VP of Strategy and Operations - United States
About Toptal
Toptal is a global network of top freelance talent in business, design, and technology that enables companies to scale their teams, on-demand. With $200+ million in annual revenue and over 40% year-over-year growth, Toptal is the world’s largest fully remote company.
We take the best elements of virtual teams and combine them with a support structure that encourages innovation, social interaction, and fun. We see no borders, move at a fast pace, and are never afraid to break the mold.
Position Description
As the VP of Strategy & Operations, you will be responsible for cross-functional initiatives that help build strategic direction, execution frameworks, process automation and workflow enhancements, KPIs, and team structures necessary to drive Toptal’s growth. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role interacting directly with Toptal’s CEO, executive leadership, and other senior leaders across the company. In this role, you will draw upon your extensive experience running Strategy and Operations teams to build out this capability to ensure the success of key initiatives that support the mission and objectives of the company. You will be trusted to tackle challenging and impactful problems at Toptal, working directly with cross-functional team members to achieve success.
This is a remote position that can be done from anywhere. Due to the remote nature of this role, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.
Responsibilities:
We are looking for someone who enjoys finding ways to increase efficiencies, create processes, and remove roadblocks. You will design and build operating models and frameworks to meet company objectives - executing flawlessly upon them. By utilizing your extensive experience operationalizing strategic and organizational initiatives, you will align key priorities across the company. You are a stickler for quality and organization, can see around corners, and proactively engage with executive stakeholders to keep a plan on track. You will build a reputation for reliability and trust-worthiness.
You will have an ongoing responsibility for determining and defining project approaches, scope, and objectives, capacity planning, and managing resources in an effective and efficient manner. As the leader of Strategy & Operations, you will maintain ongoing communication with leaders across the company, and be responsible for ensuring deadlines are met and projects / deliverables are successfully completed. Your expertise in a wide variety of project types will allow you to make strategic adjustments as needed and measure performance to identify areas for improvement.
In the first week, expect to:
- Onboard and integrate into Toptal.
- Work to get up to speed with how the organization runs, including how our OKRs, RACIs, and other operational frameworks work. Understand the fundamentals of Toptal and what sets us apart.
- Meet with key Executives and senior leaders across the company to deep dive into understanding Toptal’s functions and how each supports the company’s mission and objectives.
- Start to develop an in-depth understanding of Toptal’s operating model.
In the first month, expect to:
- Begin initial scoping of assigned functional and cross-functional initiatives.
- Break down big business challenges into manageable projects that are easily understood by a diverse group of stakeholders.
- Deliver timely updates and identify key roadblocks and solutions on projects under your management.
- Develop quarterly OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for your team, as well as a quarterly and annual planning process.
- Lead a variety of internal team and external stakeholder calls.
In the first three months, expect to:
- Refresh the Strategy & Operations Roadmap, ensuring all the business outcomes delivered by the team are at an exceptional level.
- Using your understanding of Toptal and your expertise in prioritization, ensure that the most critical areas of operational infrastructure are invested in during your first 12 months.
- Oversee Project Managers and consult with Subject Matter Experts responsible for the rollout of any new tools, approaches, and/or project management standardization frameworks.
In the first six months, expect to:
- Experiment and learn rapidly as you build solutions, adapting your approach in real-time by leveraging your knowledge and doing everything it takes to make sure the OKRs of your projects are moving in the right direction.
- Be fluent in the types of support and deliverables required for various initiatives so you can make recommendations to inform project planning.
- Ensure all Strategy & Operations team members have solidified training, career paths, and developmental opportunities.
In the first year, expect to:
- Achieve recognition as an expert at the company for your areas of responsibility.
- Meet/exceed stakeholder expectations for the delivery of world-class operational services.
- Have a strong operational infrastructure in place to ensure quality and consistency across all activities within the Strategy & Operations function.
- Work with leaders in other areas of Toptal to improve their own internal project management processes within their teams to align with yours.
- Measure the efficacy of your work, iterate, and improve.
Requirements:
- 10+ years of professional experience in Business Operations, consulting or related fields, with the last 3-4 in a senior leadership capacity at a technology or hyper-growth company.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or a related quantitative field preferred.
- MBA or a Master’s degree in strategy, finance, operations or a related field preferred.
- Experience managing the full life cycle of projects.
- Strong background in operations management, change management, and a successful track record in mentoring other leaders in these areas.
- World-class analytical skills with the ability to draw intelligent and actionable insights.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills are required. Good communication is at the core of everything we do, and you must be a strong communicator able to work with a wide range of stakeholders from senior executives to individual contributors around the world.
- Comfortable working with an array of web-based productivity tools such as Miro, Google Suite and Slack - and are a quick learner.
- Intuitive about how to use and present data to inform strategic and operational decisions.
- Excellent organization skills and detail-oriented. You are hyper-organized, know how to work efficiently, and prioritize execution, as well as mentor others to do the same.
- Resourceful. You should be a self-starter who thrives on the freedom and accountability that comes with managing your own workflow.
- Adaptable. Comfortable managing changing priorities, learning new skills, and building consensus across varied stakeholder groups.
- Ownership. You are a dependable leader who takes responsibility for your success as well as the success of the entire team.
- Quality. You take pride in everything you deliver as a reflection of yourself.
- Able to provide examples of cross-functional integrated programs or campaigns you have managed.
- You believe no task is too small, and you are willing to help in any capacity when needed as an individual contributor.
- You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do.
The US-based salary range for this full-time position is $225,000 - $325,000 per year. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
Please note that the US-based salary range does not include the value of Toptal’s benefit offerings. In the US, Toptal’s benefit offerings include participation in a 401(k) retirement plan with employer matching contributions; medical, dental, and vision insurance plans in which Toptal pays 100% of the premiums for an employee’s coverage; basic life insurance coverage; short-term and long-term disability coverage; flexible spending accounts, including dependent care and health savings accounts, access to telehealth virtual doctors, an employee assistance program, and flexible paid time off.
This position is also eligible to receive a discretionary bonus.
