Full-Time

SVP – Strategy & Operations

Posted on 10/3/2025

Toptal

Toptal

5,001-10,000 employees

Marketplace connecting businesses to top freelancers

No salary listed

Remote in Canada

Remote

Category
Operations & Logistics (1)
Required Skills
Sales
Marketing
Requirements
  • Bachelor’s degree is required.
  • 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in managing complex service organizations and multiple business units, ideally within professional services or technology-driven environments.
  • Proven track record of successfully leading operations with accountability for P&L, growth, and operational excellence.
  • Demonstrated ability to develop and execute scalable operational strategies that drive efficiency, client satisfaction, and sustainable growth.
  • Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions in ambiguous environments.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of influencing stakeholders at all levels, including executives and clients.
  • Experience driving cross-functional collaboration and alignment across sales, marketing, delivery, and support functions.
  • Excellent organization skills and detail-oriented. You are hyper-organized, know how to work efficiently, and prioritize execution, as well as mentor others to do the same.
  • Adaptable. Comfortable managing changing priorities, learning new skills, and building consensus across varied senior stakeholder groups.
  • Ownership. You are a dependable leader who takes responsibility for your success as well as the success of the entire team.
  • Quality. You take pride in everything you deliver as a reflection of yourself.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and handle a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and a diverse array of contacts.
  • You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do.
Responsibilities
  • Build and own the vision, strategy, and execution plan for Toptal’s talent functions.
  • Define the organizational structure and leadership model for the Talent Operations teams, ensuring the right roles and capabilities are in place.
  • Provide hands-on operational leadership, bringing rigor, consistency, and clear accountability to all functions.
  • Translate high-level business and operational goals into detailed operational roadmaps for all areas of responsibility.
  • Establish scalable processes and systems to ensure delivery excellence, efficiency, and client satisfaction at scale.
  • Oversee talent supply, matching, and resource planning in coordination to meet evolving client needs.
  • Partner cross-functionally with Product, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to execute on strategic priorities and company-wide initiatives.
  • Drive a high-performance culture across all functions and businesses, while ensuring Talent Operations is tightly aligned to support delivery excellence, scalability, and evolving business needs.
  • Onboard and integrate into Toptal.
  • Learn Toptal’s model, our value proposition, and our story.
  • Deep dive into the Talent Operations function to gain clarity on current structures, key initiatives, and challenges.
  • Meet key leaders and stakeholders across Services, Talent Operations, Sales, and the Executive team to build foundational relationships and understand cross-functional dependencies.
  • Conduct a comprehensive assessment of Talent Operations, including organizational structure, team capabilities, operational processes, and performance metrics.
  • Engage with senior leaders and key stakeholders to validate your initial findings and gather input on critical challenges and growth opportunities.
  • Begin shaping a strategic operating model and execution framework tailored to the unique needs of our Talent Operations function.
  • Develop a clear understanding of client expectations and feedback to align operational improvements with market demands.
  • Begin executing a detailed operational plan that aligns with Toptal’s strategic objectives for Talent Operations, emphasizing scalability and efficiency.
  • Sponsor and oversee initiatives that improve delivery consistency, capacity planning, and client satisfaction, ensuring cross-functional alignment and sustainable operational excellence.
  • Deepen engagement with clients and internal stakeholders to anticipate future needs and proactively adapt offerings.
  • Achieve significant growth in gross revenue and pipeline volume.
  • Drive measurable improvements in operational efficiency, client satisfaction, and scalability.
  • Refine and scale processes and systems that support seamless service delivery, resource management, and cross-functional collaboration.
  • Achieve consistent delivery of business goals through a high-performing, aligned leadership team.
  • Have positioned Talent Operations as a core driver of competitive advantage through scalable operations, strong client delivery, and sustained revenue growth.
  • Scale the operational infrastructure to support anticipated growth, including technology and processes.
  • Champion innovation and continuous improvement initiatives that keep Toptal agile and ahead of market trends.
Desired Qualifications
  • Master’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field preferred.
  • Experience at a technology or hyper-growth company strongly preferred.
  • Management consulting experience at a top-tier firm (e.g., McKinsey, Bain, BCG) or investment banking experience preferred but not required.

Toptal is a global freelance marketplace that connects businesses with vetted professionals in software engineering, design, finance, project management, and product management. It works by screening applicants and accepting a small fraction (about the top 3%), then matching clients with freelancers through flexible engagement models such as managed delivery, consulting, or full-team placements. Clients pay a premium on top of freelancers’ rates, and Toptal earns revenue from this markup. The company emphasizes remote, distributed talent sourcing, allowing it to fill client needs from anywhere in the world. Its goal is to provide reliable, high-quality on-demand expertise to startups and enterprises alike, enabling teams to scale quickly without geographic constraints.

Company Size

5,001-10,000

Company Stage

Seed

Total Funding

$1.4M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2010

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Acquired YouTeam, Graphite, Growth Collective, Vironit in 2024.
  • Launched Toptal Marketing at Cannes Lions June 2024.
  • Reports 40% YoY growth, over $200M annual revenue.

What critics are saying

  • Upwork's AI matching delivers freelancers 40% faster, lower premiums.
  • Fiverr Pro undercuts full-team placements with fixed-price gigs.
  • YouTeam integration fails, causing 15-20% Ukrainian talent churn.

What makes Toptal unique

  • Toptal accepts only top 3% of applicants via rigorous screening.
  • Largest fully remote workforce spans software, design, finance, management.
  • Offers managed delivery, consulting, full-team placements for enterprises.

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Benefits

Remote Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Professional Development Budget

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

-1%

2 year growth

0%
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