Director, Strategic Initiatives

ServiceNow•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

ServiceNow’s Customer Excellence Group (CEG) is in the middle of a fundamental transformation — redesigning how we deliver customer outcomes in an AI-native world. This role sits at the center of that work. As Director of CEG Strategic Initiatives, you’ll own and drive the highest-priority transformation programs across our post-sale organization. This is not a strategy role that stops at the slide deck. You’ll frame the problem, build the plan, run the workstream, and drive it to execution — often managing through influence across senior stakeholders who don’t report to you. You’ll work across commercial model design, operating model transformation, and delivery model optimization — the kind of work where getting the framing right matters as much as getting the execution right. The team is small, fast, and high-trust. The work is visible at the SVP+ level and has direct impact on how ServiceNow scales its customer-facing organization. What you get to do in this role: Lead Strategic Initiatives End-to-End Own one or more of CEG’s top transformation workstreams from problem framing through execution — commercial model, delivery model, operating model, or renewals transformation. Build the business case, design the solution, align stakeholders, and drive implementation. You’re not handing off to a delivery team — you are the delivery team. Manage initiative governance: milestones, decision points, dependencies, and escalation paths. Keep complex programs on track when multiple senior leaders have competing priorities. Shape CEG Strategy Translate ambiguous executive direction into structured strategic options with clear tradeoffs and recommendations. Build and maintain the analytical models that underpin major decisions: headcount planning, insource/outsource economics, service delivery tiering, AI efficiency overlays. Develop strategy narratives and board-ready materials that frame CEG’s transformation story for SVP and C-level audiences. Drive Cross-Functional Alignment Operate as the connective tissue between CEG leadership, geo leaders, Finance, Product, and field teams. Translate between strategic intent and operational reality. Navigate complex stakeholder dynamics where formal authority is limited and influence is everything. Manage up, across, and into partner organizations (consulting firms, outsourcing partners). Serve as the quality-control layer on programs where the temptation is to announce before we’re ready. Protect program integrity without slowing momentum. Build for Scale Design frameworks, playbooks, and operating cadences that outlast any single initiative. The goal is to productize how CEG runs transformation, not just run one project at a time. Stand up reporting and decision-support infrastructure: OKR cascades, initiative dashboards, executive briefing cadences. Identify and champion “no-regrets bets” — moves we should make regardless of which strategic direction we ultimately choose.

Requirements

Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.
8+ years in strategy, management consulting, business transformation, or corporate development roles. You’ve run cross-functional programs with senior stakeholder complexity, not just contributed to them.
Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive them to resolution. Comfortable building the plane while flying it.
Strong financial and operational modeling skills. You can build the headcount model, stress-test the assumptions, and present the recommendation in the same meeting.
Executive communication skills — you can write a tight one-pager, present to an SVP, and draft a stakeholder email that lands, all in the same day.
Experience managing through influence in matrixed organizations. You know how to align people who don’t report to you and hold the line when things get political.
Comfort with AI tools as part of your workflow. We use AI extensively in how we work — for analysis, content development, and decision support. You should be someone who’s already integrating these tools into how you operate.

Nice To Haves

Experience in enterprise SaaS, customer success, or professional services transformation.
Background in M&A integration, large-scale org design, or operating model transformation.
Familiarity with outsourcing strategy, shared services design, or global delivery model optimization.
Experience with zero-based planning, headcount optimization, or cost transformation programs.