What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal position at VLink Inc?

The Industry Principal Lead is a senior strategic role responsible for shaping, driving, and executing the company’s industry-specific vision, offerings, and go-to-market strategy.
This leader combines deep domain expertise with engineering, digital, and business consulting knowledge to develop innovative solutions, strengthen client relationships, and guide internal teams in delivering high-value outcomes.
The Industry Principal Lead acts as the company’s subject matter authority for a specific industry and plays a pivotal role in revenue growth, solution development, and market positioning.
The position will require exceptional intrapersonal, communication, team, and networking skills to ensure long-term success. Successful candidates will lead with energy, a sense of urgency, and clear direction, following ethical practices and putting values at the center of all activities.

Here are some of the technologies and responsibilities that you will be responsible for:

Industry Strategy & Thought Leadership

• Develop and refine the company’s strategic roadmap for the target industry, based on market trends, technology evolution, and customer needs.

• Serve as the lead industry expert, representing the company in conferences, executive briefings, and customer engagements.

• Produce high-impact thought leadership: white papers, frameworks, maturity models, and market POVs.

• Provide deep, authoritative Life Sciences domain leadership across pharma, biotech, and medical device operations (GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, Annex 11, data integrity).

• Create industry-specific digital manufacturing maturity models aligned to ISA-95, ISA-88, and FDA/EMA regulatory expectations.

• Lead executive conversations covering digital manufacturing, operational resilience, industrial data management (Level 3.5), electronic batch records, and AI adoption in GxP environments.

Solution & Offering Development

• Lead the creation of industry-specific service offerings combining engineering, digital transformation, automation, analytics, and system integration capabilities.

• Collaborate with product, engineering, and delivery teams to translate industry insights into scalable solution packages.

• Define value propositions, pricing strategies, and differentiation for competitive advantage.

• Help define end-to-end Life Sciences solution architectures spanning MES/MOM, IDM, cloud data platforms, SCADA/historian, and AI/ML for manufacturing and QC labs.

• Work with service line leaders to identify and define accelerators and reusable assets (templates, reference architectures, process models) that support repeatability and margin expansion.

Business Development & Sales Enablement

• Industry specific sales revenue and operating profit.

• Aid the VP of Business Development in developing and achieving annual goals and sales forecasts for the Organization.

• Account Owner for 1-3 Strategic Accounts & 3-5 Focused Accounts.

Account Management Responsibilities:

• Establish & grow relationships within existing customers to secure contracts that achieve assigned sales quotas and targets.

• Identify new market opportunities, strategic partnerships, and account expansion initiatives.

• Researching assigned clients and possible contacts to grow accounts.

• Drive the entire sales cycle from initial customer engagement to closed sales.

• Identify sales opportunities using various direct methods such as calling and face to face meetings, and indirect methods such as networking.

• Qualify opportunities against company criteria for ideal customers, projects, and sales.

• Utilize Salesforce to create and manage opportunities, accounts, and contacts.

• Utilize Microsoft Teams to manage internal communication for each Account & Opportunities.

• Lead consultative selling motions with VP/SVP/Director-level Life Sciences executives, using industry insights and transformation roadmaps to create new opportunities.

• Sell and shape large-scale digital transformation programs (MES, SCADA/HMI, digital quality initiatives, industrial data platforms, AI/ML use cases, automation modernization).

• Create executive-ready proposals and SOWs for $1M–$10M consulting and digital programs.

• Expand presence in regulated manufacturing environments by articulating ROI, total cost of ownership, and compliance value.

Internal Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Manage & mentor assigned Sr. Business Development Managers, Business Development Managers, Account Managers and/or Interns.

• Assist where appropriate and needed during the sales cycle to secure contracts within Target or Focused Accounts assigned within the Industry Vertical.

• Work with service line delivery teams, technical staff, operations, and product specialists where required to address customer requirements, problems, and opportunities.

• Collaborate leadership including the Director of Marketing to develop and participate in partner events such as trade shows, lunch & learns, and/or roundtables to generate leads.

• Serve as executive sponsor or steering committee representative for major Life Sciences programs.

• Provide oversight to ensure solutions meet regulatory, validation, and data integrity requirements.

• Mentor internal teams on Life Sciences operations, regulatory frameworks, and digital transformation practices.

• Partner closely with MES, SCADA/HMI, Automation, Data Engineering, Cloud, and AI teams to ensure cohesive solution delivery and industry best practices.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE DONE BEFORE

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, and/or equivalent work experience

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in new sales activities and client acquisition.

• Solid English verbal and written communication skills.

• Strong understanding of the “Vertical” Industry that you are leading.

• Have a base understanding of at least 3 (preferably all) of technical disciplines (Automation, Integration, Software Development, BI, Enterprise Solutions, or Products).

• Experience selling engineering, software, industrial automation, or operational technology solution services to the manufacturing industry.

• Prefer candidate to have an established history selling to C-Suite / senior management level.

• Progressive track record of driving profitable revenue growth year-over-year.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including skill in delivering persuasive presentations in a variety of settings, ranging from customers to board/senior management level.

• Demonstrated success pursuing agreed to sales quotas, long term goals and short-term objectives using creativity and understanding of financial implications.

• Progressive track record of driving profitable revenue growth year-over-year.

• Excellent planning skills to manage, develop, and train sales teams.

• Excellent track record of establishing strong customer relationships.

• Up to 40% Travel required.

• 10–15 years of experience in Life Sciences (pharma, biotech, or medical device) with strong understanding of GxP, GMP operations, validation, and regulatory frameworks.

• Experience with MES/MOM/SCADA/HMI platforms (e.g., Ignition, PAS-X, Pharmasuite, Production Centre, Syncade, POMSnet), historians, batch systems, and digital quality tools.

• Familiarity with cloud data platforms, industrial data management layers, and AI/ML applications in regulated manufacturing.

• Background in consulting or advisory roles (Principal, Director, Engagement Lead) selling and delivering multi-million-dollar projects.

Must-Haves:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, and/or equivalent work experience

Experience needed in PLC / MES / HMI engineering services someone that has directly managed a business development team and built a team .