Job Summary

 Synapse-ITS, comprised of Polara, Carmanah, Eberle Design, and Diablo, is the leading traffic and pedestrian safety platform for intelligent transportation systems (“ITS”) in North America with a portfolio of products including Accessible Pedestrian Signals (“APS”) systems, intersection traffic safety products and “away from intersection” pedestrian and traffic safety technology. We are looking for an energetic and results-driven Senior Vice President (SVP) to lead our global sales team across the platform. As the SVP, you will be responsible for structuring, developing, and leading a high-performing sales team that can secure new business, maintain and expand current customer expenditure, and produce channel partner income from a worldwide high-end and corporate customer base. You’ll be held accountable for building cross-functional integration of direct sales, distributors, 3rd party reps, inside sales, sales operations, and customer service to deliver best-in-class customer experiences. With your leadership, you’ll build the platform's capacity and infrastructure to implement and achieve the company’s priorities effectively. You will also build rapport and collaborate effectively with leadership teams across the platform businesses, while fostering an environment of open communication and trust. Reporting directly to our CEO and Board of Directors (BOD), you will collaborate and create opportunities (both organic and inorganic) that add value through synergizing the different platform businesses.

Essential Job Functions

• Drive the development and execution of platform-wide business commercialization strategy, including territory / key account plans and pricing strategy, to maximize revenue and profitability.
• Play a key role in commercially integrating accretive, add-on acquisitions. The candidate will lead commercial diligence with any new potential acquisitions.
• Build the platform commercialization infrastructure and organization to drive market adoption of the company’s solutions and ensure revenue growth within the organizations.
• Engage with each business unit on their respective plans, formalize alignment of the platform strategy and process through the development of territory sales plans, KPIs and timelines for key milestones. Manage the sales performance of each business for the monthly and quarterly business review.
• Coordinate directly with the business unit leaders around their respective growth, foundational, engineering/NPI, and human capital practices to ensure alignment and the implementation of a common cadence.
• Build and manage relationships with key customers and partners, identify and develop partnering opportunities to create new opportunities, increase market share and expand addressable market(s). 
• Working closely with marketing…collect, assess and prioritize global markets, channels, new products, voice-of-the-customer, and geographies required to grow faster than the industry. Collaborate with marketing on messaging, participation, and follow-up for tradeshows. 
• Facilitate the coordination of cross-business teams for common platform initiatives/projects to ensure engagement as well as drive the ultimate timelines and results.
• Ensure consistent utilization of CRM tools, dashboards, and new opportunity pipelines.
• Define sales incentive plans (SIP) and quotas to ensure there are incentives for cross-selling and collaboration among the business unit sales teams. Define sales/channel management personnel recruiting approach, with strong definition of both currently needed skills and the growth potential to succeed with more integrated and software-centric future offerings. 
• Define and implement channel partner scorecard/reviews and develop performance improvement plans for underperforming partners. 
• Develop and standardize the bid review process for large capital projects. 
• Periodically review the potential for hybrid and or direct sales models for specific offerings.
• Define hiring tools and implement training to ensure that this key customer-facing role is staffed effectively. Define and implement an approach to coordinating and prioritizing between Sales and Support to ensure that the highest priority issues are addressed first. Develop a cross-training program for support personnel to provide “flex” capacity at the Platform level.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, finance, engineering, or a related field. MBA or an advanced degree in business, or related disciplines is preferred. 

Requirements:

• Strong leadership and management skills
• High emotional intelligence and ability to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics
• Pricing, negotiations, and review/modification of contract language
• Outstanding communication skills, including the ability to influence, motivate, lead, and drive change
• Proven track record of developing and executing successful commercial strategies
• Ability to analyze market trends and identify business opportunities
• Financial acumen and understanding of revenue and profitability drivers
• Strategic thinker and problem solver
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with key customers and partners (internal & external)
• Knowledge of sales and marketing principles and techniques
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
• Familiarity with CRM tools and systems
• Have a high level of integrity and will be intellectually honest and self-aware regarding their own capabilities, limits, and interests.

Experience:

• 15+ years of commercial leadership experience, including sales, business development, marketing, forecasting, CRM, competitive positioning, and sales leadership experience.
• Long-cycle capital projects
• Selling a blend of mechanical. electro-mechanical, and software-related products
• A strategic/analytical and results-driven thinker with the ability to plan, direct, and lead a robust commercial organization.
• Proven ability to operate across functions managing multiple deliverables against deadlines.
• Demonstrable track record of how access to the right information leads to greater efficiencies. Ensuring appropriate governance structures are in place to facilitate quick but robust decision-making.
• Experience owning and managing a P&L is preferred, including utilizing financial reporting tools.
• Track record of driving revenue growth and profitability in previous roles
• Experience developing and using dashboards and tracking metrics (KPIs) to help stakeholders monitor their performance and focus on the key drivers of the business.
• Demonstrated experience in hiring, developing, and managing commercial teams, including sales, sales ops, and customer service. 
• Ability to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships with the leadership team, board members, and external partners. Strong board leadership understanding and experience in managing board relations and associated deliverables.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities.
• Knowledge of commercial compliance and all laws and regulations that govern promotional and non-promotional activities.