Vice President of Strategy and Operations
Kanbrick
Vice President of Strategy and Operations
Kanbrick
Long-term investor acquiring, improving businesses
Kanbrick · Springfield, United States · — · Posted 2026-09-29
Workplace: on_site
Department: Keep Supply
At Keep Supply, we're in the business of solving problems — fast. Based in Springfield, Missouri, we're a growing team of people who supply industrial refrigeration parts to customers across the country. When someone's system goes down at 2 AM, we're the ones picking up the phone. When a hard-to-find part seems impossible to track down, we figure it out. That's just what we do. We're rapidly growing — and the reason our customers stick with us comes down to something pretty simple: we genuinely care, and it shows.
We operate using Open-Book Management through the Great Game of Business®. That means our team understands how the business is performing, how their work contributes to the results, and how we all share in the success.
We are a fast-moving, operationally sharp team built on the belief that great work speaks for itself. We're in the business of supply — and we take that seriously, from the products we source to the people we put on the floor.
Our culture runs on six principles: be a pro, give your best, be humble, assume the best, be part of the solution, and best to deal with it. No corporate fluff. No half-measures. Just a team that shows up, does the work, and holds each other to a high standard.
At the heart of Keep are a simple Why and Mission that guide how we think about our business, our customers, and our people:
Our Why: We believe Keep can be an impactful platform that makes lives better.
Our Mission: Be the best part.
The Role
You'll help the CEO and the leadership team determine where to focus, bring structure to ambiguous opportunities and problems, and translate the highest-value priorities into action. You'll ask the questions that sharpen strategy before the organization jumps to a solution: What are we really trying to accomplish? What assumptions are we making? What are the trade-offs? What should we test before we go big?
Your job is to improve the quality of decisions and execution as Keep grows. You'll serve as a strategic thought partner across the leadership team, help leaders scope and prioritize important work, and take on a small number of high-value initiatives that do not naturally sit within one function.
Turn strategy into an operating rhythm. You'll help translate strategic choices into quarterly priorities, clear ownership, measurable outcomes, and the management cadence that keeps the organization focused and learning. The meetings, dashboards, and follow-up matter because they create visibility, strengthen decision-making, and keep the company aligned on what matters most.
Raise the bar through influence. Your job is bigger than owning one function. You'll work alongside leaders as a trusted thought partner, helping them frame problems, evaluate options, and build stronger planning and problem-solving muscles over time. You know when to challenge, when to support, and when to simply roll up your sleeves and get something done.
Shape Strategy and Priorities
● Partner with the CEO and functional leaders to frame important strategic questions and translate broad opportunities into clear choices.
● Help leaders scope problems before jumping to solutions, identifying assumptions, alternatives, trade-offs, and practical ways to test ideas.
● Use data, research, and first-principles thinking to surface insights, prioritize competing opportunities, and improve decision quality.
Incubate Strategic Initiatives
● Take on a small number of high-value, ambiguous initiatives that do not naturally sit within an existing function.
● Lead the early discovery, analysis, testing, and business case development required to determine whether and how Keep should pursue an opportunity.
● Bring emerging ideas to a point of clarity where the business can make an informed go, no-go, or next-step decision.
● When appropriate, stand up the initial work and transition ownership to the right functional leader once the initiative is ready to scale.
Run the Operating System
● Own the leadership team's operating cadence, including strategic planning, quarterly priorities, weekly leadership meetings, and follow-through.
● Translate decisions into clear ownership, measurable outcomes, visibility, and accountability while helping the team adjust when reality differs from the plan.
● Continuously improve how information flows, decisions get made, and leaders work together as the company grows.
Measure and Improve
● Use metrics and reporting to create visibility into strategic priorities and help leaders understand what is working, what is not, and why.
● Turn messy information and data into insights that inform better judgment, rather than reporting for reporting's sake.
● Identify bottlenecks, emerging risks, and opportunities early, and help the team build practical learning loops around the work that matters most.
