Senior Manager, Strategic Planning

The Senior Manager, Strategic Planning will lead and support initiatives that are core to CAI portfolio strategic planning and execution. This includes supporting the annual strategic planning process, managing weekly C-suite staff agendas, assessing new opportunities, supporting executive sessions, tracking strategic initiatives, developing analyses and frameworks to support decision-making, and communicating strategy.

The Senior Manager will partner with the strategy team, business leaders, cross-functional stakeholders, and the executive leadership team to drive strategic priorities and monitor execution across the organization. This role is responsible for tracking strategic execution across all lines of business to support Cox Automotive's strategic and financial objectives.

• Conduct market, customer, competitive, and portfolio assessments for Cox Auto.
• Leverage strategic planning methods to evaluate opportunities, risks, and ability to win.
• Assess strategic options and develop recommendations for where to play, how to win, and what actions to take.
• Support portfolio strategy, strategic planning, and ideation across business areas.

• Incorporate quantitative analyses using data, research, and strategic frameworks.
• Build financial models and evaluate key business drivers and sensitivities.
• Develop total addressable market, profit pool, and other strategic assessments.
• Translate detailed analysis into actionable insights, recommendations, and next steps.
• Support investment decisions, operational efficiencies, and other strategic business initiatives.

• Lead, partner with, and advise leaders, cross-functional teams, and stakeholders.
• Define project scope, objectives, and success measures.
• Build and maintain relationships across business units, functions, and corp. teams.
• Influence strategic outcomes through data-driven recommendations and an enterprise-wide perspective.
• Partner with business leaders to develop and align on strategies and roadmaps.

• Track execution of strategic priorities across lines of business and identify at-risk areas.
• Develop scorecards and reporting to measure progress against strategic objectives.
• Create executive-ready communications, presentations, and materials with fact-based recommendations.
• Manage executive leadership team staff meetings, including agenda and stakeholder coordination.
• Prepare meeting materials, summaries, and communications that advance the strategic planning process.
• Support budget planning and the communication of market trends, strategic priorities, and business performance.
• Support industry, customer-facing, and internal strategy communications.

• BA/BS Degree required with 8+ years of relevant strategic planning and/or mgmt. consulting experience required. Candidate can also have an MS degree and 6+ years of experience or 12+ years of experience in lieu of a degree.
• Automotive industry experience preferred.
• Strong analytical, modeling, and research skills.
• Excellent organization and project management skills. Concise and clear verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to interpret complex data and distill it into concise relevant materials for an executive audience.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and collaboratively.
• Ability to interact with leadership at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to think strategically, abstractly, in broad concepts and terms and apply to tangible business plans.
• Passion for storytelling and data-driven approach to create compelling pitches.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced growth-company environment (sense of urgency, adaptable, champion of change).
• Proficient in MS Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Proficient in AI work tools to enhance strategy toolkit (e.g., Claude).
• Travel as needed (