Operating Partner

Metafora

Operating Partner

Chicago, IL
Full Time
Paid
  • Responsibilities

    Location : Remote with 50% Travel Expectations; Austin TX, Chicago IL or Boulder CO preferred

    Reports To : Chief of Staff

    Position Summary

    The Operating Partner will be a primary driver of Metafora’s growth trajectory. You will serve as a trusted Executive Advisor and strategic partner who creates opportunity rather than waiting for it. You are responsible for identifying and framing the most critical, complex challenges facing C-Suite leaders then driving interest and excitement for advisory solutions. The ideal candidate pairs the drive of a growth-oriented leader with the strategic depth of a consultant. You will be expected to uncover the ‘why’ behind a client’s challenges through rigorous discovery, bridging the gap between complex problems and lasting, transformational change..

    The Role

    1. Strategic Growth & Partnership
    1.  **Strategic Engagement:** Cultivate relationships within the C-suite and Board to anticipate long-term strategic needs and jointly build high-impact engagements.. You will keep a pulse on the recent industry events & trends and identify new high-value tech and management consulting engagements. You’ll do this through regular engagement with contacts on calls, proactive travel, conference outreach, and targeted email campaigns
    
    2. Portfolio Leadership: Serve as the executive sponsor for high-value accounts, working in lockstep with the Delivery organization to ensure strategic vision is delivered, value is realized, and the firm operates as a single, solution-focused partner to the client
    
    3.  **Strategic Foresight:** Conduct deep-dive market intelligence to formulate the organization’s perspective on emerging industry trends, allowing you to proactively challenge and shape client strategy.
    
    1. Executive Stewardship and P&L

    1.  **High-Value Accounts:** Directly manage and nurture relationships with the company's largest or most strategic accounts
    
    2.  **Risk & Governance:** Own the governance layer of key partnerships, proactively mitigating critical business risks and ensuring partnership success at an executive level.
    
    3.  **Economic Ownership:** Take P&L accountability for your book of business, demonstrating the financial acumen to forecast, manage budgets, and drive margin expansion.
    
    1. Strategic Sales Enablement

    1.  **Process Productization:** Observe what works in your own sales cycle and contribute to the documentation, templates, and frameworks to turn that success into a company-wide process
    
    2.  **CRM Discipline:** Take full ownership of CRM data integrity for your portfolio, utilizing the system not just for tracking but as a strategic tool to budget, forecast and identify market gaps
    
    3.  **Pricing Strategy:** Collaborate with Finance and Delivery to define pricing strategies, discount policies, and commission plans
    
    4. Coach and Develop: As your commercial success grows, assist in developing newer sellers to the organization
    
    1. External Brand & Thought Leadership

    1. Public Profile: Represent Metafora as a domain expert at industry conferences, through published articles, and in media engagements to enhance the firm’s brand and generate high-level commercial leads
    
    2. Perspective Development: Drive the creation of foundational ‘Metafora point-of-view’ content on emerging industry trends 
    

    Who You Are

    • Enterprise Architect: Ability to deconstruct complex organizational challenges into their component parts, designing holistic, enterprise-wide solutions
    • Executive Influencer: A proven ability to cultivate and leverage a C-suite network for strategic insights and business development.
    • Curious: You’re motivated by learning about how businesses in our industry work, what challenges our industry friends are facing, and where the industry is headed
    • Entrepreneurial Initiative: Operate with a “Founders Mindset" requiring minimal oversight to initiate action. Self-directed in their outreach, travel planning and professional development consistently pushing for net new opportunities
    • Boardroom Communicator: Exceptional ability to synthesize complexity into clear, actionable narratives that drive executive-level decision-making and consensus.
    • Team Leader: A fundamental commitment to firm-wide success, sharing best practices and actively contributing to the firm’s thought leadership.

    Required Qualifications

    • Industry Depth : 15+ years of experience in the Transportation and Logistics industry, with a career spanning multiple organizations
    • Economic Ownership : 2+ years of direct P&L ownership or accountability demonstrating the ability to manage budgets, forecasts and bottom-line impact
    • Complex Sales Mastery: Proven track record of navigating and closing high-stakes, multi-stakeholder engagements with sales cycles typically ranging from 6-12 months
    • Technical / Product Liaison: Direct experience interfacing with Product, Engineering and Data Science teams to translate market needs into requirements
    • Executive Presence: Exceptional communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, specifically with C-suite stakeholders

    Why Metafora?

    Metafora is a place of "authenticity and grit." We are small enough for you to have an outsized impact on our P&L, but established enough to have a proven track record with some of the biggest names in the industry. You will have the autonomy to build this practice as you see fit, backed by a world-class team of technologists and logistics veterans.

    This job description is intended to provide a general framework for the Operating Partner role and is subject to change based on organizational needs.