Senior Director, Technology Leader

Independence Pet Group•Chicago, IL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Independence Pet Holdings is a corporate holding company established in 2021, managing a diverse portfolio of pet health brands and services. The Senior Director will lead a multi-brand business unit to drive consolidated roadmaps, tracking, budget, and delivery of all technology projects. This role involves aligning technology execution with business outcomes, managing roadmaps, overseeing communication and change management for large initiatives, and ensuring effective prioritization, execution, and ROI measurement of key initiatives. The position requires collaboration and influence with multiple stakeholders to develop and deploy robust enterprise-wide technology projects. This role is pivotal in driving the organization’s technology strategy and ensuring alignment with business goals, offering an opportunity to influence long-term technology direction and work closely with executive leadership.

Requirements

Forward-thinking strategist skilled in devising and operationalizing a technology strategy across multiple operating entities.
A storyteller who translates technical concepts into business terms and articulates the value of technology investments to stakeholders.
Commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability in managing the organization’s technology.
Flexible and adaptable to respond to evolving technology challenges and organizational needs.
A change agent that fosters a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, encouraging experimentation, and adapting to evolving circumstances and environment.
An authentic and tenacious leader who leans in to partnering with peers and is a collaborative team leader who is steadfast in leading by example.
Exemplary organizational skills coupled with proactive initiative-taking, meticulous attention to detail, and adept time management, flourishing in a dynamic and rapidly evolving environment.
Acts as a culture ambassador, living our organizational values.
Proven ability to lead and manage both onshore and offshore teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and execution of technology projects. This includes strategic oversight, cross-cultural leadership, communication and coordination, performance management, resource allocation, and risk management.
Proven experience 15+ years in project management, strategy, communication, and operations in a technology-driven global organizations.
Experience driving internal development teams and external partners to deliver business outcomes using agile methodologies.
Strong understanding of technology project lifecycles, portfolio management, and best practices in delivering large-scale technology initiatives.
Strong understanding of financial management, including budgeting, ROI analysis, and investment prioritization for technology projects.
Experience with vendor management in an outsourced or managed service environment.
Exceptional analytical skills, with the ability to track and report on roadmaps, business cases, and ROI.
Strong leadership with the ability to influence and collaborate with cross-functional teams across different geographical locations.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively present complex information to senior executives and stakeholders.
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

Experience with M&A or PE environment is desirable.

Responsibilities

Partner with technology leadership and other executives to define and communicate long-term technology roadmaps aligned with company business goals and market opportunities.
Lead planning efforts to ensure technology investments are future-proof, scalable, and capable of supporting business growth and transformation.
Identify emerging technologies and industry trends, advising leadership on their potential impact and shaping the organization’s technology roadmap.
Develop and maintain comprehensive technology road maps that align with current and future business needs.
Drive the planning and prioritization of key technology initiatives across the organization, ensuring optimal resource allocation aligned with strategic goals.
Work with business units to understand their strategic objectives and translate them into actionable technological plans and solutions.
Oversee the portfolio of technology projects, ensuring alignment with business outcomes and proper resource allocation.
Evaluate project performance, track key performance indicators (KPIs), and adjust course as necessary for timely delivery and strategic alignment.
Identify risks within the portfolio and collaborate with project managers and business leaders to mitigate or resolve issues.
Foster close collaboration between the technology team and other business units (e.g., Product, Operations, Marketing, Sales) to ensure alignment and successful execution of technology initiatives.
Act as a liaison between technical and non-technical teams, ensuring clear communication of technology strategy and priorities to senior business leaders.
Drive integration of technological initiatives across the business, ensuring cohesive systems and processes support overall business objectives.
Work closely with Procurement and Finance teams to develop and manage the technology budget, ensuring effective resource allocation to strategic priorities.
Analyze the financial impact of technology initiatives, providing recommendations on investment and cost optimization strategies.
Ensure effective management of technology investments to deliver maximum return on investment (ROI).
Develop key metrics and performance indicators to track the progress and success of technology initiatives and investments.
Provide regular strategic updates to the CTO, executive leadership, and other stakeholders, using data and analytics to communicate progress, risks, and outcomes.
Use insights from reporting and metrics to refine strategy and drive continuous improvement across the organization.
Support the CTO and leadership team in M&A activities by evaluating potential technology synergies, assessing integration opportunities, and providing strategic guidance on technology-related aspects of acquisitions.
Lead the development of integration plans that align acquired technologies with the broader organizational strategy.
Lead change management activities required to roll out and adopt technology projects to ensure effective return on investment.
Drive communication to ensure stakeholders across the portfolio of companies are kept aware of the latest developments and buy into the technology project impacts.
Lead and manage both onshore and offshore teams, ensuring seamless collaboration and execution of technology projects.