The chief of staff in private equity: who owns the value creation plan?

REPORT

At the Private Equity International Operating Partners Forum in New York, leaders from VelocityEHS and CVC Capital Partners proposed that a dedicated chief of staff or transformation leader is the best solution to drive VCP execution.

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The chief of staff in private equity: who owns the value creation plan?

Private equity firms invest months in due diligence and value creation planning. Yet the question of who drives execution, every single day, often goes unanswered.

At the PEI Operating Partners Forum in New York, Russ Trpkovski (Operating Partner, CVC), Burt Chao (CFO, VelocityEHS), and Will Reising (VP of Strategic Projects, VelocityEHS) spoke to Susan Scutt (former Operating Partner, and PE Advisor at the Chief of Staff Association) about why every portfolio company needs a chief of staff / transformation leader to successfully execute the value creation plan:

‘Driving value creation is a full-time job. I never have to think about whether someone is focused on the value creation plan. Will [Reising] wakes up every day making sure we're executing those initiatives.’

— Russ Trpkovski

When VelocityEHS took on a transformation agenda spanning AI, go-to-market, and cost and efficiency, CVC and Partners Group wanted a dedicated owner in place. CVC’s Russ Trpkovski observed that across portfolio companies, transformations most often fail due to a lack of dedicated leadership focused on execution. Without that leader, there is no one working with line managers, tracking KPIs, testing assumptions and clearing operational bottlenecks as they appear. The role is essential to maintaining accountability and ensuring consistent execution of the Value Creation Plan (VCP).That person might be called Director of Transformation, Chief Transformation Officer, VP of Strategic Projects or Chief of Staff, but the mandate remains the same: turning the VCP into measurable results. These leaders drive strategic initiatives, remove barriers to execution, establish accountability across the executive team, and connect operational priorities to financial outcomes. At VelocityEHS, that responsibility sits with Will Reising, VP of Strategic Projects, who oversees transformation efforts spanning AI, go-to-market strategy, and cost efficiency.

Turning strategy into an operating rhythm

Reising describes his role in three parts: transformation leadership, establishing the governance needed to turn strategy into execution; operating cadence, creating annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly rhythms to drive accountability and progress; and strategic finance, translating the investment thesis into a financial plan and identifying the operational changes needed across the P&L. Together, these responsibilities connect the investment thesis to day-to-day execution. This reflects the growing importance of operational value creation in private equity as firms can no longer rely as heavily on leverage and multiple expansion to generate returns:

‘My role helps us achieve our financial goals by shaping the strategy and then tying the strategy to the design and execution of the VCP.’

— Will Reising

What sponsors and boards gain

For operating partners, the first test is whether the plan keeps moving without their involvement in every discussion. ‘I cover six portfolio companies. I can’t be in every discussion,’ says Trpkovski. With Reising in place, ‘I never have to think about, did someone think about the value creation plan this morning?’ The payoff is time and focus: with a transformation leader in place, Trpkovski can concentrate on pressing blockers and the main risks to the plan. Trpkovski now treats the role as non-negotiable. He wants it filled in the first 100 days, while the value creation plan is being built from the bottom up: ‘It’s a core role,’ he says. ‘It’s an absolutely must-do that we need to have in place, especially very early in the hold period.’

Influence first, then authority

CEO and executive team buy-in is critical to the success of any transformation leader. Reising’s ability to drive change at VelocityEHS stems from CEO Matt Airhart’s support from day one, giving him the authority to act as a proxy for the CEO and drive accountability across the organisation. As Reising acknowledges, ‘Not all CEOs are bought in from the start,’ with some defensive about how they have historically run their businesses. Susan Scutt has seen these consequences first-hand: ‘If you can’t convince the CEO, the individual in the transformational role will not be successful...no matter how smart they are.’But executive sponsorship alone is not enough. Transformation leaders must also earn the trust and influence of the broader leadership team. As Burt Chao explains, ‘You’ve got to find someone that can build influence, and then you give them the authority on top to supercharge that influence.’ Chao describes Reising as ‘a force multiplier, not just for [the CEO], but also for myself,’ pointing to the broader impact on executive performance. ‘Because of Will, all of our ELT members show up more consistently and better in those board meetings,’ Chao says, demonstrating how the right combination of executive support and earned influence strengthens the entire leadership team.

What success looks like in practice

Four lessons stand out for any portfolio company undergoing significant transformation:

Give the VCP a dedicated execution owner from day one. Appoint a chief of staff or transformation leader in the first 100 days, reporting to the CEO. CVC treats the role as an essential requirement for any portfolio company undergoing significant transformation. Starting late has a substantial cost.
Secure CEO buy-in, then delegate authority. The CEO must back the role visibly and early. Influence matters, but authority delegated by the CEO and CFO is what turns tracking into accountability.
Tie the plan to the budget. Trpkovski warns against treating value creation as a separate exercise. He defines success as ‘a bottom-up roadmap in place, making sure that roadmap is realistic and achievable,’ with the CFO having signed off. Reising measures it by hitting the financial goals set at the start of the year and recalibrating initiatives each quarter to match the changing needs of the business and market.
Protect the role. Chao describes the role as ‘a delicate but very powerful tool.’ People in it keep pace with the CEO, the CFO and the wider ELT, and often work longer hours than anyone. Sponsors need to manage them actively, know when to dial back requests and resist the urge to ‘set it and forget it.’ Done well, it also builds leaders: Chao calls the role a ‘talent incubator,’ and Scutt sees it as a route into senior leadership, with each completed value creation plan shortening the learning curve for the next.

Realising value throughout the hold period

The panel’s view was consistent: only a dedicated owner, backed by the CEO and CFO, can connect the investment thesis to the priorities, budget and accountability needed to deliver it. That is what separates a business that has been able to realise its potential value throughout the hold period:

‘The last thing you want to do at an exit is say, “Well, these are all the 50 things we could have done, and please give us partial credit,”’ says Chao, ‘With Will [Reising], we know that won’t happen.’

If you’re an operating partner, who in each of your portfolio companies wakes up every day focused on the value creation plan? And what will it cost you if the answer is no one?

Contributors

Christina Skipper is Strategic Growth Manager, Private Equity at the Chief of Staff Association. Henry Martin is Editorial Manager at the Chief of Staff Association.