WHAT DOES A STRATEGY DO?

Published: Dec 18, 2025 - The Strategy Professional develops data-driven business strategies that enhance organizational performance, strengthen competitive positioning, and guide long-term decision-making. This position involves conducting market and financial analysis, leading cross-functional planning initiatives, and translating insights into actionable strategic roadmaps that support growth and operational excellence. The individual also collaborates closely with senior leadership to evaluate opportunities, mitigate risks, and ensure strategic alignment across projects, resources, and corporate objectives.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Strategy

1. Strategy Consultant Duties

  • Change Management: Support the Executive Committee in designing and implementing real business change.
  • Strategic Planning: Assist with formulating the firm’s, clients’, and products’ vision, mission, and strategies.
  • Value Proposition: Help design the firm’s offering package, value proposition, and KPI framework to measure performance.
  • Market Analysis: Help the management team understand key market trends, the competitive environment, and innovation, and how these shape the business.
  • Initiative Execution: Lead the execution of selected initiatives.
  • Executive Facilitation: Conduct management workshops, business and commercial reviews, and off-sites.
  • Business Development: Assist in developing innovative business cases, proposing and evaluating new business initiatives, and joint ventures for local and international management discussions.
  • Portfolio Governance: Lead the development of the initiative portfolio and its governance.
  • Business Intelligence: Utilize business intelligence to provide management with peer tracking activity and insights on resourcing, revenues, profitability, and strengths and gaps across products and clients.
  • Strategic Research: Review and leverage consultant and market research information to help shape strategic direction, focus, and performance assessments.
  • Corporate Communications: Strengthen internal and external communication by assisting with internal town halls and leadership presentations, speeches, and interviews.
  • Cultural Transformation: Assist with shaping the firm’s culture by supporting or leading internal change initiatives.

2. Strategy & Operations Manager Responsibilities

  • Process Improvement: Generate process improvement hypotheses and perform data analysis for assigned tasks across one or more projects.
  • Business Case Development: Develop business cases, requirements, and performance metrics.
  • Process Reengineering: Analyze and reengineer business processes with input from management and staff.
  • Requirements Analysis: Determine comprehensive business requirements.
  • Process Documentation: Document as-is processes and information flows.
  • Future State Design: Develop to-be process flows and process change diagrams to identify required organizational and workflow changes.
  • Action Planning: Write detailed action plans, including time frames, work to be performed, sequence of events, and responsibilities for team members, consultants, and contractors.
  • Performance Metrics: Identify performance metrics to monitor cost, quality, timeliness, and customer satisfaction.
  • Business Analysis: Address critical business issues such as organizational effectiveness, management reporting, and overall performance improvement.
  • Problem Solving: Apply problem-solving skills, craft and present actionable recommendations, and work with management and staff to implement solutions.
  • Training Development: Develop training for assigned projects.
  • Project Documentation: Update project management documents.
  • Performance Reporting: Produce performance reports.
  • Recommendations Development: Identify actionable recommendations.
  • Change Implementation: Participate in the implementation of performance improvement initiatives.

3. Strategy & Planning Manager Key Accountabilities

  • Strategic Project Management: Lead or participate in end-to-end key strategic project management, acting as the key Marketing representative to plan, formulate strategy, and execute in collaboration with key stakeholders.
  • Project Governance: Apply fundamental project management principles to gain cross-functional alignment, manage stakeholders, and fully address project complexity.
  • OKR Management: Own the process of crafting and monitoring Marketing’s OKRs with Marketing functional heads and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure progress and desired outcomes.
  • Data Analysis: Provide data analysis and market research to support problem-solving.
  • Market Research: Conduct industry analysis and research on competitive market trends to drive business insights using frameworks such as PEST, 5Cs, 7Ps, and SWOT.
  • Market Reporting: Monitor and report detailed weekly market updates and apply storytelling techniques to communicate insights clearly and cohesively.
  • Executive Reporting: Deliver frequent reports on critical news to C-level executives and serve as the central point of market and customer intelligence.
  • Talent Development: Recruit and train junior team members, participate in team building, and support upskilling initiatives.

