Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Chief of Strategy

🎯 Role Definition

The Chief of Strategy (often titled Chief Strategy Officer) defines and drives the enterprise-wide strategy, leading long-range planning, market analysis, M&A and strategic partnerships, and working closely with the CEO, executive team, and Board to convert strategic priorities into measurable outcomes. This role blends high-level vision, rigorous financial and market analysis, cross-functional program leadership, and hands-on execution to accelerate growth, improve competitive position, and optimize the company’s portfolio and operating model.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

VP of Strategy / Head of Strategy
Head of Corporate Development or M&A
Senior Management Consultant (strategy practice)
Head of Business Transformation / Transformation Lead
Head of Corporate Planning or Strategic Initiatives

Advancement To:

CEO / President
COO (Chief Operating Officer)
Executive Board Member / Non‑Executive Director
Group Head of Strategy (for multi-business companies)

Lateral Moves:

Chief Transformation Officer
Head of Corporate Development / M&A
Head of Corporate Finance or FP&A
Head of Product Strategy or GTM

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead development of the company’s 3–5 year corporate strategy and annual strategic planning cycle, synthesizing market trends, internal capability assessments, and financial scenarios to recommend an actionable roadmap that aligns with Board and CEO priorities.
Translate CEO vision and Board directives into measurable strategic initiatives, defining scope, objectives, success metrics (KPIs), timelines and cross-functional owners, and ensure disciplined execution against those initiatives.
Own strategic portfolio management: assess business line performance, prioritize resource allocation, recommend divestitures, bolt‑on acquisitions, or new market entries, and optimize the company’s portfolio to maximize enterprise value.
Design and lead M&A strategy and execution support: identify targets, lead diligence coordination with finance and legal, construct valuation and synergy models, support negotiation and integration planning to capture projected upside.
Build robust financial models and business cases for major investments, partnerships and strategic pivots; present sensitivity analyses, scenario planning, and ROI projections to the Executive Committee and Board.
Conduct rigorous competitive and market intelligence programs—including TAM/SAM/SOM analysis, competitor benchmarking, pricing and channel strategy—to inform go‑to‑market and product decisions.
Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives (e.g., cost transformation, pricing optimization, global expansion, product portfolio rationalization) as an executive sponsor and program manager, ensuring on‑time, on‑budget delivery and measurable business impact.
Establish and maintain a strategic planning operating rhythm: regular Executive Committee reviews, Board updates, strategy refresh sessions, and reporting cadence that drives accountability and transparency.
Serve as primary liaison to the Board on strategic topics: prepare Board materials, lead strategy deep dives, respond to Board requests for analysis and scenario planning, and incorporate Board feedback into the strategic plan.
Create and operationalize new strategic frameworks and operating models to scale the organization—organizational design, governance, decision rights, and performance management systems that align to strategy.
Lead partnerships and alliances strategy: evaluate joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem plays; structure commercial terms and governance models to accelerate growth and access capabilities.
Drive digital and data-enabled initiatives for competitive advantage: define data strategy priorities, sponsor analytics capability building, and integrate data into strategic decision making and KPI dashboards.
Oversee strategic communications for major initiatives: craft CEO briefings, investor storylines, management presentations and internal change communications that clarify rationale, milestones and expected outcomes.
Lead risk‑adjusted scenario planning and contingency strategy development (downside, base, upside cases) to prepare the organization for market shocks, regulatory changes, or competitive disruption.
Mentor and develop a high-performing strategy team: hire, coach, prioritize workload, and build internal capability for analytics, corporate development, and program management.
Align commercial, product, technology and operations leaders to strategic priorities through facilitation, stakeholder management and negotiation; break down silos to accelerate cross-functional execution.
Define and monitor enterprise-level KPIs and dashboards, drive consistent measurement and root-cause analysis, and convert insights into prioritized actions for continuous improvement.
Lead pricing and monetization strategy development: test and scale pricing models, drive experiments, quantify elasticity and recommend changes that improve margin and revenue mix.
Oversee post-merger integration (PMI) planning and execution: define synergies, integration roadmaps, governance, and retention strategies to realize forecasted value.
Identify and evaluate inorganic growth opportunities (acquisitions, minority investments, strategic alliances) and lead deal-sourcing activities with internal and external networks, PE/VC, and investment banks.
Champion organizational change management for transformation programs: design stakeholder engagement plans, training, incentive alignment, and communications that increase adoption and reduce execution risk.
Translate complex analyses into succinct, compelling executive-level narratives and investor materials that support fundraising, IPO readiness, or strategic repositioning.

