Job Summary

The Vice President of Planning provides enterprise-wide control of project flow, capacity, and workload visibility across a high-volume, high-complexity retail fixture business. This role owns timeline standards and the project lifecycle gate tool, ensuring disciplined planning, clear job status, and early risk identification. The VP directs routing into outsourced vendors and assigns North American facilities based on real-time capacity and load. They lead and scale the Estimating and Account Program Management functions to deliver accurate costing, strategic pricing, reliable timelines, proactive risk escalation, and strong cross-functional alignment.

This role ensures that:

• Every client program has a master GANTT plan with clear milestones, owners, dependencies, and risk flags.
• Enterprise timeline standards and lifecycle gate criteria are defined, enforced, and continuously improved.
• Cross-functional teams (Development, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics, Run Services) are coordinated and held accountable to program timelines without the VP of Planning owning those functions directly.
• Projects are routed to the right outsourced vendor and assigned to the right North American facility based on capacity, capability, cost, and load.
• Clients and Commercial teams have real-time visibility into program status, risks, and delivery confidence.
• Risk mitigation plans are proactively developed and communicated before issues become delivery failures.
• Ballpark and firm estimates are accurate, timely, and reflect both cost reality and market/perceived value intelligence.
• The Estimating team operates as a strategic asset to the Commercial team, improving win rates while protecting contribution margins.
• Estimating processes evolve toward AI-augmented tools that leverage historical data, vendor pricing, market intelligence, and perceived value frameworks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in program management, planning, or operations leadership within custom-engineered, ETO (engineer-to-order), or job-shop manufacturing environments.
• Proven experience managing multi-functional program delivery across development, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics in a matrixed organization.
• Strong background in cost estimation, should-cost modeling, and pricing strategy for custom-manufactured products.
• Experience with perceived value pricing, blended margin models, or strategic pricing frameworks is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with AI/ML applications in estimation, pricing, or operational planning is a strong plus.
• Proficiency in project management tools (Smartsheet, Monday.com, MS Project, or equivalent) and ERP systems (D365 preferred).
• Experience with CRM systems (Sugar CRM or equivalent) and understanding of sales pipeline dynamics.
• Demonstrated ability to build planning infrastructure and systems that scale with organizational growth.
• Strong cross-functional influence, executive communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience operating in global environments with manufacturing in multiple regions (U.S., China, EMEA).
• Willingness to travel up to 50% domestically and internationally.

Leadership Attributes & Personal Characteristics

Execution-Driven Strategic Leader

• Drives clear strategies with an unwavering focus on execution discipline, delivery timelines, cost targets, and technical readiness.
• Balances long-term platform strategy with near-term delivery priorities to ensure business impact.
• Dynamic practitioner with the ability to adapt and overcome.

High-Velocity Operator

• Thrives in fast-paced, high-volume environments and creates systems that enable speed without sacrificing quality.
• Comfortable managing multiple concurrent projects and activities across the team.

Enterprise-Level Collaborator & Executive Presence

• Operates as a trusted executive partner across Commercial, Design, Development, Manufacturing, Procurement, Finance, and Executive teams.
• Brings calm authority, clarity, and influence to complex, cross-functional decision-making environments.

Commercial Thinker & Margin Guardian

• Understands that planning and estimating are not just operational functions—they directly impact Outform’s ability to win, price, and deliver profitably.
• Treats margin protection as a core responsibility, not a finance function. Ensures every estimate reflects commercial reality and competitive positioning.

Decisive, Data-Driven Judgment

• Makes informed, timely decisions grounded in data, experience, and business context.
• Champions AI and technology adoption to augment human judgment with data intelligence.
• Comfortably navigates ambiguity, balancing speed, risk, and quality in high-stakes environments.

Organizational Builder & Scaled Leader

• Builds strong teams, leaders, and systems that scale with the organization’s growth and portfolio complexity.
• Establishes repeatable processes, clear accountability, and performance standards.