Vertex, a trade and manufacturing company, is seeking a Director of Strategy and New Ventures.

Vertex is a rapidly growing Nizhny Novgorod-based company producing essential FMCG goods.

You will work with the CEO to select key strategic priorities, transform them into economically sound projects, personally see them through to actual validation, and hand over proven models to the ongoing business for scaling.

This is not a deputy operational director, CEO assistant, or a PMO gathering statuses. We need a builder of new businesses – from a vague idea to the first revenue, confirmed economics, or a ready investment decision.

What this role entails:

• The CEO selects strategic priorities, approves investments, and makes final decisions on launching, scaling, or stopping projects.
• The Executive Director is responsible for the current business, its P&L, and daily operations.
• The Director of Strategy and New Ventures is responsible for a portfolio of 5–7 initiatives; no more than 2–3 projects are actively in progress at any given time.
• The Functional Director takes over a project after its economics are confirmed and the model is ready for scaling.

What you will be doing:

• Receiving strategic ideas and vague tasks from the CEO, quickly identifying the core problem, and proposing 2–3 well-founded solutions.
• Analyzing the market, customers, and competitors; calculating P&L, unit economics, cash flow, working capital, investments, payback periods, and risks.
• Discarding weak hypotheses; for strong ones, defining the pilot: objective, segment, budget, team, milestones, and criteria for continuation or termination.
• Forming cross-functional teams and personally leading 2–3 priority projects to actual results, not just presentations or meetings.
• Comparing planned and actual economics, analyzing deviations, and presenting a decision on the next stage to the CEO.
• Managing the portfolio, resources, dependencies, and risks; providing the CEO with a concise weekly status update – results, deviations, required decisions, and next steps.
• Establishing a compact CEO project and analytics office and standards for managing strategic projects.

How results are measured:

• For fast-growth projects – a working pilot, first customer or first revenue, actual unit economics, and a decision: scale, rework, or stop.
• For capital-intensive and transformational projects – an approved investment case, realistic budget and timeline, critical risks mitigated, and milestones achieved.
• Projects are handed over only after actual economics are confirmed, pilot KPIs are met or explained, a permanent owner is assigned, and the team, processes, and scaling plan are ready.

Expected results:

First 30 days:

• Initiative inventory completed; a portfolio of 5–7 projects agreed with the CEO, with 2–3 of them moved to active implementation.
• For each project: objective, impact, owner, team, budget, risks, and immediate next steps defined.

First 90 days:

• Business cases, validation plans, and continuation/termination criteria approved for all active projects.
• Two to three projects are in pilot or in the stage of actual validation of key hypotheses; CEO office and project teams formed.
• Weekly decision-making rhythm established; CEO has a reliable overview of the portfolio.

First 6–12 months:

• At least two initiatives have undergone validation of planned vs. actual economics; at least one proven project handed over to a permanent owner.
• Capital-intensive projects have reached agreed investment stages without uncontrolled budget or timeline overruns.
• Within 12 months, 2–3 ventures have moved to scaling, and weak projects have been stopped before significant expenditure of funds and management resources.

Who we are looking for:

• A leader who can showcase 2–3 personally implemented projects: initial hypothesis, investments, own decisions, timelines, and financial results.
• A person with experience launching a new product, category, channel, business unit, or investment project from idea to completion.
• A strong business analyst: confidently calculates project P&L, unit economics, cash flow, working capital, payback period, and scenarios – and then personally implements what they calculated.
• A leader skilled in assembling cross-functional teams and achieving results without direct administrative authority over participants.
• An autonomous leader with high thinking and execution speed, capable of working without detailed specifications, arguing with the CEO using facts, and being accountable for the outcome in numbers.
• Priority industries: FMCG, e-commerce, retail, manufacturing, or consumer goods. Consulting experience is considered only when combined with personal implementation experience.

What the company offers:

• Direct work with the CEO, influence on strategic priorities, and the opportunity to create new ventures practically from scratch, forming a compact project and analytics team.
• Access to key data and executives; the authority to form cross-functional teams and propose resource reallocation or project termination. Budgets are approved based on business cases.
• Individual fixed compensation at a director level, a significant bonus for agreed milestones and financial impact, as well as relocation support; success criteria are defined before project start.
• Formal employment under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation from day one.
• Voluntary medical insurance including dental care after six months and necessary work resources.

Work format:

• Fully on-site work in Nizhny Novgorod.
• First 3–6 months: high intensity, deep immersion in the business, and regular work at production and warehouse facilities.
• Office: str. Marshala Kazakova, 3A.
• Working hours: 08:00-17:00, 08:30-17:30, or 09:00-18:00.

What to write in your application:

• A project you personally took from hypothesis to revenue or measurable impact – investments, timeline, final figures, and your decisions.
• A project you recommended to rework or stop, along with the data supporting that decision.
• The largest portfolio, team, and budget you have managed, as well as your willingness for on-site work and relocation to Nizhny Novgorod.