Head of Business Strategy & Operations​/Chief of Staff

Role Overview

Citi is seeking a seasoned Director (C15) – Head of Business Execution to serve as the strategic execution partner to the Head of US Consumer Cards (USCC) Analytics & Pricing (A&P).

In this high-visibility leadership role, you will orchestrate strategic priorities, global workforce capacity, financial and expense discipline, risk and control governance, and executive operating cadences across a large footprint spanning the United States and India (AIM)

You will act as an essential catalyst for organizational transformation, bridging the gap between strategic vision and day-to-day execution. By establishing rigorous operational foundations, modernizing business rhythms, and optimizing resource allocation, you will empower a world-class analytics and pricing organization to accelerate data-driven growth, advance AI/ML capabilities, and maintain robust regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Execution & Operating Cadence

• Partner closely with the Head of USCC Analytics & Pricing and the extended leadership team to define, articulate, and execute multi-year business strategies and operating plans.
• Establish and govern the central operating rhythm (Business Reviews, OKRs, Strategic KPIs, MBRs/QBRs) to monitor performance against strategic and operational commitments.
• Drive cross-functional strategic programs end-to-end, resolving operational bottlenecks, breaking down silos, and ensuring alignment across Cards product lines, risk, technology, finance, and marketing.

2. Global Workforce Strategy, Capacity & Footprint Optimization

• Own strategic workforce planning, headcount governance, and organizational design across onshore (US) and offshore (India).
• Design and implement comprehensive capacity models to balance workload, optimize location strategy, and scale technical/analytical talent efficiently.
• Oversee partner/vendor resource strategies, statement of work (SOW) management, and managed services engagements to ensure high ROI and operational leverage.

3. Financial Discipline & Expense Governance

• Direct overall financial planning and expense management for the organization in close coordination with Finance and HR partners.
• Drive the annual budgeting process, monthly financial forecasting, variance analysis, and productivity tracking across compensation, T&E, consulting, and infrastructure.
• Provide strategic oversight and governance over the technology investment portfolio and Technology Book of Work (BoW), partnering with Tech and A&P leads to prioritize funding allocations, track milestone delivery, assess business case ROI, and ensure technology spend directly accelerates core analytics and pricing capabilities.
• Establish robust cost-benefit frameworks to evaluate capital expenditures, software/tool investments, and out-of-budget requests, ensuring strict alignment with business priorities.

4. Governance, Risk, Compliance & Controls (GRC)

• Lead activities for Business Application Ownership (BAO), Records Management (RMO), and Continuity of Business (COB) resilience strategies across US and India operations.

5. Executive Communications & Stakeholder Alignment

• Author executive-grade briefings, board-level material, steering committee decks, and town hall narratives that clearly distill complex analytics and pricing performance into actionable business insights.
• Represent the USCC A&P organization across enterprise-wide forums, building trusted relationships with senior leaders across USCC, Marketing, and Technology.

6. Organizational Effectiveness, Culture & Talent Enablement

• Champion culture transformation, employee engagement, diversity, and recognition initiatives across distributed global teams.
• Oversee talent development strategies, technical upskilling (e.g., modern analytics, GenAI adoption, cloud data platforms), and leadership pipeline health in partnership with HR.

Required Qualifications & Competencies

• Experience & Background:
  • 15+ years of progressive experience in business execution, Chief of Staff/COO functions, strategic planning, or operational leadership within global financial services or tier-1 management consulting.
  • Demonstrated experience operating at a Director (C15 or equivalent peer-firm) level within a large, matrixed, global institution.
• Scale & Global Footprint:
  • Proven track record governing large-scale, cross-border organizations across the US and offshore delivery centers (e.g., India/Costa Rica).
• Financial & Operational Acumen:
  • Advanced competency in workforce capacity modeling, zero-based…