Operating Partner
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
Strategic Growth & Partnership
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
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
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.
Executive Stewardship and P&L
High-Value Accounts: Directly manage and nurture relationships with the company's largest or most strategic accounts
Risk & Governance: Own the governance layer of key partnerships, proactively mitigating critical business risks and ensuring partnership success at an executive level.
Economic Ownership: Take P&L accountability for your book of business, demonstrating the financial acumen to forecast, manage budgets, and drive margin expansion.
Strategic Sales Enablement
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
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
Pricing Strategy: Collaborate with Finance and Delivery to define pricing strategies, discount policies, and commission plans
Coach and Develop: As your commercial success grows, assist in developing newer sellers to the organization
External Brand & Thought Leadership
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
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.