Vice President of Growth and Innovation

Job Description

Job Description

NATIONAL UNDERGROUND GROUP

Vice President of Growth & Innovation

Executive Leadership | Full-Time | Strategic

Position Summary

The Vice President of Growth & Innovation is a pivotal executive role responsible for driving strategic diversification, expanding revenue streams, and positioning National Underground Group as the premier provider of underground infrastructure, utility, and technology-enabled field services. Reporting directly to senior executive leadership, this leader will develop and execute bold growth strategies that extend well beyond traditional one-call locating services — championing innovation, forging strategic partnerships, and creating long-term enterprise value.

This is a high-impact, entrepreneurial leadership role for a proven executive who combines deep industry expertise with the vision and drive to build new business lines from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Growth & Business Development

• Develop and execute a 3–5 year enterprise growth strategy focused on revenue diversification and long-term margin expansion.
• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize new service lines, acquisitions, joint ventures, and market entry opportunities.
• Lead expansion into adjacent and emerging service markets, including:

• High-accuracy GNSS utility asset mapping and GIS services
• Subsurface utility engineering (SUE)
• Ground penetrating radar (GPR) services
• Utility inspection and condition assessment
• Construction as-builts and record documentation
• Damage prevention consulting
• Indirect assessment technologies
• Leak detection services
• Pipeline integrity data collection and analysis

• Establish and cultivate strategic relationships with utilities, municipalities, engineering firms, contractors, and government agencies.
• Define annual growth targets, business development milestones, and performance metrics in collaboration with executive leadership.

Innovation & Technology Leadership

• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies that enhance field productivity, service quality, and customer value.
• Champion the adoption of AI, automation, GIS, remote sensing, mobile workforce platforms, and digital workflows.
• Lead pilot programs and innovation initiatives from concept through full commercialization.
• Build a company-wide culture of continuous improvement, calculated risk-taking, and entrepreneurial thinking.
• Serve as a thought leader and subject matter expert, representing National Underground Group at industry events, conferences, and in customer engagements.

Revenue Diversification

• Strategically reduce the company's reliance on one-call ticket volume by developing complementary, higher-margin service offerings.
• Design and launch recurring revenue models that strengthen customer retention and improve revenue predictability.
• Analyze market trends, competitive dynamics, and customer needs to surface new expansion opportunities.
• Develop detailed business cases and financial models for new service ventures, including market sizing, investment requirements, and projected returns.

Operational Excellence

• Partner with operations leadership to scale new service offerings efficiently without compromising quality or safety standards.
• Improve utilization, profitability, and field productivity across business units through data-driven analysis and process optimization.
• Establish real-time performance dashboards and growth metrics to monitor progress and enable informed decision-making.
• Support the integration of acquisitions and newly launched service lines, ensuring smooth transitions and rapid time-to-value.

Leadership & Culture

• Lead cross-functional growth teams with clarity, accountability, and a bias for action.
• Mentor emerging leaders across the organization, fostering entrepreneurial thinking and a growth mindset at all levels.
• Promote a company culture grounded in accountability, exceptional customer service, safety, and continuous innovation.
• Present growth strategies, investment proposals, and performance results to ownership and executive leadership on a regular cadence.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Construction Management, GIS, or a closely related field required.
• MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred.

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in utility services, underground infrastructure, engineering, construction, or technology-enabled field services.
• Demonstrated success identifying, launching, and scaling new revenue streams in a services or field operations environment.
• Proven track record leading strategic planning and business development initiatives with measurable results.
• Direct P&L responsibility with a history of delivering top- and bottom-line growth.
• Experience with M&A activity, strategic partnerships, or joint venture development is a strong plus.

Knowledge & Skills

• Deep understanding of underground utilities, damage prevention, GIS, asset management, or related technical fields.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to build and interpret business models, investment cases, and operational metrics.
• Exceptional communicator and relationship-builder, with the credibility to engage C-suite stakeholders, utility customers, and government agencies.
• Strategic thinker who can translate vision into executable plans and lead teams through ambiguity.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies relevant to the underground utility and infrastructure space (AI, GIS, remote sensing, automation).

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Success in this role will be measured against the following outcomes:

KPI

Description

New Revenue Generated

Diversified service line revenue vs. baseline

Revenue Diversification %

Non-one-call services as % of total revenue

EBITDA Growth

Year-over-year EBITDA improvement

New Customer Acquisition

New accounts added across expanded service lines

Partnership Development

Number and quality of strategic alliances formed

Innovation ROI

Return on investment for new technology initiatives

Employee Engagement

Engagement scores and retention within growth teams

Market Expansion

Success metrics for entry into new geographic/service markets

Why National Underground Group

National Underground Group has built a strong foundation of trust, safety, and operational excellence in the damage prevention and underground utility services industry. This role represents a unique opportunity to help shape the next chapter of that story — accelerating growth, expanding capabilities, and creating lasting value for customers, employees, and stakeholders alike. If you are an entrepreneurial executive who thrives at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and execution, we want to hear from you.

National Underground Group | Confidential | Executive Recruitment

National Underground Group and all affiliated companies provide equal opportunity for employment and promotion to all qualified employees and applicants. No person shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status or condition protected by applicable Federal or State statutes. The Company is committed to maintaining an environment in which all applicants are treated equitably and given the opportunity to achieve their full potential in the workplace.