Senior Director, Strategic Programs, NA

Operations Department

Vantage operates mission-critical data centers for the world's largest technology firms. The operations department is responsible for setting and maintaining high operating standards across the fleet, and ensuring uptime, reliability, security, and customer service. The team includes Site Operations, responsible for the day-to-day running of the facilities and supporting infrastructure. The sites are staffed 24 x 7 with Critical Facilities Engineers (CFEs) on each shift. The Reliability Engineering Team is responsible for the setting maintenance standards, ensuring consistency and quality of site operations across the fleet, and provides subject matter expertise in the areas of electrical, mechanical, controls & automation, influencing across design, procurement, construction and commissioning. The Security Team ensures Vantage facilities are safeguarded and well monitored, and is responsible for access control, CCTV, security staffing, security design, and engineering. Lastly, the Business Operations Team is responsible for service support, KPI management, vendor relations, standards & transformation, and property management.

Position Overview

This role can be based in any of our US locations: Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; Santa Clara, CA; or Ashburn, VA.

The Senior Director, Strategic Programs, North America is a critical leadership role reporting directly to the SVP, Strategy & Transformation. This leader will drive the execution of high-impact strategic initiatives, oversee the Innovation Hub, and serve as the central orchestrator of executive communications and business performance reviews. The role will also contribute to the maturation of strategic program management practices across North America. It requires a unique blend of program leadership, strategic insight, and executive presence to ensure the SVP, North America is equipped with the right information, at the right time, to make high-stake decisions.

The role will work closely with peers including the VP, Enterprise Excellence; Director of Data science; and Sr. Director of Adoption & Enablement to ensure strategic initiatives are insight-driven, operationally executable, and organizationally adopted.

Essential Job Functions

Strategic Portfolio Leadership

• Lead the end-to-end execution of North America's most critical strategic initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise goals and measurable outcomes.

• Establish and manage a strategic initiative portfolio, including intake, prioritization, resource planning, dependencies, risks, outcomes and performance tracking.

• Develop and maintain program governance frameworks, risk registers, and executive dashboards.

Innovation Hub Leadership

• Design and oversee the Global Innovation Hub as a platform for experimentation, R&D development, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Partner with Data Science, Delivery, Product, Engineering, and Operations to identify and incubate high-impact innovation pilots, while ensuring alignment with Global Innovation governance and knowledge-sharing protocols.

• Define success metrics and scale pathways for validated innovations, including operationalizing those innovations and integrating them into the standard data center lifecycle.

Executive Communications & Business Reviews

• Own the development of executive presentations for the NA President and SVP, including Board of Directors decks, shareholder updates, and monthly / quarterly business reviews.

• Ensure messaging is data-driven, visually compelling, and strategically aligned.

• Manage the rhythm of the business calendar and coordinate inputs across functions.

• Partner with Commercial Strategy and Finance teams to support the Monthly Operational Review Board (MORB) process, including owning the organization, coordination, and execution of meetings and timely preparation of materials.

Strategic Integration & Enablement

• Serve as the connective tissue across the SVP's leadership team, ensuring strategic programs are informed by operational insights, data science, and change readiness.

• Translate strategic vision into actionable roadmaps and cross-functional workstreams.

• Partner with the Sr. Director of Adoption & Enablement to embed change management into all strategic initiatives from Day 1.

Executive Advisory & Thought Partnership

• Act as a strategic advisor to the SVP, synthesizing insights, surfacing risks, and shaping executive narratives.

• Support the SVP in developing North America goals and OKRs aligned to global priorities and be responsible for building Mission Control dashboards in partnership with the Data Science team to enable real-time performance tracking and strategic decision-making.

Additional Duties:

• Handle additional duties as assigned by Management.

Job Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related field required.

• MBA or relevant advanced degree strongly preferred.

• Project or program management certifications (e.g., PMP, PgMP, PMI-ACP, or equivalent) a plus.

Experience:

• 10+ years of experience in strategy, operations, or program leadership roles.

• Proven track record of leading enterprise-level transformation initiatives and executive communications in fast-paced, high-growth environments.

• Experience in data centers, REITs, digital infrastructure, or capital-intensive industries preferred.

Skills:

• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen with the ability to connect execution with enterprise goals.

• Advanced understanding of portfolio and program management methodologies (e.g., PMBOK, Agile, Stage-Gate, Hybrid).

• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and executive communication skills.

• Adept at navigating ambiguity and managing competing priorities across a matrixed organization.

• High level of discretion, integrity, and ability to manage confidential matters.

• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear, actional insights.

• Proficient in enterprise PMO tools and reporting platforms (e.g., Smartsheet, Asana, MS Project, Power BI).

Travel:

• Up to 25%, including domestic and occasional international travel, as needed to lead key initiatives and engage executive stakeholders.

Physical Demands and Special Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop or kneel; talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Additional Details

• Salary Range: $240,000-$250,000 Base + Bonus (this range is based on Colorado market data and may vary in other locations)

• This position is eligible for company benefits including but not limited to medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and AD&D, short and long-term disability coverage, paid time off, employee assistance, participation in a 401k program that includes company match, and many other additional voluntary benefits.

• Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including your qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience and may fall outside of the range shown.