The Head of Corporate Strategy plays a leadership role in the business, leading the strategy management team in the development of long-range of strategic plans and objectives through the identification of strategic issues and opportunities that could influence business growth and profitability.
The duties of the Head of Corporate Strategy are inclusive of competitor benchmarking, marketing program effectives, industry intelligence, consumer knowledge, and development of strategic initiatives. The Head of Corporate Strategy leads the department in launching high priority strategic initiatives, working directly with the business’s leadership, executives, and stakeholders.
The Head of Corporate Strategy leads this business leadership in conjunction with the Director Corporate Strategy and realizes growth strategies that support continued improvement of the business’s overall performance.
Leadership/Supervisory Role: The role of the Head of Corporate Strategy is primarily a leadership role, where he is tasked with overseeing the activities of junior strategy management teams in the effective management of projects across the business. In his leadership position, he is responsible for creating the departmental vision, culture, and performance standards as well as overseeing its adoption in all levels of the department.
He is also highly involved in the recruitment of strategy management personnel in an effort to guarantee optimal execution of duties within the department at all times. It is also the Head of Corporate Strategy’s duty to lead the junior strategy management teams in the strategic development of bold ideas across the business.
The Head of Corporate Strategy plays a mentorship role to key personnel in the strategy management department, where he aids in the execution of duties upon request, and ensures the constant improvement in the skills of these key personnel, readying them for the occupation of his position in the future.
Strategy Definition: The Head of Corporate Strategy is responsible for the definition of structure and execution of strategic initiatives through the development of work plans, gathering and generation of relevant data, driving analyses, and the development of actionable recommendations.
He identifies and develops strategic opportunities for the business with a view of diversifying the consumer base and gaining an additional share of the market. The Head of Corporate Strategy also reviews feasibility of new markets as well as their potential growth opportunities.
In this capacity, the Head of Corporate Strategy provides short and long-term strategic recommendations to the business’s executives that are meant to develop and capitalize business opportunities.
Strategic Planning: The Head of Corporate Strategy additionally comes up with strategies that inform the marketing, financial and channel planning for the business as well as target setting for weekly/quarterly/annual business plans. The Head of Corporate Strategy evaluates and recommends business portfolio frameworks, strategies, financial concepts, practices, programs, processes, and measures to be applied across the business.
Strategic Performance Management: The Head of Corporate Strategy also engages and supports the business in numerous fronts in defining and refining business strategies with a specific focus on designing and implementing new strategic approaches, ideas, and processes that will grow the business and avail measurable results.
In this capacity, the Head of Corporate Strategy will put in place performance measures that will determine the effectiveness of implemented strategies and identify areas for strategic improvement.
Strategic Risk Management: It is the duty of the Head of Corporate Strategy to work with the business’s executives and stakeholders in order to evaluate overall performance against targets and make necessary adjustments as is necessary. The Head of Corporate Strategy establishes KPIs that the business will measure performances against and determine the effectiveness of the implemented strategies.
He further drives awareness and insightful analyses of the market and transaction trends as well as identifies and explores any adjacencies to the business in order to ascertain risks and opportunities.
Analytical Skills: The Head of Corporate Strategy plays an analytical role where he defines potential business models in order to realize profitability opportunities and also to avail insightful qualitative analyses. It is also his duty to develop and implement strategic and analytical tools and processes.
The Head of Corporate Strategy builds analytical models and performs regular financial, competitive, performance, and market analyses for the business in order to comprehensively value business opportunities and ensure well-founded strategies are presented to the relevant leadership. The Head of Corporate Strategy will also need to draft regular analysis reports for senior strategy management, business leadership and executives, and relevant stakeholders for purposes of further decision making.
Collaboration: The Head of Corporate Strategy is also a highly collaborative role and in this capacity he establishes collaborative and trusting relationships with the business’s key internal leaders and stakeholders in order to ensure that there is a free flow of ideas and information across the business, leading to suitable strategy formulation and overall business performance enhancement.
The Head of Corporate Strategy will collaborate across the organization with top leadership, aiding in individualized strategy formulation for different projects and initiatives.
Other Duties: The Head of Corporate Strategy also performs similar duties as he deems fit for the proper execution of his duties and duties as delegated by the Director Corporate Strategy, the Chief Business Development Officer, or the Employer.
Education: The Head of Corporate Strategy has to have a master’s degree (Phd preferred) in Business Administration, Industrial Management, Finance, Economics, or any other related business field. An equivalent of the same in working experience is also acceptable.
Experience: The candidate for this position must have had at least 7 years of working experience in a strategy management position, preferably working as a senior strategy manager in a fast paced and dynamic business environment. The candidate will also have had previous experience overseeing activities of a strategy management team.
He will also demonstrate the ability obtain and filter information, identify key issues relevant to the achievement of long-term strategic goals, and commit to the realized course of action for the purpose of accomplishing those goals. A candidate for this position will additionally have a proven ability to generate new outlooks of the business on the market, for example, through trend forecasting, experiential marketing, and innovation.
The candidate will also possess vast knowledge of the business’s risk parameters in order to determine implications for the business and implement measures for risk mitigation. He will further have had experience in strategic planning and analysis, marketing/market research, competitive intelligence, and corporate business development.
A suitable candidate will additionally have an overall business acumen and solid financial grounding as well a proven and successful track record of developing and driving growth initiatives and identifying business opportunities in order to develop strategies that capitalize on those opportunities.
Communication Skills: As expected, communication skills are an integral requirement for the role of Head of Corporate Strategy. Good communication skills will be necessary in communicating clear information and instructions down the line to junior strategy management teams, which will greatly improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Communication skills will also be necessary for the Head of Corporate Strategy in his collaborative capacity.
Clear communication of sensitive strategic information to business-wide leadership, executives, and stakeholders will be pivotal in determining how effectively these strategies will be executed across the business. He will also be required to draw regular reports and deliver presentations to senior strategy management leadership, executives, and regular stakeholders.
Therefore, these reports must be insightful, clear, easy-to-understand, engaging, and convincing, in order to facilitate appropriate strategy decision-making across the business.
Ms Office: A candidate for this position will demonstrate proficiency in the use of Ms Word, Ms Excel, and PowerPoint, all necessary for the creation of both visually and verbally engaging analyses reports and presentations, for the business’s leadership, executives, relevant stakeholders, and senior strategy management.
Analytical Skills: The Head of Corporate Strategy must also possess strong financial analysis and modeling skills in order to perform financial analyses for the purpose of assisting in the exploration of strategic options, the development of creative solutions to complex issues, and for the support of decision-making.
This is inclusive of the ability to design and perform unique analyses that require the application of single or multiple strategic and financial concepts and tools such as economic analyses, statistical analyses, risk assessment, competitive analysis, exposure analysis, and implications to business strategic position.
Interpersonal Skills: A candidate for this position will be a strategic and creative thinker, be result-driven, be self-motivated and proactive, have strong and innovative problem solving skills, be open and welcoming to change, and work comfortably in a constantly evolving environment.
He must also work comfortably in group/collaborative setting or with business executives and stakeholders, have an ability to handle multiple simultaneous projects and meet tight deadlines, and have an ability to remain calm under pressure and in the face of uncertainty.
Leadership/People Skills: The candidate must demonstrate strong leadership skills, having an ability to inspire and move a cross-functional group and business top leadership in a unified direction and with a unified vision. He will be a relatable and likable person with the ability to form strong and lasting relationships with others.
He will be a people person who inspires trust and confidence in others, prompting them to readily follow in his insights and directives.