Vice President of Operations

In an industry riddled with challenges and pressures, iTradeNetwork is a partner to companies in the food and beverage supply chains. Our advanced solutions help businesses simplify complex procurement and fulfillment challenges, reduce food waste, optimize inventory levels, mitigate compliance risk, and expand profitably at scale. iTradeNetwork builds bridges between suppliers and buyers of perishable food and provides supply chain software and insights for the food & beverage industry.

iTradeNetwork provides supply chain technology solutions to 2 primary markets: the Grocery Retail  and Food Service segments. While our industry-standard Order Management System (OMS) is the bulk of iTradeNetwork’s existing revenue, our fast-growing Food Service software solutions  represent an emerging opportunity for the next 7-10 years.  iTradeNetwork’s food and beverage network comprises thousands of food buyers, suppliers, distributors, operators and transportation providers using its collaborative platform to drive profitability and eradicate cost and waste from their supply chain operations.

iTradeNetwork’s customer profile boasts 13/25 top North American grocers, 8/10 top North American foodservice distributors, and 8/10 top global food/beverage manufacturers. In 2010, iTradeNetwork was acquired by Roper Technologies (NYS: ROP) and became part of Roper's Portfolio that  includes a myriad of software and hardware companies.. Roper Technologies is a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 1000. Roper has a proven, long-term track record of compounding cash flow and shareholder value. The Company operates market leading businesses that design and develop vertical software and technology enabled products for a variety of defensible niche markets. Roper utilizes a disciplined, analytical, and process-driven approach to redeploy its excess capital toward high-quality acquisitions.  Their strong operating model enables them to convert end-market potential into profitable growth and cash position that creates value for investors.

Job Summary

As a key member of the executive leadership team, the Vice President of Operations at iTradeNetwork will oversee and drive the operational and customer support strategies across the organization. This role combines high-level strategic planning with day-to-day execution of our post-sales operational processes.  The successful candidate will enhance our customer implementation and onboarding processes, adopt and implement an AI-first mentality, promote a culture of continuous improvement, develop our operating cadence and support strategic projects to drive scalable growth and operational effectiveness ensuring alignment with our company's strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

You will be responsible for leading the following functions (subject to change as the business and org structure evolves): Customer Support, Implementation (currently consisting of integration engineers, onboarding specialists, and data management professionals) and Professional Services, with a sole focus on delivering an exceptional customer onboarding experience, followed by successful scalable implementation of professional service projects. You will drive the timing of revenue recognition, establish an operational structure, improve processes, and champion product enhancements to enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth.  You will be responsible for putting together an optimal organizational design, ensuring quick time to customer value, rapid onboarding programs, maximize penetration and use of iTradeNetwork’s solutions, and developing organizational capabilities and processes that result in continuous improvement of our operations.  Efforts will yield high CSAT and NPS scores, meeting or exceeding Professional Services revenue and EBITDA metrics, and increasing efficiency as measured by increased productivity and lower costs of implementing revenue. Current and future responsibilities may include:

• Drive Value Realization: Lead initiatives to ensure customers achieve their desired outcomes that were sold during the sales process, and drive a quick time to value by implementing scaled onboarding, continuous education programs, proactive support strategies, and regular performance assessments to demonstrate ROI and business impact.
• Customer Onboarding: The activation process to enable all Buyers and Suppliers to trade via our Order Management System (OMS) product. 
• Project Management - Project Management team manages all customer projects (standard and custom) for all iTrade products. The PMs partner with technical resources to deliver on the agreed to SOW. 
• Integration Engineering - Integration Engineers are critical technical resources often required on all customer projects/products. In addition to working directly on customer projects, Integration Engineers are also responsible for full participation with our monthly releases, system upgrades and connectivity changes. 
• Data Management - DM team focuses exclusively on iTrade’s foodservice solutions/products on accurately mapping, standardizing, cleansing and enriching data to provide analytics used for spend reporting, rebate calculations and claims validations. 
• Technical Customer Support: Oversee a team of technical support specialists who provide 24/7 support to our clients, ensuring issues are resolved quickly and effectively. Develop a robust training program to keep the team updated on the latest technologies and solutions.

In addition, you will be expected to:

• Partner with the People team:  this individual serves as a dedicated advocate for driving employee engagement initiatives and optimizing performance processes, all geared towards cultivating high-performing teams. 
• Demonstrate strong leadership: Source, train, engage and retain top talent.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement: Implement a Business Operating System for your function
• Have an AI-first mentality: When solving problems, think first of how an AI-enabled solution could yield better results faster

What you'll need:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related quantitative field
• MBA preferred, but not required
• At least 15 years of experience in Implementation, Project Management, Operations or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in a leadership role where you have demonstrated the ability to build high performing teams and followership.  Experience managing diverse and remote teams and fostering a collaborative and empowering work environment.
• Experience in setting a strategy, and ensuring execution through impactful, scaled programs.
• Demonstrable expertise in managing complex operational processes and customer experience strategies in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical skills, with a proven ability to oversee significant data analysis and derive actionable insights from complex information.
• Deep understanding of software implementation processes, experience writing SOPs, and the ability to implement best practices tailored to company needs.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of effectively articulating complex issues and strategies to a wide range of stakeholders, including executive teams.
• Distinctive problem solving and analysis skills, experience solving complex and diverse business problems (commercial, operational, organizational), and to drive projects from strategy to execution

Personal Attributes:

• A passion for the food and beverage industry and a commitment to driving innovations that enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
• A visionary leader with the ability to see the big picture and remain at the forefront of industry trends to guide strategic decisions.