Director Corporate Strategy

tms

Director Corporate Strategy

Posted 12 Minutes Ago

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Chicago IL USA

Hybrid

180K-195K Annually

Expert/Leader

Agency • Gaming • Marketing Tech • Mobile • Analytics

tms is a global company uniting technology marketing and sourcing to drive transformational change.

The Role

Lead enterprise strategy development and execution prioritize cross‑company initiatives provide executive decision support embed strategy into performance tracking manage external benchmarking/vendors and build a small corporate strategy function that delivers Board‑ready materials and measurable KPIs.

Summary Generated by Built In

ABOUT US
tms unites technology marketing and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world's leading brands. With more than 1400 employees across 28 countries. we offer an impressive range of solutions - from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery.
Operating as a creative agency a strategic consultancy a sourcing business and a technology provider we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for our clients including McDonald's T-Mobile O2 Starbucks and adidas.
Most importantly we're a place where you can achieve great things and be recognized as the best.
WHAT MATTERS THE MOST
Breakthrough business-driving ideas come from extraordinary people with the freedom to be their most authentic selves at work. Authenticity and diversity are critical elements of our business. They can only be realized when we create access and equity for all. We foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and aspire to be ever-evolving.
tms is a place where brilliant people are better together. If you want your ideas to be heard and to contribute to a culture of inclusion and authenticity bring us your voice! Visit us at tmsw.com.
WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ORGANIZATION
The Director Corporate Strategy helps tms achieve sustainable growth and long-term value creation by leading core elements of enterprise strategy enabling disciplined tradeoffs and strengthening alignment between strategy execution and performance. The role also ensures leadership decisions are informed by a continuously refreshed view of external trends competitors relevant M&A activity and benchmarks.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Enterprise Strategy & Planning Leadership

Lead major workstreams within the multi‑year enterprise strategy and strategic planning process; translate strategy into objectives value levers and KPIs inclusive of evaluating strategic initiatives that require financial investment through a detailed return on invested capital analysis
Own development of executive-ready strategy materials for Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Board engagement including strategy narrative and decision framing

Trade‑off Prioritization & Decision Support

Lead process to prioritize initiatives across the enterprise enabling explicit trade-off discussions across leadership
Work with initiative teams to develop options and recommendations to enable leadership prioritization

Strategy Execution & Performance Oversight (with Finance)

Partner with Finance to embed a strategy lens in monthly performance tracking QBRs and Board updates
Partner with business leads to identify and develop KPIs and lead development of internal dashboards and reporting to senior leadership on achievement of KPIs
Identify execution risks misalignment and areas requiring strategic intervention or deprioritization; drive follow-through on course corrections

External Landscape Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking

Lead trend tracking / benchmarks / competitive reviews (point in time) and translate insights into strategic implications for tms
Track relevant industry M&A / partnerships / investment activity and connect insights to corporate development hypotheses and planning

Strategic Initiatives & Corporate Development / Special Projects

Support and where appropriate lead corporate development and special projects; act as a sounding board and escalation partner on complex strategic issues

Team Leadership Expectations
At the Director level success requires building strategy capacity and leading through others not just producing analysis. This role is expected to define the future path for the Corporate Strategy function (scope ways of working and resourcing required) and scale capability over time.

Define and evolve the operating model for the strategy function including planning cadence prioritization standards and clear "definition of done" for executive-facing outputs (e.g. Board/SLT materials external scans benchmarking)
Develop a resourcing plan for the function; when appropriate hire onboard and lead a small team (e.g. Manager(s) Senior Analyst(s) Analyst(s))
Coach and develop team members (as applicable) through role clarity feedback quality standards and development plans; ensure increasing leverage through others over time
Build cross-functional influence across Finance and business leaders; model effective stakeholder management and help team members navigate complex stakeholder environments

Vendor & External Advisor Oversight
The Director is expected to own and manage external support used to accelerate strategy work and benchmarking.

