Director, Corporate Strategy

Reporting Location: Chicago - 345 North Morgan $180,000-$195,000 Workplace Type: Hybrid ABOUT US tms unites technology, marketing, and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With more than 1,400 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: $180,000-$195,000 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