VP, Strategy and Operations

About the company

Kanbrick is a long-horizon investment partnership focused on a small group of family-owned and founder-led businesses. The firm supports these companies through the Kanbrick Business System (KBS), a customized operating model designed to help midsize businesses grow over many years. The organization was founded by Tracy Britt Cool and Brian Humphrey with the aim of creating the kind of partner they would want for their own families’ businesses: committed for the long term, operationally involved, and aligned toward mutual success.

The team is made up of operators and business builders who work directly with leaders inside partner companies, rather than simply offering advice. Alongside this work, Kanbrick also convenes the Kanbrick Community, a network of more than 4,000 CEOs and owners from family and founder-led businesses, for shared learning and growth.

The firm values people who act like owners, improve continuously, operate with integrity, and succeed together.

Role overview

The VP, Strategy & Operations is a senior member of the KBS team and works directly inside partner businesses. The role spans three major areas: leading the relationship with partner company CEOs, driving hands-on value creation across multiple businesses, and helping grow the Kanbrick Community.

CEO partnership

• Act as the KBS lead for four to six partner companies.
• Build a strong working relationship with each CEO and help shape a clear integrated growth plan.
• Coordinate the broader KBS team so the right work is delivered effectively at each company.
• Partner with an Investing Lead on every company and step into the role gradually as the firm expands.

Hands-on value creation

• Contribute directly to initiatives that improve performance across several companies at the same time.
• Adapt to different business needs and contexts, with work shaped by the situation and by your strongest areas of expertise.
• Apply practical depth in areas such as salesforce effectiveness, digital enablement, lean operations, or AI and technology deployment.
• Move quickly from diagnosis and strategy to execution and measurable results.
• Approach problems as a generalist who can solve ambiguous challenges in the weeds as well as at the strategic level.

Community building

• Build real relationships with CEOs and owners in the Kanbrick Community.
• Deliver content virtually and in person at events.
• Participate actively in Community programs and maintain a visible, meaningful presence.

What success looks like

Within the first 12 to 18 months, success means developing trusted relationships with the CEOs and executive teams of about four partner companies, becoming the lead partner at two or three of them, making a measurable difference through your functional expertise in multiple settings, and contributing meaningfully to the Community.

Who this role is for

This position is best suited to someone who has owned a P&L or run a senior function with direct accountability for outcomes, and who has also spent substantial time in a services-firm or private-equity operations environment where influence matters more than formal authority.

Additional expectations

The right candidate earns CEO trust through substance and curiosity, enjoys helping other people do their best work, and can clearly defend a point of view on where value is created or lost. Comfort with AI is expected, and it should already be part of how you diagnose problems, plan work, and deliver faster outcomes.

The ideal person believes strongly in patient capital and long-term partnership, and is equally comfortable rolling up their sleeves in execution and discussing strategy at a high level.

Benefits and compensation

• Collaborative, high-performing team environment.
• Meaningful opportunities to contribute to the growth of a developing investment partnership.
• Exposure to challenging and rewarding work.
• Competitive senior-level compensation package.
• Meaningful equity participation across the partnership.

Work style

This is a hands-on position with increasing responsibility over time. You will work closely with leaders building and scaling exceptional businesses, and the role is designed for someone who is curious, resourceful, and energized by learning alongside experienced operators and investors.