VP of Innovation Readiness & Excellence

We are seeking an experienced, customer-obsessed leader to own the creation and evolution of the end-to-end implementation methodology for our software portfolio (core platform + domain-specific applications) and to own the implementation outcomes for Beta implementations. This leader will build, continuously refine, and govern a repeatable, scalable, and predictable implementation approach that becomes a genuine competitive advantage and key driver of customer adoption, retention, and expansion.

This position will ideally be a hybrid role based out of an Anaplan location.

This is an exciting opportunity for a visionary leader to make a significant impact by setting the foundation for implementing and scaling repeatable implementations of all products.  

Your Impact:

   Methodology Ownership & Evolution

• Design, document, and maintain the company’s official implementation methodology & best practices for all products (playbooks, phase-gate model, artifacts, tools, templates, success metrics).
• Develop and execute to an 80/20 principle where the overarching methodology supports all products, with specific best practices and assets for each product.
• Continuously improve the methodology by incorporating field feedback, implementation analysis, industry best practices, and customer feedback.
• Establish clear methodology governance (versioning, certification, change control).

  Cross-Functional Partnership with Product

• Act as the primary bridge between Product/Engineering and the Services eco-system for all new and existing products.
• Partner with Product by translating real-world implementation complexity in Beta and EA deployments into actionable product needs and “implementability” criteria.
• Co-develop reference architectures, design patterns, and configuration standards that reduce time-to-value

  Beta & Early Adopter (EA) Program Leadership

• Own the technical and programmatic success of all beta deployments.
• Personally engage in high-risk or strategic beta customers when needed.
• Systematically capture quantitative and qualitative learnings and feed them back into methodology and product refinements.

  Validation, Testing & Iteration of the Methodology

• Design and execute “Methodology Pilots” with real customers during Beta and EA implementations to prove or disprove assumptions.
• Define and track leading indicators of implementation success (e.g., stage-gate milestones, configuration completeness at go-live, adoption velocity, time-to-value).
• Run structured retrospectives after every Beta and EA deployment to drive rapid iteration.

  Scaling & Enablement

• Partner closely with the Product Training & Education and GTM Enablement teams to translate the methodology into world-class training content (certifications, workshops, digital academies, guided paths inside the product).
• Support partner enablement so that system integrators and ecosystem partners adopt the same methodology.
• Create self-service tools, accelerators, and automation that embed the methodology directly into the product where possible.

  Metrics, Governance & Thought Leadership

• Own Beta implementation-related KPIs: Time-to-Value, Implementation Success Rate, Customer Satisfaction results, etc.
• Establish and lead an internal Center of Excellence (CoE) for implementation innovation readiness.

Your Qualifications:

• 12+ years in enterprise software with at least 6 years in a senior leadership role owning delivery methodology, professional services transformation, or technical customer success at scale.
• Proven track record of building and scaling implementation methodologies for complex platform + application software solutions
• Deep experience running beta/early-adopter programs and turning field learnings into product and process improvements.
• Strong product intuition; able to collaborate effectively with Product and Engineering leaders and influence roadmaps without direct authority.
• Exceptional ability to distill complex technical concepts into repeatable frameworks and training content.
• Experience enabling large partner ecosystems (GSI/SIs) is a strong plus.
• Data-driven mindset with rigorous approach to metrics and experimentation.
• Customer-Centric: everything starts and ends with customer outcomes.
• Builder mentality: comfortable creating from a blank page and iterating fast.
• Bias for simplicity and pragmatism; able to balance “perfect” methodology with speed of delivery.
• High intellectual horsepower combined with exceptional communication and storytelling skills.

Preferred Skills:

• Former Head of Global Professional Services, Head of Solutions Architecture, or VP of Customer Success at a high-growth B2B SaaS company (e.g., Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, Snowflake, Databricks, etc.).
• Management or Systems Integration consulting background (Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, McKinsey) with post-consulting operating experience is highly valued.