Principal, Commercial Readiness & Launch | Copperleaf

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters–at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.

At IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.

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By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.

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If you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.

Enterprise software succeeds or fails at the moment it meets the market. We are hiring a Principal, Commercial Readiness & Launch to own that moment — the discipline, orchestration, and stakeholder alignment that turn a finished release into a commercially successful launch.

This is a senior, high-visibility program leadership role at the intersection of Product, R&D, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Customer Success, and Cloud Operations. You will build and run the commercial readiness framework for our product portfolio: defining what “ready to launch” means, driving every function to that bar, and managing the executive stakeholders who depend on it. You will be the person who ensures that when a product ships, the field can sell it, customers can adopt it, support can stand behind it, and the business can measure it.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned technical program manager who has lived inside enterprise software delivery — someone who combines deep technical fluency with the strategic clarity to align cross-functional stakeholders and keep large-scale, multi-workstream programs on scope, on budget, and on time.

What You Will Do

Commercial Readiness

• Own the end-to-end commercial readiness framework: define launch readiness criteria across Product, Sales, Marketing, Pricing, Legal, Support, and Delivery, and drive each function to meet them on schedule.
• Run structured gate/stage reviews for launches — readiness scorecards, go/no-go checkpoints, and executive sign-off — adapting stage-gate discipline to both major releases and fast-cycle maintenance and patch launches.
• Identify readiness gaps early (enablement, packaging, pricing, deployment tooling, documentation) and mobilize owners to close them before they become launch-day escalations.
• Build standardized templates, playbooks, and processes for launch readiness that scale across the portfolio and become the organizational standard.

Launch Activities & Execution

• Plan and execute product launches end-to-end: launch plans, cross-functional workstream tracking, dependency management, risk and issue management, and release packaging coordination with R&D.
• Orchestrate launch execution across globally distributed teams and time zones, using agile artifacts (Jira boards, plans, burndown tracking) and ceremonies to keep delivery visible and on track.
• Coordinate field and customer-facing readiness: sales enablement handoffs, early-adopter and reference programs, customer communications, and UAT/beta feedback loops into the launch plan.
• Manage the full launch calendar across concurrent products and releases, balancing resources and sequencing so multiple launches land successfully in parallel.

Stakeholder Management for Commercial Success

• Serve as the single point of accountability and communication hub for launch programs — running weekly, monthly, and quarterly status rhythms with stakeholders from working teams up to executive leadership.
• Align Product Management, R&D, Finance, Customer Experience, Cloud Operations, and go-to-market leaders around one launch plan, negotiating scope, resources, and timelines across competing priorities.
• Deliver monthly executive reporting on launch program health: budget actuals vs. forecast, milestone status, risks, and commercial readiness posture.
• Own launch program budgets and resource plans — forecasting, validating actuals, and ensuring the right mix of skills is in place to deliver.
• Manage expectations with strategic customers and partners during launch windows, drawing on credibility built from direct customer-facing delivery experience.
• Lead post-launch reviews and retrospectives; track adoption and commercial KPIs in the first 90 days and feed lessons back into the readiness framework.

Success in the First 12 Months Looks Like

• A commercial readiness framework and launch playbook adopted as the standard across the product portfolio.
• Every major launch in the year executed on time, with all readiness gates passed and no launch-day surprises for Sales, Support, or customers.
• Executives, product leaders, and go-to-market teams citing one trusted source of truth for launch status, budget, and risk.
• Measurable post-launch commercial indicators (pipeline readiness, enablement completion, early adoption) tracked and improving launch over launch.

Required

• 10+ years in enterprise software delivery, with significant experience as a senior technical project/program manager on complex, multimillion-dollar programs.
• PMP certification (or equivalent) with demonstrated mastery of both agile/scrum and stage-gate/waterfall governance — and judgment for when each applies.
• Proven track record of on-time, on-budget delivery of concurrent, large-scale programs (e.g., multiple simultaneous enterprise implementations or release programs).
• Direct experience leading globally distributed, cross-functional teams across multiple time zones, including R&D, product management, finance, and customer-facing functions.
• Budget ownership at scale: building annual budgets and resource plans, monthly actuals-vs-forecast reporting, and executive financial communication.
• Deep familiarity with ERP/EAM or comparable enterprise/asset-management software and the industries it serves (utilities, energy, mining, transportation, or other asset-intensive sectors).
• Enough technical fluency — integration design, environment management, system administration, or custom development background — to earn credibility with engineering and translate technical status into commercial impact.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, from daily standups to quarterly executive reviews.
• Expert with Jira, Confluence, and modern PM tooling; comfortable using AI tools (Copilot, Claude) to accelerate program work.

Preferred

• Experience with formal gate methodologies for capitalized software programs.
• Hands-on customer implementation or consulting background — you have sat on the customer side of a launch and know what “ready” actually means in the field.
• Experience creating PMO standards, templates, and processes adopted organization-wide.
• Change management and user-adoption experience (UAT leadership, enablement, acceptance-focused rollout).
• Entrepreneurial or commercial ownership experience — you have taken something to market and lived with the results.
• International work experience and comfort operating across cultures and regions.

What We’re Offering

• Permanent, Full-time
• Fully remote role 
• Competitive salary (commensurate with experience)
• Flexible paid time off, medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401K with Company contribution, flexible spending accounts
• Life insurance and disability benefits
• Tuition assistance and community involvement opportunities

We embrace flexibility and work arrangements that support diverse needs and lifestyles, while valuing inclusive workplace experiences. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Equal Opportunity Employer.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment
As part of our recruitment process, we may use automated tools, including artificial intelligence, to help screen and assess applications based on job‑related criteria such as skills, experience, and qualifications.
These tools do not make hiring decisions. All employment decisions are reviewed and made by members of our hiring team.

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Equal Opportunity Employer