Managing Director, Retail Industry Advisor

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary and experienced industry advisor to Canadian Retail accounts. This individual will have a beginner’s mindset to approach growth in retail, consumer goods, telecommunications, and travel/hospitality for Salesforce Canada, deeply understand how business leaders innovate and make decisions. This person would be responsible for partnering with sales, product, professional services, partners, etc. to drive growth strategies around our key accounts in both the Enterprise and Commercial space. The primary responsibility of this individual is driving cross-functional growth strategies aligned with Sales leaders, deal acceleration with customer-facing engagements, and support thought leadership and industry events along with our global counterparts in the Retail centre-of-excellence.

The ideal candidate will work collaboratively, build trust quickly with Sales and other Industry Advisor leaders, have great executive presence and a strong network across the industry. This person must be senior enough to present to any level within Salesforce or a customer organization but must be resilient and willing to get the work done with a start-up mentality.

Key Responsibilities

• Customer & Event Engagements:
  • Work directly with key clients across direct-to-consumer businesses, bringing strong industry understanding, structured problem solving, strategic clarity, executive presence (verbal and written) and create pathways forward to deliver growth
  • Represent Salesforce at key industry events, identifying new growth opportunities and building relationships with key industry stakeholders
• Direction for Industry Solutions & Growth Strategy:
  • Serve as a co-lead of our Industry Councils, executing towards key deliverables, such as our Operating Plan, Industry North Star, and Market Imperatives, designed to align our cross functional partners in the business to meet our business objectives.
  • Develop competitive analyses designed to position Salesforce against strategic competitors in the retail industry.
  • Influence industry solutions creation to help educate and enable sales, pre‑sales, and customer success teams so they can speak the customer’s language.
• Credible, Inspiring, & Relevant Industry Thought Leadership:
  • Analyze internal and external data, analysts’ reports and more to create points of view on market trends, performance, risks and opportunities. This work informs how Salesforce will navigate headwinds, prioritize solutions in the market, and position capabilities with clients. It is also the fuel for thought leadership externally to build market credibility.

Key Activities

• Co‑lead industry long‑term strategy and drive cross‑functional growth outcomes
• Prioritize key accounts and customer relationships to remove friction from deal cycles and drive trust, relevance, and credibility with customers at the VP+/C‑Suite level
• Partner cross‑functionally on relevant content for events, marketing materials, and partner GTM activities
• Support partner & sales enablement content creation & activities
• Support market‑ready solution direction & growth strategy execution
• Represent Salesforce at industry events, building relationships and growing the brand
• Develop go‑to‑market strategies specifically designed to compete with dominant players in the retail technology market

Experience / Skills Required

• Minimum 15 years combined experience at Dir+, VP, or C‑Suite Level in Fortune 500 enterprise software vendor, credible professional services firm, or iconic and respected retail/telecommunications/hospitality companies.
• Deep expertise in direct‑to‑consumer with a point of view of sub‑verticals and growth areas
• Extensive C‑suite level connections within the retail industry in Canada and abroad
• Experience with deploying or using innovative technology solutions with a hardworking vision for how we can change the industry in the age of AI
• Consistent record of building and running robust teams
• Outstanding written, verbal communication, presentation skills in front of audiences ranging from small executive meetings to very large keynote presentations
• Self‑starter with ability to multitask in the fast‑paced and high‑pressure work environment of a start‑up paced software company
• Strong customer orientation and results‑driven leader
• Strong understanding of Salesforce products and their industry fit
• Outstanding problem solving and analytical skills; demonstrated ability to structure complex problems, develop hypotheses, and present well‑supported solutions

Experience / Skills Desired

• 10+ years of retail/telecommunications/hospitality industry specific experience, or
• 10 years of high tech company experience and/or large system integrators supporting the above industries
• Undergraduate degree, advanced degree preferred
• Hands‑on leader, "get it done" operating style, and participant in industry associations

Preferred Skills

• Validated ability in leading digital transformation and large‑scale change management efforts
• Strong understanding of AI and the potential to transform the retail industry
• Ability to influence across a broad spectrum of individuals and functions
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret data for value‑based discussions
• Action‑oriented, entrepreneurial, flexible and innovative approach to operational management
• Ability to engage and motivate teams
• Ability to lead through organizational change in a virtual environment