Director, Business Planning and Innovation

Make a difference. The Director, Business Planning and Innovation will advance strategic priorities and innovation across an executive’s area of responsibility by translating priorities and ideas into action, aligning leaders, strengthening decision-making, and delivering measurable business results. Increase executive effectiveness while leading the evaluation, testing, and implementation of new approaches. In this role you will:

• Translate executive priorities into action plans with clear owners, timelines, and measures.
• Anticipate risks, address execution gaps, and oversee project management.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for new ways of working, services, and business approaches.
• Develop business cases that assess expected value, feasibility, resource needs, and risks.
• Develop executive communications and organizational messaging that translate complex information into clear insights, recommendations, and actions.
• Collaborate with corporate communications, human resources and change management to ensure consistency in communications.
• Design and lead functional planning and review processes, including staff meetings, business reviews, and planning sessions, with focused agendas and pre-reads that align priorities, assess results, and support timely decisions.
• Establish accountability and follow-through by clarifying ownership, documenting decisions, tracking commitments through implementation, and escalating unresolved issues.
• Guide executive decisions by evaluating options, assessing risks and trade-offs, and recommending action.
• Clarify decision ownership, authority levels, and escalation paths.
• Represent the executive in designated forums, advancing priorities and exercising judgment within delegated authority.
• Analyze functional performance against strategic priorities, identify emerging trends and risks, and recommend actions to address gaps and improve results.
• Lead strategic and cross-functional initiatives from planning through implementation, aligning business units and corporate functions, resolving competing priorities and dependencies, managing risks, and delivering measurable results.
• Lead functional innovation efforts from concept through pilot and implementation within approved scope and resources.
• Establish success measures, test assumptions, and recommend whether to expand, refine, or stop based on results.
• Partner with pilot owners to support adoption and assess sustained business value.
• Identify and lead process improvements that simplify work, strengthen decision-making, and accelerate execution.
• Assess results against intended outcomes.
• Build trusted relationships across the organization to gain perspective, address critical and/or sensitive issues, and advance shared priorities with discretion and sound judgment.
• May lead other functional areas within a department, as assigned.

• 7–10 years of experience in strategy, operations, project/program management, or related leadership roles
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Preferred: PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, or related certification
• Advanced degree
• Experience supporting a senior executive or leadership team
• Broad exposure across multiple business functions
• Experience leading innovation or business change involving new technology, services, or operating models
• Experience with enterprise systems, reporting tools, and project management tools

The expected base salary for this position is $125,000 - $150,000 annually depending on experience.

At Graybar, we are known for our comprehensive benefits and our employee stock ownership plan!

• Multiple plan options for Medical, Dental, Vision, and Prescription Drug benefits.
• Life Insurance coverage for you and options for your…