Principal, Business Operations and Strategy

At Instructure , we believe in the power of people to grow and succeed throughout their lives. Our goal is to amplify that power by creating intuitive products that simplify learning and personal development, facilitate meaningful relationships, and inspire people to go further in their education and careers. We do this by giving smart, creative, passionate people opportunities to create awesome. And that's where you come in: At Instructure, our Strategy & Business Operations (BizOps) team partners directly with executive leadership to drive growth, efficiency, and execution across the enterprise. Our mission is to connect strategy to execution — ensuring everyone knows where we’re going, why we’re going there, and how far we’ve come. We accelerate Instructure’s most important strategic and operational priorities, from defining growth opportunities and optimizing performance to building the systems, governance, and data infrastructure that scale our business. The Role As Principal, Business Operations, you will lead high-impact initiatives that cut across functions, shaping how the company sets priorities, allocates resources, and measures progress. You’ll oversee strategic planning, execution governance (OKRs, QBRs, operating rhythm), and the enterprise initiative portfolio. You’ll also mentor and lead BizOps talent, ensuring the function matures from reactive problem-solving to predictive, insight-driven operations. What You’ll Do • Lead Enterprise Strategy & Planning: Own the annual strategy and planning cycle — from long-range vision to yearly investment allocation. • Drive Strategic Execution: Govern the company’s OKR and business review process to ensure accountability and measurable progress toward strategy. • Oversee Strategic Initiative Portfolio: Manage cross-functional initiatives that advance Instructure’s strategic priorities; align resources and resolve execution bottlenecks. • Operationalize Visibility: Build and continuously evolve the enterprise “Strategy Scorecard” and shared dashboards to quantify progress and impact. • Build Organizational Maturity: Establish consistent systems, processes, and decision-rights frameworks to move the company from reactive to managed to strategic. • Coach & Influence: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership; lead, mentor, and scale the BizOps team; drive cultural adoption of data-informed, strategy-driven execution. What you will need to know/have: • 5+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, or business operations at a high-growth SaaS company. • Proven success leading large-scale cross-functional programs with executive visibility. • Analytical and structured problem solver who can convert insight into action. • Highly skilled communicator able to influence at the executive level. • Track record of building operational systems and governance models at scale. • Comfortable balancing enterprise strategic thinking with hands-on execution. Get in on all the awesome at Instructure! We offer competitive, meaningful benefits in every country where we operate. While they vary by location, here's a general idea of what you can expect: • Competitive compensation, plus all full-time employees participate in our ownership program - because everyone should have a stake in our success. • Flexible work culture. Our remote, hybrid and in-office collaboration spaces vary by role, team and location. • Generous time off, including local holidays and our annual “Dim the Lights” period in late December, when teams are encouraged to step back and recharge based on departmental needs. • Comprehensive wellness programs and mental health support • Learning and development resources, including professional development tools and tuition reimburseme