Secondary Functions

Maintain and refresh a centralized strategy dashboard and library of strategic assets (market models, playbooks, win/loss analyses) for easy access by executive stakeholders.
Coordinate ad-hoc strategic analyses for the CEO, Board or investors including rapid market sizing, competitor responses, or due diligence support for opportunistic deals.
Partner with Finance to integrate strategic plans into annual budgeting and rolling forecasts; ensure funding and resources are transparently tied to strategic priorities.
Work with HR and Talent to align leadership development and succession planning to strategic capability gaps and future-state organizational needs.
Manage relationships with external advisors, corporate finance banks, consulting firms and legal advisors to supplement internal capabilities and accelerate critical deals and studies.
Support corporate governance and compliance on strategic initiatives, ensuring risk assessments, regulatory considerations and data privacy are incorporated into decision-making.
Facilitate strategic offsites and leadership workshops to generate alignment, capture cross-functional input, and accelerate consensus around priority initiatives.
Run pilot programs and structured tests of new business models, channels or geographies, and define scaling criteria based on hypothesis-driven pilots.
Oversee vendor selection and contract negotiations for major strategic platforms, tools and external service providers.
Capture lessons learned post-initiative to refine strategy methodology and improve future execution speed and effectiveness.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic planning and corporate strategy development
Financial modeling, valuation, and ROI analysis (DCF, LBO basics, synergy modeling)
Mergers & Acquisitions: target evaluation, due diligence coordination and integration planning
Market sizing, TAM/SAM/SOM analysis and go-to-market strategy design
Competitive intelligence, industry trend analysis and scenario planning
Business case development and prioritization frameworks (RICE, ICE, cost-benefit)
KPI and dashboard design (OKRs, scorecards) and performance management
Operating model and organizational design for scale
Data-driven decision-making: advanced Excel, SQL basics, familiarity with BI tools (Tableau, Looker, Power BI)
Program and portfolio management methodologies (PMO governance, Agile for strategic initiatives)
Pricing strategy and revenue model optimization
Experience working with external advisors (investment banks, consultants, legal)

Soft Skills

Executive presence and proven ability to influence C-suite and Board-level stakeholders
Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to distill complex analysis into concise narratives
Strategic thinking and structured problem solving with strong attention to detail
Cross-functional leadership and ability to build coalitions across product, sales, finance and operations
Change management and transformation leadership
High emotional intelligence, diplomacy and stakeholder management
Decisiveness under ambiguity and comfort with risk/uncertainty
Coaching and talent development for mid-to-senior strategy professionals
Negotiation and persuasion skills for partnerships and deal-making
Prioritization and time management in fast-paced environments

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA or other advanced degree (MFin, MPP, or comparable) from a top-tier program preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration / Management
Finance / Accounting / Economics
Strategy / Public Policy
Engineering or STEM fields with quantitative focus
Data Science or Analytics (desirable for data-driven strategy)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

12+ years of progressive experience in strategy, corporate development, consulting, or senior commercial roles; 7–10+ years in leadership positions.

Preferred:

15+ years with demonstrated track record leading enterprise strategy, executing M&A, and influencing Board-level outcomes.
Experience scaling businesses, running large cross-functional programs, and managing P&L or portfolio performance.
Prior experience in the company’s industry or adjacent sectors (SaaS, technology, healthcare, financial services, industrials) strongly preferred.