Director of Strategic Initiatives

About Otodata

Otodata is a Montreal-headquartered provider of remote tank monitoring hardware, connectivity and software, serving propane, fuel and lubricant distributors across North America and expanding internationally. The business designs and manufactures its own monitors, sells on a recurring hardware-plus-service model, and holds leading positions with many of the largest propane distributors in the US and Canada.

Otodata was acquired by GI Partners in 2026. Since close, the CEO and leadership team have worked with GI to define a value creation plan (VCP), with a redesigned go-to-market model at its centre alongside a set of further strategic and operational initiatives. The DSI will actively lead and support these initiatives and establish the governance that keeps the whole programme on track.

Position summary

The Director of Strategic Initiatives leads the execution of Otodata's value creation plan, reporting to the CEO. The role has two halves. First, the DSI personally manages 1-2 major strategic projects including the new go-to-market strategy. Second, the DSI runs the governance of the overall VCP programme, so the CEO, executive team and GI Partners have one clear view of priorities, progress and risks.

The role suits someone who has run go-to-market transformations end to end, is comfortable operating at both the strategic and the hands-on level and wants to be the CEO's thought partner on whatever the business needs next.

Key responsibilities

Roughly ~70% of the role is leading strategic projects; the balance is VCP governance and CEO thought partnership.

1. Go-to-market transformation (primary focus)

Lead the implementation of Otodata's redesigned go-to-market model, working with the VP Sales, Revenue Operations and Marketing.

• Operationalise the customer segmentation and tiering model: finalise account thresholds using tank and consumption data, assign named account ownership for enterprise accounts, and define field, inside sales and digital coverage for mid-market and long-tail accounts
• Stand up the inside sales function and redesign the handoffs between field reps, inside sales, technical support and customer success, including a time-and-motion study of rep activity to free selling capacity
• Design and roll out a renewals and lifecycle programme
• Work with Finance and HR to restructure sales compensation
• Translate the international GTM model (Europe and Latin America) into country plans, rep profiles and the governance between US-based product leads and in-country generalist reps
• Partner with Revenue Operations to establish the data baselines, pipeline definitions and KPI dashboards that tie commercial activity to revenue and EBITDA outcomes
• Turn the adjacency strategy into resourcing plans, role specifications and launch sequencing
• Own the GTM workstream governance: weekly working group, monthly SteerCo, decision log and action tracker

2. Product and technology roadmap support

Support the VP Product and Engineering in strengthening the product development operating model.

• Help convert the three-year product vision and annual product strategy into a prioritised, sized and resourced roadmap, balancing maintenance load against innovation
• Support the stand-up of product management processes: opportunity sizing, segment and regional tagging of the pipeline, feasibility scoring and stage-gates
• Act as the connector between the commercial team's growth priorities and R&D's capacity and sequencing

3. VCP governance and programme management

Run the management operating system for the value creation plan.

• Maintain the VCP initiative tracker with owners, status, milestones and value realised
• Run the monthly VCP review cadence and prepare materials for the Monthly Operating Review, SteerCos and quarterly Board
• Partner with GI Partners' Portfolio Operations team on two-way communication around initiative structure, prioritisation, execution and reporting
• Identify risks and interdependencies early, escalate, and remove obstacles

4. CEO thought partnership

• Serve as a neutral, objective sounding board to the CEO on strategy, organisation, talent and stakeholder matters
• Anticipate issues before they reach the executive team or Board and bring options, not just problems
• Take on ad hoc strategic projects as the business evolves, for example pricing studies, market diagnostics, M&A diligence or integration support
• Support Board and investor materials, owning the strategic narrative and initiative status sections

Qualifications and experience

Required

• A demonstrated track record of leading a go-to-market or commercial transformation from design through to delivered results.
• 7 to 12 years of experience combining strategy consulting and operating roles.
• Strong programme management skills: comfortable running several cross-functional initiatives at once, setting governance, holding owners to milestones and managing dependencies
• Highly analytical: able to build business cases, size opportunities, model compensation and unit economics, and tie initiatives to EBITDA
• Executive-level communication, written and verbal, with the credibility to work directly with a CEO, executive team, Board and investors
• Hands-on by preference.

Preferred

• Experience in a private equity-backed company, or on PE-sponsored engagements, with familiarity with sponsor reporting rhythms and value creation plans
• B2B recurring-revenue or hardware-plus-service business models; industrial, IoT, telematics or distribution-sector exposure is helpful but not required
• Exposure to carve-outs, separations or integrations, including dependency mapping and transitional service arrangements
• MBA or equivalent
• Working proficiency in French is an asset

Competencies and personal attributes

• Combines disciplined execution with strategic thinking; creates alignment across functions without formal authority
• Operates well in a fast-paced, lean environment where structure has to be built rather than inherited
• Pragmatic problem solver: breaks down ambiguous problems, anticipates roadblocks, prioritises and sets the pace
• Influences with gravitas across field sales reps, the executive team and the Board alike
• Learner mindset: curious about the business, the customers and the technology; humble about prior misses
• Collaborative and low-ego; comfortable implementing designs owned by others and giving credit to the functional leaders
• Highest integrity in handling confidential financial, personnel and strategic information
• Comfortable with regular travel and periods of in-person presence in Montreal, particularly during the first 90 days