Own vendor engagements that support Corporate Strategy priorities (e.g. benchmarking partners market intelligence subscriptions specialist research or M&A/industry scan support)
Define scope and outputs: clear problem statements deliverables timelines and success criteria tied to strategic decisions (not "research for research's sake")
Manage vendor performance and quality: ensure insights are practical decision relevant and integrated into SLT/Board narratives and planning processes
Coordinate with Finance on spend visibility and value realization for vendor work that informs planning/performance cycles
Ensure knowledge transfer: vendor outputs are absorbed into internal frameworks not stranded in standalone decks

Ways of Working

Central enterprise function tightly partnered with Finance and business leadership; bias toward clarity discipline and follow through (not excess artifacts)
Influences without direct authority; brings structured problem solving and executive communication

What This Role Is Not

Not an owner of day-to-day operations
Not a PMO / transformation office
Not an approval bottleneck
Not a replacement for business unit accountability

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO HAVE

10-12+ years in corporate strategy consulting corp dev or strategy/FP&A roles with enterprise exposure
Demonstrated leadership in strategic planning prioritization and executive decision support
Strong capability in external scanning competitor analysis M&A tracking and benchmarking
Proven ability to deliver Board-ready narratives/materials and influence senior leaders

Any of the following would be a plus

Experience in industries adjacent to tms (marketing services sourcing supply chain/packaging loyalty/promotions)
Exposure to M&A evaluation or integration support

Success Measures

Leadership decisions are better informed by external insight competitive intelligence M&A awareness and benchmarking.
Clear enterprise tradeoffs that translate into executable plans
Strategy-linked performance cadence (monthly/QBR/Board) is sharper consistent action-oriented
Strategy team outputs are high quality on time and increasingly "self-running" due to strong coaching and operating rhythm
Vendor spend produces usable integrated outputs that materially improve decision quality

Starting Salary Between: $180000-$195000
TOTAL REWARDS
Our total rewards philosophy integrates programs for compensation benefits recognition learning and development corporate culture corporate citizenship and work-life balance. While individual program components may differ by country some things remain constant:

Our commitment to rewarding results
Opportunities to work with talented and driven individuals at every level of our company who respect each other treat each other fairly and hold one another accountable for our customers'-and our company's-success

There's more ...
Generous medical dental vision and other great benefits
Paid parental and medical leave programs
401(k) with a company match component and profit sharing
15 days of paid time off plus company holidays
Hybrid work model
Tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment assistance
Inclusive employee resource groups
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
We are an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race religion color national origin sex gender gender expression sexual orientation age marital status veteran status or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process to perform essential job functions and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
RECRUITING AGENCIES
tms does not accept agency resumes submitted by third-party vendors unless a valid agreement has been signed and the tms Talent Acquisition Team has granted authorization for submissions for a specified position. Please do not submit or forward resumes to our site tms employees or any other company location. tms is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Nearest Major Market: Chicago

Skills Required

10-12+ years in corporate strategy consulting corporate development or strategy/FP&A with enterprise exposure.
Demonstrated leadership in strategic planning prioritization and executive decision support.
Strong capability in external scanning competitor analysis M&A tracking and benchmarking.
Proven ability to deliver Board‑ready narratives and influence senior leaders.
Experience developing KPIs dashboards and partnering with Finance on performance tracking.
Experience managing vendors and external advisors to deliver decision‑relevant insights.
Ability to hire coach and scale a small strategy team and define operating model.
Experience in marketing services sourcing supply chain/packaging or loyalty/promotions (preferred).
Exposure to M&A evaluation or integration support (preferred).

What the Team is Saying

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The Company

HQ: Chicago IL

2300 Employees

Year Founded: 1986

What We Do

tms unites technology and marketing and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With 1200+ employees across 26 countries we offer an impressive range of solutions — from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery. Headquartered in Chicago with 10 offices worldwide we are responsible for some of the world’s most successful and iconic long-term marketing platforms including McDonald’s Happy Meal and MONOPOLY programs. Operating as a creative agency a strategic consultancy and a technology provider we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for clients including McDonald’s adidas T-Mobile Starbucks Vue and O2.

Why Work With Us

We have a culture of collaboration that fosters creativity among a diverse mix of talent. From Lunch and Learns to guided meditation sessions led by our people we believe that celebrating the skills experiences and inspiration of our people brings us closer to the results that matter.