Vice President, Express

Position: Vice President, Express NEXT
# Vice President, Express NEXTHot Job## Description Sitting within the corporate office of Express Employment International, and reporting to the Senior Vice President of Global Development, the
** Vice President, Express Next
** serves as the primary execution and integration leader for Express Next, the company's
* future-focused strategy, innovation, and business evolution function*. The Vice President partners with the SVP of Global Development to identify and shape consequential Horizon 2 and Horizon 3 opportunities and translate them into disciplined exploration, experimentation, evidence, and decision-ready recommendations. Working across Express, the franchise network, and selected external partners, the Vice President mobilizes the expertise required to test critical assumptions, focus resources on the strongest opportunities, stop unsupported ideas early, and prepare validated concepts for long-term operating ownership.
** ABOUT EXPRESS NEXT:
** Express Next exists to anticipate future opportunities and mitigate potential threats so Express can remain built to last. Focused primarily on Horizon 2 and Horizon 3, Express Next looks beyond the immediate demands of today's business to explore the opportunities, threats, technologies, markets, operating models, and business models that could shape Express over the next 3-10 years and beyond.

Express Next combines strategic exploration with disciplined, real-world experimentation. Express Next converts uncertainty into evidence, invests progressively, stops weak ideas early, builds with future owners, and brings leadership decision-ready recommendations.
* Express Employment International values the benefits of in-person collaboration in fostering teamwork, creativity, and connection. Employees in this position who are located within the Oklahoma City metropolitan market are expected to work in the office four (4) days per week, with the flexibility to work remotely one (1) day per week, based on business and department needs. For candidates located outside the Oklahoma City metropolitan market, remote work may be considered within the continental 48 states, based on business and department needs.
*** RESPONSIBILITIES
* ** Partner with the SVP of Global Development to identify, frame, and prioritize emerging risks, future growth opportunities, and strategic questions that could materially affect Express
* Manage the active Horizon 2 and Horizon 3 opportunity portfolio, balancing strategic importance, potential enterprise value, uncertainty, feasibility, resource requirements, and Express's right to win
* Translate priority opportunities into focused research, discovery, experiments, pilots, partnerships, and incubation plans designed to address the most important unknowns
* Establish clear hypotheses, success and failure criteria, time boundaries, resource requirements, and intended decisions for experiments and pilots
* Evaluate evidence and prepare clear recommendations to Advance, Modify, Hold, or Stop an opportunity
* Mobilize expertise across Operations, Technology and AI, Finance, Legal, Business Intelligence, Marketing, International operations, franchisees, and external partners as needed
* Partner with willing franchisees and operating leaders to test new services, technologies, markets, operating models, customer experiences, and workforce solutions
* Develop the economics, capabilities, technology, controls, resources, and implementation approach needed to determine whether a validated concept can scale
* Engage the likely long-term operating owner as confidence grows and transition validated initiatives into the appropriate organization for implementation and scale
* Monitor external developments in technology, AI, workforce trends, regulation, competition, demographics, markets, and emerging business models and connect relevant signals to Express's long-term needs
* Build relationships with external experts, technology providers, startups, potential partners, and other sources of insight that can accelerate learning and opportunity development
* Provide senior leadership with concise, timely, decision-ready portfolio updates and recommendations
* Promote disciplined investment by ensuring resources follow evidence and by treating the early termination of unsupported ideas as a successful outcome
* Perform other duties as assigned
** EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS
*** Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience required; advanced degree preferred
* At…