Vice President, Transformation – Private Equity Operating Group (Center of Excellence)
Location: Remote — Preference for candidates based in the Southeastern U.S.
Travel: Up to 65% to portfolio company sites across the U.S.
Compensation: Competitive base salary + performance bonus + equity participation
About the Firm
Our client is a private equity firm building a newly formed Center of Excellence (COE) to standardize operations, strengthen leadership capability, and accelerate value creation across a growing portfolio of 12–15 companies, with further expansion expected.
This centralized operating group will serve as an internal strategic resource for portfolio companies—driving consistency in processes, enhancing financial and operational rigor, and embedding best practices that enable scalable, repeatable, and high-performance operating models.
The firm embraces a hands-on, execution-first approach and partners directly with management teams to improve operational effectiveness, accelerate growth, and maximize enterprise value across all stages of the investment lifecycle.
Position Overview
The Vice President, Transformation will be one of the first hires into the firm’s new Center of Excellence and will play a critical role in shaping the operating platform. This leader will partner closely with portfolio company CEOs and CFOs to drive transformational change—financial, operational, and organizational—while ensuring standardization of processes, reporting, and performance expectations across the portfolio.
This role requires a seasoned operator who can diagnose issues quickly, create structure in environments with varying levels of maturity, and influence executive teams without direct authority. The VP will support value creation from post-close integration through mid-cycle optimization and pre-exit readiness.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership Advisory & Partnership
- Serve as a trusted advisor to portfolio company CEOs, CFOs, and COOs across the Southeastern U.S. and beyond.
- Guide leadership on organizational structure, capability development, governance, and performance expectations.
Value Creation Execution
- Lead initiatives tied to EBITDA expansion, margin enhancement, cash flow improvement, price optimization, and cost reduction.
- Identify and deploy standardized tools, processes, and frameworks that can be replicated across the portfolio.
Post-Acquisition Integration
- Partner with deal teams to establish financial reporting cadence, operational processes, technology alignment, and leadership integration immediately post-close.
Operational Diagnostics
- Conduct rapid assessments to identify process inefficiencies, capability gaps, and value-creation opportunities.
- Build and implement actionable roadmaps with clear milestones and accountability.
Process & Performance Standardization
- Develop and enforce standardized COE playbooks, operating models, policies, and reporting frameworks to improve transparency and cross-portfolio consistency.
Change & Performance Management
- Drive leadership adoption of new processes and performance expectations.
- Build operational routines that enable scalability and sustainable results.
KPI, Dashboarding & Reporting Cadence
- Establish enterprise-wide KPIs, dashboards, and weekly/monthly reporting cycles.
- Enhance financial visibility across the portfolio to support decision-making and investor reporting.
Cross-Portfolio Collaboration
- Facilitate best-practice sharing, knowledge transfer, and cross-company leadership development.
- Serve as a link between the COE, Operating Partners, and portfolio executives.
Executive & Board Reporting
- Present progress, risks, and transformation results to the Operating Committee, Investment Team, and Board.
Ideal Candidate Profile
- 10–15+ years in operating leadership roles (CEO, CFO, COO, GM) or transformation roles within private equity–backed, consulting, or high-growth middle-market environments.
- Proven track record driving operational, financial, and cultural transformation with measurable EBITDA and cash flow impact.
- Experience implementing operational excellence, Lean, Six Sigma, FP&A, PMO, or enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.
- Strong executive presence with the ability to influence CEOs, CFOs, and boards.
- Success operating across multiple companies or multi-site environments simultaneously.
- Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or relevant certifications (Lean, Six Sigma, PMP) preferred.
- Comfortable with heavy travel and working across dynamic, changing environments.
Why Join
This is a new, high-impact role within a newly created Center of Excellence—offering the rare opportunity to build, shape, and scale the operating model for an expanding private equity platform.
The Vice President, Transformation will:
- Work closely with Operating Partners and the investment team
- Influence CEO and CFO performance across the entire portfolio
- Lead enterprise-wide standardization and value creation initiatives
- Play a key role in building a repeatable operating system for current and future portfolio companies
For a leader with the drive to build from the ground up, this role offers meaningful visibility, influence, and long-term career upside.