4. Strategy Associate Roles

  • Business Modeling: Assist in the development and execution of hydrogen and green fuel business models and implementation plans.
  • Industry Research: Research and analyze key industry trends, macroeconomic trends, potential partners, and customers.
  • Risk Management: Identify internal and external risks and dependencies for new business models and develop mitigation plans.
  • Performance Management: Identify KPIs and regularly assess business performance against the strategic plan to ensure issues are proactively addressed and resolved.
  • Strategy Support: Provide ad hoc support to business development managers for strategy development.
  • Business Planning: Assist in the development of the annual business plan, including capital projects, operational plans, and financial plans to ensure alignment with business unit strategy.
  • Process Alignment: Analyze and ensure business structures and processes remain aligned with business models and project phases.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Regularly communicate across the department on business planning and process development.
  • Talent Planning: Align with stakeholders to identify talent and skills gaps to support new business models and implementation plans.
  • KPI Development: Assist in the development of individual and team KPIs to monitor performance and target achievement.
  • Process Improvement: Support the development and implementation of internal business processes and procedures.

5. Corporate Strategy Consultant Essential Functions

  • Strategic Analysis: Provide analytical support in the planning, design, due diligence, and implementation of strategic business objectives.
  • Financial Analytics: Provide financial and market data analytics and develop strategic insights for discussions with executive teams.
  • Corporate Strategy: Drive corporate strategy development and strategy management processes.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure consistent communication and execution.
  • Market Analysis: Analyze the market and industry landscape and dynamics.
  • Trend Analysis: Identify key industry and technology trends.
  • Competitive Analysis: Evaluate major players and competitors.
  • Strategic Evaluation: Assess key evaluation criteria for build versus partner versus buy decisions.
  • Strategic Research: Perform research and data analysis to support strategy development and strategic discussions.
  • Strategic Planning: Support the annual strategic planning exercise.
  • Project Leadership: Independently lead and direct cross-functional initiatives for project management and alignment.
  • Executive Engagement: Work independently with senior executives to gain buy-in and support for project findings.
  • Strategic Communication: Develop key messages and presentations to communicate strategic messages to internal and external audiences.

6. Regional Strategy Director General Responsibilities

  • Strategic Marketing: Manage strategic marketing and business development activities.
  • Product Launch: Lead the development and launch of regional NPI and BTI initiatives.
  • Business Innovation: Pilot, incubate, iterate, and apply fail-fast approaches to develop and launch new and profitable business models across the UK and Europe.
  • Market Expansion: Support the expansion of successful new business models from the UK to other regions in alignment with EMEA-wide strategies.
  • Growth Strategy: Develop strategic plans that enable businesses to grow faster than their markets.
  • Marketing Strategy: Define marketing and business development strategies aligned with the strategic plan.
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Align functional plans with the strategic plan and lead integrated cross-functional teams to execute initiatives and deliver strong financial results.
  • Team Leadership: Lead the regional marketing team to develop and implement comprehensive marketing plans focused on sales growth and profitability.
  • Business Planning: Lead the regional marketing team to develop and maintain a strategic plan for sustained business growth.
  • Portfolio Analysis: Conduct portfolio analysis to identify revenue opportunities and growth plans by market and product segment.
  • Global Strategy: Develop regional strategic plans to support global expansion.

7. API Strategy Director Role Purpose

  • Business Development: Participate in the business development process as a key contributor.
  • API Leadership: Demonstrate differentiable thought leadership in APIs, integration, and API management.
  • MuleSoft Advisory: Provide MuleSoft advisory services to help customers achieve business and IT goals through API and industry-specific solutions.
  • Strategic Advisory: Serve as a strategic advisor to customers, driving enterprise discussions to enable digital transformation using the MuleSoft platform.
  • Platform Strategy: Work with customers as a trusted advisor to define recommended best practices using MuleSoft within the overall platform strategy.
  • Integration Governance: Develop integration maturity paths by guiding patterns, governance, shared infrastructure, technical leadership, and best practices.
  • Enablement Design: Define and establish Centers for Enablement (C4E) for customers.
  • API Architecture: Provide API architectural assessments, strategies, and roadmaps in the enterprise integration domain with a focus on MuleSoft.
  • Solution Validation: Develop proof-of-concept projects to validate new architectures and solutions.
  • Intellectual Property: Lead and develop intellectual property and author articles, whitepapers, and other knowledge assets.
  • Proposal Development: Develop and provide quality reviews of proposals and statements of work.
  • Pre-Sales Support: Facilitate pre-sales discussions with clients.
  • Business Leadership: Participate in the overall leadership of the business unit and support its goals and those of the broader organization.
  • Strategic Planning: Participate in collaborative business unit strategy and planning and implement key aspects of business unit plans.
  • Relationship Building: Build and leverage informal networks across the wider organization.
  • Thought Leadership: Actively participate in marketing events, including public speaking at conferences, webinars, and other forums.
Relevant Information
What Does A Corporate Strategy Manager Do?