Director, Strategic Initiatives

Zappi•Boston, MA

4d•$135,000 - $150,000

About The Position

Zappi’s Strategic Initiatives team turns company priorities into cross-functional programs that deliver lasting business outcomes. The Director, Strategic Initiatives is a high-visibility execution partner to the Chief of Staff & Head of Strategic Initiatives, working directly with senior leadership to keep strategic programs reliable, on track, and embedded in day-to-day operations. The role coordinates work across Product, Sales, Customer Success, Operations, and Engineering, including AI transformation across the business. Time is expected to be split roughly 60/40 between supporting Product and go-to-market initiatives. The Director will run recurring leadership forums, own cross-functional programs, and provide coordination across functions where work extends beyond any one leader’s remit. Key areas include establishing productive operating rhythms, implementing a shared stakeholder-mapping standard for account teams, and supporting AI enablement across go-to-market teams. The role is accountable for building plans, timelines, and reporting; communicating progress and risks to senior leaders and functional teams; and ensuring programs become established business-as-usual processes before handing them to long-term owners. The position is full-time, located in Boston, Massachusetts, and reports to Manjula Kandasamy. Compensation is $135,000–$150,000 base per year plus a 10% annual bonus.

Requirements

10 or more years of experience, including significant experience as a program manager or in a similar cross-functional role.
A track record of driving cross-functional initiatives to completion, rather than only coordinating them.
Experience embedding new processes so they become business as usual.
Credibility with senior leaders and the ability to communicate clearly with executives and functional teams.
Ability to hold stakeholders tactfully but firmly to commitments without formal authority.
Solid understanding of how go-to-market teams operate, including collaboration among sales, customer success, and operations to plan, sell, and grow accounts.
Experience working with or alongside product development teams and a solid understanding of the product lifecycle, from concept through development to launch.
Ability to apply product lifecycle knowledge to align product and commercial teams.
Ownership and foresight: anticipate risks and drive issues to resolution without waiting for direction.
Execution rigor: maintain detailed, visible, and current plans, actions, and follow-through.
Stakeholder influence: build trust, listen first, and push back credibly when appropriate.
Clear communication: provide concise headlines to senior leaders, appropriate detail to working teams, and candid updates about off-track work.
Self-direction: proactively identify opportunities to improve how the company works.

Responsibilities

Run and refine recurring forums where Product and go-to-market leaders review progress, make decisions, and track follow-through.
Own forum agendas, preparation, and actions to ensure sessions have a clear purpose and accountability.
Identify risks and blockers early, raise them with leadership, and recommend a path forward.
Drive adoption of a shared standard for mapping customer stakeholders across account teams.
Provide leadership with visibility into customer relationship strengths and areas where teams need to build relationships.
Partner with Revenue Operations and account leaders on systems requirements to keep stakeholder maps current, then hand the standard to its long-term owner.
Support go-to-market AI enablement programs and adoption across commercial teams.
Coordinate rollout, feedback, and follow-up with teams using new AI workflows.
Build plans, timelines, and reporting that provide senior leaders with a clear view of program progress.
Communicate effectively with senior leadership and functional teams, adapting messages to each audience.
Build relationships with senior leaders and key stakeholders behind each program.
Take over day-to-day running of product-to-commercial forums.
Assess current stakeholder-mapping practices and agree on an approach with the Chief of Staff.
Help launch stakeholder mapping with initial account teams and define systems requirements.
Embed launched programs as business-as-usual processes and hand them over to long-term owners.

Benefits

Three company-paid mental health days of rest per year, scheduled for the entire company.
At least 20 days of paid time off per year, plus national holidays.
Flexible working arrangements, including remote work unless otherwise specified.
Thoughtfully designed offices that support individual work and collaboration.
Support setting up a home office, if appropriate.
Wellbeing benefits and access to trained therapists and counsellors.
Company-paid life, AD&D, short-term disability, and long-term disability coverage.
Immediate access to the company health, dental, and vision insurance plan.
Eligibility to enter the 401(k) program after 90 days of employment, with matching up to 4%.
Personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship, and career frameworks.