Head of Strategy & Execution

This is Adyen

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition. 

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

Head of Strategy & Execution

The Strategy & Execution team has two key areas of responsibility: facilitating global strategy development & planning and driving global, cross-functional programs central to strategy execution with global scalability at its core. 

In your role as Head of Strategy & Execution, based in Amsterdam and reporting to the CFO, you will be directly responsible to lead a team of high-performing individual contributors. Moreover, you will indirectly guide a group of Strategy & Program managers placed as dotted lines in global functions such as Account Management, Operations, etc. The scope of the role is global and cross-functional.

Firstly, you and your team will play a key role in strategy development and annual planning with our global leadership team and management board. As part of that, you will apply your strategic and big picture lens in connecting the dots, as well as in identifying process-related roadblocks or accelerators throughout the year together with the global management team to ensure speedy execution and maximized impact.

Secondly, you will be responsible for key programs that are at the heart of strategy execution in a given year. These programs are highly cross-functional and essential for reducing complexity today so that we can scale in the future. You and the team will create and drive that bit of structure that guarantees our speed. 

In this role, you are comfortable switching between being a facilitator and being a hands-on owner of operational execution, and you are genuinely excited to do whatever it takes to get things done. 

What you’ll do

• Develop a thorough understanding of our global organization and leverage that understanding to identify areas to implement complex, structural change
• Develop the team members by stretching them on a range of topics and helping them to be successful within their focus areas
• Facilitate and continuously refine the strategic development process across the organization, in coordination with the global leadership team and management board
• Collaborate with teams globally to sharpen strategy ensuring there is alignment across the organization and sufficient capability to execute - providing a healthy balance of structure and direction while keeping flexibility and speed
• Drive transformation and change throughout the organization by working closely with HR, Communications, leadership and additional key stakeholders to communicate strategic direction of the company
• Be an ambassador for initiating and embedding data based ways of working 

Who you are 

• You have 12+ years of experience in managing complex projects or programs, (strategy) consulting, or held roles such as Chief Strategy Officer, Director of Strategy, General Manager
• You have a proven track record of being a strong leader of senior individual contributors and are able to develop a high performing team
• You are comfortable navigating complexity and ambiguity, always striving to simplify and clarify while adapting swiftly as needed; ideally proven in a product/ tech context; and/ or you have been part of a rapidly growing company 
• You have a natural curiosity that allows you to tackle difficult questions with enthusiasm 
• You are an experienced problem solver who enjoys breaking down complex challenges into actionable solutions - and you embrace the hands-on implementation of those
• You are highly execution-driven: you apply your strategic perspective, connect the dots but also translate ideas into action tomorrow
• You have excellent people and relationship building skills that allow you to influence and collaborate with both senior stakeholders and colleagues across all levels of the company
• You are a strong team player and enjoy driving success collaboratively with others 
• You have a strong affinity for numbers and live by an analytical approach in how you approach broad questions, plan execution and track impact

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments 

Our unique approach is a product of our diverse perspectives. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures is essential in helping us maintain our momentum. Our business and technical challenges are unique, and we need as many different voices as possible to join us in solving them - voices like yours. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we welcome you to be your true self at Adyen. 

Studies show that women and members of underrepresented communities apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Does this sound like you? If so, Adyen encourages you to reconsider and apply. We look forward to your application!

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Learn more about our hiring process here. Don’t be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

This role is based out of our Amsterdam office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.