James Cress

Vice President & General Manager, Stryker Flex Financial @Stryker

Kalamazoo, MI, US

Promoted due to phenomenal results and expansion into Canada and Europe. Led captive finance division, overseeing strategy, operations, and program development of customized financing options that enable healthcare providers to acquire equipment. Reported to President, Customer Solutions, managing 150+ global employees and $957M orders budget.Innovation: Accelerated revenue growth and customer satisfaction via numerous strategic programs, including:Growing capital equipment, consumables, and service revenue 15% annually over 17 years by developing 40+ unique financing programs, including consumption-based and service-based financing and directed rebate;Creating and scaling $100M consumables-lease program, enabling customers to commit to price and volume over five to seven years, then automated tracking and compliance to grow accuracy, efficiency, and CSAT; andExpanding acquired businesses\' revenues by developing new finance programs.Business Development: Launched Flex Financial, Europe, growing from concept in 2016 to $100M in orders by 2024, supporting five regions across 15 countries with average annual growth rate of ~20% in support of Trans-Atlantic model.Digital Transformation: Delivered significant time savings, centralized data for enterprise-wide reporting, and replaced 100% manual MS Office-based processes by spearheading rollout of first CRM adopted in US, Salesforce.Change Management: Improved operational focus, process efficiency, and customer experience by redesigning operations team into Front-End Sales Ops, Risk and Collections, End-of-Term, and Back-Office Operations teams.Operational Excellence: Navigated lift and shift of $2.5B lease portfolio from one 3rd party servicing company to another with minimal customer disruption.

Northern Kentucky University

M.S.

Northern Kentucky University

B.S.