Head of Commercial Excellence

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Head of Commercial Excellence

lead · Consulting

Why This Role Matters

Vanguard is seeking a transformational commercial leader to help accelerate growth and execution across Vanguard Workplace Solutions. As Senior Manager, Commercial Excellence, you will serve as a strategic partner to senior leaders and play a critical role in translating business priorities into frontline execution.

This position sits at the intersection of go-to-market activation, sales effectiveness, commercialization, field readiness, and learning. You will lead efforts to activate approved priorities, strengthen sales practices, enhance field readiness, and drive adoption across Sales, Relationship Management, Consultant Relations, and key business partner teams.

Success in this role requires strong commercial judgment, field orientation, and execution discipline. You will ensure that approved business strategies, offers, product priorities, and market insights are translated into actionable activation plans, compelling commercial stories, effective coaching, relevant learning, scalable sales practices, and measurable field adoption.

What You'll Do

Lead Commercial Activation and Execution

• Translate business, segment, product, and market priorities into actionable go-to-market plans that drive field adoption and support business results.
• Partners across Sales, Relationship Management, Product, Marketing, Consultant Relations, Technology, Operations, Legal, and Compliance to coordinate commercial activation and field readiness.
• Develop launch roadmaps, implementation plans, communications, and readiness programs that accelerate adoption and execution.
• Identify barriers to adoption and drive practical solutions that improve consistency and effectiveness across the organization.

Drive Commercial Excellence and Sales Effectiveness

• Build and enhance commercial operating frameworks that improve sales execution, pipeline management, account planning, and opportunity discipline.
• Develop tools, playbooks, and best practices that help teams execute more effectively throughout the client lifecycle.
• Partner with Sales and Relationship Management leaders to strengthen pipeline quality, opportunity management, account planning, and manager led deal coaching.
• Partner with front-office leaders to reinforce behaviors, routines and coaching practices that drive sustainable growth.

Lead Product Commercialization and Launch Readiness

• Oversee go-to-market activation for strategic initiatives, product launches, enhancements, and business priorities.
• Create commercialization plans, competitive positioning materials, sales enablement content, and adoption strategies in partnership with Product, Offer, Marketing, Sales Strategy, and other accountable teams.
• Coordinate readiness efforts across multiple stakeholder groups to ensure successful implementation.
• Measure field adoption and effectiveness and recommend enhancements based on feedback and performance insights.

Elevate Commercial Storytelling and Market Messaging

• Translate business strategies and value propositions into compelling client, consultant, and field-facing narratives.
• Develop executive-level messaging, competitive positioning, conversation guides, and proof-point libraries in partnership with Marketing, Product, Offer, Sales Strategy, and subject matter experts.
• Ensure consistency across marketing materials, client engagements, consultant meetings, product launches, and sales communications.
• Partner with business leaders to strengthen Vanguard's commercial narrative in the marketplace.

Build Coaching and Leadership Effectiveness

• Develop frameworks that improve coaching effectiveness across Sales, Relationship Management, and Consultant Relations teams.
• Enable leaders with tools that support pipeline coaching, deal reviews, account strategy discussions, and client preparation.
• Foster a culture of accountability, performance, continuous improvement, and commercial excellence.
• Help leaders reinforce behaviors that drive stronger commercial outcomes.

Lead Learning, Readiness, and Enablement

• Define and evolve the enablement strategy for client-facing teams across Vanguard Workplace Solutions.
• Oversee onboarding, professional development, product training, process education, and certification programs.
• Leverage technology, AI-enabled tools, and data-driven insights to modernize learning and field enablement.
• Ensure training programs are tightly connected to business priorities and measurable behavior change.

Influence Across the Organization

• Serve as a trusted advisor and strategic deputy within the Distribution Enablement organization.
• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that require collaboration, influence, and organizational alignment.
• Build strong partnerships with senior executives and stakeholders across Vanguard Workplace Solutions.
• Drive progress through ambiguity and help advance critical commercial priorities.

What We're Looking For

• Minimum of 15 years of experience in financial services, retirement services, asset management, or a related commercial business environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading go-to-market activation, sales enablement, commercialization, or business transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of sales execution, relationship management, pipeline management, and commercial operations.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and drive cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.
• Exceptional communication, executive presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within retirement, defined contribution, recordkeeping, workplace benefits, or institutional investment marketplace.
• Prior leadership experience managing commercial enablement, sales effectiveness, or market activation teams.
• Expertise developing sales playbooks, coaching frameworks, launch strategies, and commercial messaging.
• Experience leveraging CRM platforms, analytics, AI tools, and learning technologies to improve field performance.
• Graduate degree (MBA or related advanced degree).

Special Factors

Sponsorship

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.

To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.