Role Description

The Strategy Senior Manager will be responsible for supporting the creation and evolution of a growth and transformation plan for the organization with the overarching goal of accelerating Our client’s transition to a Digital Transformation services company and supporting the change agenda as outlined in the company strategy. An underlying assumption for the role is that a significant piece of Our client’s transition plan will require the application of inorganic growth techniques such as acquisitions, strategic alliances, and ecosystem formation.

To be successful, the Strategy Senior Manager would need to help produce a consolidated plan that is customized specifically for Our client and can serve as a guide for the SG&I execution team. This should be a “living, breathing” plan, constantly being updated to reflecting the evolving needs of the business and with a clear prioritization of efforts. As such, he/she should build relationships with business leaders and maintain an ongoing conversation with those leaders to track impact and support them in the growth of their business units.

Within this broader plan, there is also need for strategy support at the business unit, region, and country levels. This work involves collaborating with the business leaders to help them articulate their growth objectives and develop a realistic plan for that growth. Where inorganic activities are involved, the Strategy Senior Manager will then drive the necessary steps to source a pipeline of viable candidates, working in close conjunction with the sponsors from the business unit as well as the execution team within SG&I.

This role reports to the Strategy Lead and is one of two Senior Manager roles Our client is hiring for. The ideal formation is a leader (based in Europe) plus two Senior Managers (one in Japan and one in Europe to cover EMEA and N. America). The three positions will share the workload with the Japan-based lead serving as the primary liaison for senior leadership in Japan and for anything requiring Japanese language. That said, the Strategy Senior Manager in Tokyo will also support opportunities outside Japan; fluency in both Japanese and English is therefore required. The ideal candidates will therefore need to be flexible and able to balance multiple projects at the same time, and be a strong “team player”.

It is worth noting that while the strategy team may want to engage external resources on occasion to help with the development of the company’s inorganic growth strategy, this should NOT be something driven by external consultants. Instead, it should be purposely built BY Our client FOR Our client. While this approach may, in theory, take more time to construct, this approach should facilitate stronger engagement from the business units and, ultimately, be more effective in terms of execution.

On this last point (execution of the strategy) it is important to note that the Strategy Senior Manager will be expected to be hands-on; in other words, he/she will not simply document a strategy and walk away. Instead, he/she will be involved with colleagues as they execute against the objectives outlined in the plan as well as providing hands-on support to deal sponsors – especially while the process is still new within the company.

Candidate Profile

• Because of the create + execute nature of the role, it is essential that the candidate has demonstrated both an ability to develop, organize, and document a strategic growth plan AND actively participate in activities to execute a plan. For example, he/she should have participated in M&A activities, engaged in structuring alliances and third-party relationships, and built partnering programs. This is not a role for a pure strategist.
• He / she should have experience working both in technology and in consulting / strategy / services; a strong understanding of the growth triggers of a services business is essential in this role
• The ideal candidate will possess:
• Excellent personal leadership and communication skills
• Very strong written (English and Japanese) communications; this person will regularly need to create clear, concise documents (Word and Powerpoint) materials to explain an approach or idea
• A deep appreciation for change management and the need to accompany any strategic plan with a detailed change management agenda
• An ability to quickly develop a baseline understanding of a very complex company
• Experience creating strategic plans and designing/evolving business programs
• A “can-do” attitude; willingness to dig in and develop and document plans from scratch based on detailed discussions with business leaders
• Flexibility and a strong multi-tasking capability
• Demonstrated ability to achieve through influence and achieve results in a matrixed organization; An ability to work across cultures and at all levels
• A strong ability / experience in “thinking outside the box”; often, the person will need to raise new ideas to solve challenging situations
• An ability/willingness to travel globally as needed

Metrics of Success

• Contribution to documenting and executing a coherent and consistent M&A and Ventures plan and prioritized agenda
• Involvement in plan execution as a member of the Office of M&A and Strategy
• High-quality guidance and hands-on support to deal sponsors
• Own and/or participate in the creation of processes and capabilities to execute the strategic growth plan (e.g. an M&A playbook, hiring alliance management team if/when needed, etc.)
• Balanced contribution between strategic plan documentation / evolution and active participation in strategy execution
• Positive feedback from business unit leaders regarding his/her ability to understand their strategy and growth requirements and recommend / apply appropriate strategies to assist them in their objectives

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