initiatives that require cross-functional alignment and executive sponsorship.
• Establish governance and performance measures for key strategic programs.
• Ensure strategic priorities and initiatives decisions are driven by strong evaluation of strategic fit, value proposition, and opportunity size
• Ensure strategic priorities are translated into measurable execution plans and outcomes.

Strategic Finance

• Working with business and finance leaders to develop, maintain, and monitor performance against a long range financial model based on strategic planning
• Develop models to support strategic initiatives to inform decision making
• Works with FP&A to align strategic and operating plan targets and to help prioritize investments to highest value strategic initiatives

Executive and Board Advisory

• Serve as a key strategic advisor to the CEO, CFO, and Executive Leadership Team.
• Develop executive-level presentations, recommendations, and strategic analyses for leadership and Board discussions.
• Translate complex business issues into actionable strategic recommendations.
• Support Board strategy sessions, acquisition reviews, and long-range planning activities.

Market Intelligence and Competitive Analysis

• Develop a robust market intelligence capability to assess industry trends, customer needs, and competitor activities.
• Evaluate new markets, products, technologies, and business models.
• Monitor macroeconomic, regulatory, and industry developments that could impact company performance.
• Measure success of CPI strategies through market size assessments and market share estimates for CPI businesses

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Works with corporate development to ensure strategic fit.
• Lead financial evaluations of potential targets including valuation, financial modeling, synergy assessment, and risk analysis.
• Lead financial due diligence, integration planning, and post-transaction value realization.
• Monitor acquisition performance and ensure expected strategic, financial and operational outcomes are achieved.

Leadership and Team Development

• Build and lead a high-performing strategy function.
• Foster analytical, data-driven decision making throughout the organization.
• Develop strong partnerships across business, corporate development, finance, operations, technology, legal, and human resources functions.

Decision Making Level/Position Latitude

• This position operates with substantial independence in identifying strategic opportunities, conducting analyses, developing recommendations, and managing approved strategic initiatives.
• The VP Strategy exercises significant judgment in evaluating business risks, assessing investment opportunities, and prioritizing strategic activities.
• The role is authorized to lead strategic planning efforts, direct due diligence activities, engage external advisors, and recommend courses of action to executive leadership.
• Final approval authority for acquisitions, major capital commitments, strategic investments, and significant organizational changes rests with the CEO, CFO, Executive Leadership Team, and/or Board of Directors in accordance with established governance and approval processes.
• Success in this role requires balancing independent decision-making with collaboration, influence, and alignment across multiple stakeholders and functions.
• Leads cross-functional project teams and workstreams associated with strategic initiatives, acquisitions, and business transformation efforts.

Business Impact:

• Supports enterprise-wide strategic planning and growth initiatives.
• Leads evaluation of acquisition, partnership, and investment opportunities.
• Provides strategic analysis and recommendations that influence long-term business performance, growth, and capital deployment decisions.
• Oversees external advisors and consultants engaged in strategic initiatives and transaction activities.

Qualifications:

• Experience with a leading management consulting firm (e.g., McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, Accenture Strategy, Oliver Wyman, or similar).
• Experience within a publicly traded company.
• Exposure to manufacturing, financial services, banking, technology, or business services industries.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Strong financial modeling, valuation, and analytical capabilities.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations.
• Excellent executive presence and communication skills.
• Proven leadership and stakeholder-management abilities.
• Strong project management and execution discipline.
• Skilled at influencing without direct authority across functions and organizational levels.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving business environment.
• High level of integrity, judgment, and discretion.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) or related advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, investment banking, corporate development, private equity, or related fields.
• Demonstrated success evaluating and executing mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and other growth transactions.
• Experience presenting recommendations to executive leadership and Boards of Directors.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time