How You'll Lead
How we lead matters at Keep. We expect our leaders to model the principles that shape how we work together, make decisions, and develop our teams:
● The Student Mindset: Stay curious, open to feedback, and willing to learn. Listen well, seek out different perspectives, and approach challenges as opportunities to improve.
● Extreme Ownership: Take responsibility for outcomes, not just activity. Make thoughtful decisions, follow through on commitments, and step in to solve problems rather than waiting for someone else to own them.
● Stewardship Commitment: Make decisions with the long-term health of the business, our people, and our customer relationships in mind. Balance today's performance with what will make Keep stronger over time.
● Decision Rights at the Edge: Create clarity around who owns what and empower the people closest to the work to make good decisions. Give leaders room to lead while staying accountable for the overall result.
● People Fanatic: Invest deeply in people. Set a high bar, coach and develop the leaders around you, and create an environment where people can do great work and continue to grow.
● Gratitude: Bring perspective, resilience, and a constructive mindset to the work. How leaders show up matters, particularly when things are difficult.
Who We're Looking For
You bring order to ambiguity without adding unnecessary complexity. You're a rigorous thinker who can make sense of an unfamiliar problem quickly, but you are equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves to move the work forward. You raise the quality of thinking around you through good questions, sound judgment, and a low-ego, service-oriented approach. You are a structured, curious problem solver who sees clarity where others see ambiguity. You instinctively slow down long enough to frame the right problem before racing toward a solution. You can take a broad strategic question, break it into its component parts, use data and judgment to evaluate the options, and help a team find the clearest path forward.
Just as importantly, you know how to do that without needing to be the smartest person in the room. You build credibility through curiosity, humility, good questions, and consistently strong judgment. You make other leaders better.
You might be a great fit if you:
● Have developed strong strategic problem-solving and analytical skills through management consulting, corporate strategy, investment banking, or another rigorous business environment.
● Know how to frame a problem before solving it and naturally explore multiple paths, assumptions, and trade-offs rather than jumping immediately to a solution.
● Can turn messy data, research, and incomplete information into insights that support sound business judgment.
● Move comfortably between President/CEO-level strategic questions and the hands-on work required to investigate, test, and advance them.
● Influence experienced leaders without relying on authority, and genuinely enjoy making other leaders and teams more successful.
● Combine high standards with humility, curiosity, and strong interpersonal judgment. You can challenge thinking without creating unnecessary friction or status games.
● Thrive in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment where priorities evolve, resources are finite, and the best answer is not always obvious.
Why Keep Supply
● Help shape what comes next. This isn't about optimizing a mature corporate machine. You'll help Keep decide where to focus, pressure-test big opportunities, and build the capabilities that support the next decade of growth.
● Work where decisions happen. You'll partner directly with the President and leadership team, with the trust and autonomy to influence meaningful decisions across the business.
● Know the score. Through our Great Game of Business® philosophy, everyone understands how the business wins, and everyone has the opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, that success.
● Build the leadership bench. You'll help strengthen how leaders across Keep plan, prioritize, solve problems, and execute as the business becomes larger and more complex.
● Grow alongside exceptional people. Backed by Kanbrick, our long-term investment partner, you'll join a community of operators who are building enduring businesses, sharing ideas, and helping each other become better leaders.
Compensation & Benefits
We think work should feel good. That means covering 100% of medical, dental, and vision for you and your family, offering unlimited PTO, and building a workplace where people actually want to show up every day. We would love to share more in conversation.
Keep Supply is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law.
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Kanbrick partners with founders and business owners to acquire consumer and industrial companies with strong competitive moats and untapped potential. It operates as a long-term investment partnership that combines investing and hands-on operating experience to improve performance and grow value over time. The company’s approach relies on taking a patient, equity-led ownership stake and implementing practical operational changes to unlock growth, efficiency, and resilience. What sets Kanbrick apart is its blend of investment and hands-on operations, offering a differentiated, long-term home for businesses and a compelling option for founders seeking enduring support rather than a quick exit. The goal is to compound long-term returns by building durable companies with durable competitive advantages.
Explore more opportunities at Kanbrick