Senior Manager, Strategic Planning - Group Medicare

Position Summary

Aetna's Group Medicare organization helps employers deliver high-quality, affordable healthcare coverage to retirees nationwide. As a Senior Manager of Strategic Planning, you'll help shape our growth and competitive strategy in a dynamic, rapidly evolving market. This role is a key contributor to the Group Medicare Strategy team, responsible for supporting and executing the end-to-end strategic planning process – from coordination and development through implementation and ongoing monitoring – ensuring alignment with business priorities and enterprise objectives.

You will partner closely with leaders across sales, underwriting, finance, and operations, and will own the development of competitive insights, executive materials, and strategic communications that enable informed decision‑making and strong execution. Success in this role requires the ability to operate independently, manage ambiguity, and influence stakeholders to move work forward with clarity and accountability. This position directly supports sustained growth by strengthening strategic rigor, enhancing performance visibility, and deepening understanding of the competitive landscape.

• Cross‑functional partnership: Collaborating with leaders across sales, underwriting, finance, and operations to drive alignment, manage timelines, and proactively identify risks and dependencies.
• Competitive intelligence: Owning the development and continuous refinement of market insights, including competitor positioning and translating market dynamics into actionable strategy.
• Executive storytelling: Synthesizing complex data into clear, concise insights and recommendations that support executive decision‑making. Leading the development of business reviews, strategic updates, and executive‑level materials.
• Strategic communications: Ensuring enterprise and business partner strategies are clearly translated and effectively shared across the organization to enable strong execution.

• Lead the development, coordination and execution of annual and multi‑year strategic planning processes.
• Establish and maintain structures that support planning, execution, accountability, and alignment to priorities.
• Manage timelines, dependencies, risks, and issue resolution across strategic initiatives.
• Develop performance monitoring frameworks and track progress, identifying risks, gaps, and opportunities.
• Ensure performance data informs ongoing strategy refinement.
• Advise on growth opportunities, performance improvement, and market positioning.

• Monitor competitor activity, market dynamics, and industry trends impacting our positioning.
• Analyze win/loss drivers, pricing dynamics, and market shifts to inform strategic priorities.
• Translate competitive intelligence into actionable recommendations for leadership.
• Develop and maintain regular outputs (e.g., insights briefs, executive summaries, competitor POVs).
• Anticipate emerging risks and opportunities, proactively surfacing recommendations.

• Create high‑quality executive‑level presentations and strategic materials.
• Lead cross‑functional work groups to drive alignment and execution.
• Support organizational communications that reinforce priorities and improve consistency.
• Coordinate strategic forums and events (e.g., business reviews, offsites, leadership meetings), including content development, logistics, and follow‑through.
• Identify and implement process improvements to streamline workflows.
• Influence stakeholders at all levels to drive progress and maintain momentum.

• 7+ years' experience in strategy, project / program management and delivery; preferably within the healthcare or insurance industry.
• Experience in managing large‑scale projects from inception to completion, ensuring deadlines and objectives are met.
• Strong data analysis and problem‑solving skills to identify trends, assess risks and inform decision making.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships across diverse teams and functions.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to…