Associate Director, Corporate Strategy

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world -- together. At Ford, we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves? 

If you possess exceptional business acumen and the ability to see the forest AND the trees, you can make the most of your unique insight and expertise as part of Ford’s Global Strategy team. We provide the thought leadership that helps advance Ford’s strategic objectives. We translate information into action as we apply in-depth knowledge to enable timely decisions and responsible allocation of enterprise resources.

In this position... 

Ford's Corporate Strategy team tackles the most impactful strategic challenges for the global enterprise, focusing on complex issues and defining choices to advance Ford+ objectives. This diverse team structures ambiguous problems, offering objective, data-driven recommendations. They foster a collegial environment that encourages open dialogue, outside-the-box thinking, and an 'experience hierarchy' where perspectives are pressure-tested with strong analytical and strategic thinking. The team operates on an apprenticeship model, allowing members to solve complex issues while building strategic skills. Engagement managers are central to project success and team member development.

All candidates invited to interview for this role will be required to go through a behavioral interview as well as solve a case interview. If you do not have prior case interviewing experience, the hiring team will provide resources prior to the interview.

As an engagement manager on our team, you will:

• Lead and develop a team of diverse individuals and effectively leverage their expertise
• Project management: Lead the coordination of project engagements to organize resources and prioritize work to hit deliverables as a team in a time-constrained environment
• Hypotheses generation: Lead the identification of issues and form hypotheses, working with strategy leadership and/or stakeholders
• Structuring and solving the problem: Determines most efficient and effective approach to solving complex problems to guide the team, taking advantage of the strategy organization's existing knowledge, beyond immediate connections
• Conducting analyses: Ensures high quality and accurate analysis; Selects the most effective analytical approaches and guides team in applying leading-edge techniques; Reviews team analysis to ensure development of a robust fact base and creatively addressing data constraints
• Synthesis and generating recommendations: Lead the team in developing insights and prioritizing key conclusions; develop a practical set of recommendations based on impact and ease of implementation
• Effective communication and persuasion: Demonstrate strong influencing skills with executive-level stakeholders by effectively communicating findings, conclusions, and recommendations both verbally and written
• Apprenticeship and leadership: Be a ‘player-coach’ that can effectively break down the problem into discrete workstreams and balance doing vs. delegation to ensure timely completion of high-quality deliverables; Model the Ford+ behaviors and values; practice situational leadership, coaching team members on the strategy toolkit and building domain expertise

You'll have...

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated thought leadership and subject matter expertise in your chosen domain.
• Minimum 10 years of experience (or Master’s Degree and 7-10 years of experience) in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to structure/solve problems on your own projects and for the broader team.
• Proven experience leading high-impact cross-functional projects at a global scale, working with various levels of the organization.
• Inherently curious, analytically inclined and love solving problems.
• Understanding the fundamentals of the automotive industry dynamics, trends, company operations, and managerial accounting is a must.
• Track record of challenging the status quo and bringing creative solutions to complex issues.
• Love teaching and mentoring colleagues.
• Advanced proficiency in PowerPoint (written presentations for a senior audience), Excel (mathematical modeling of large data sets), Word (white papers).

 

Even better, you may have...

• MBA preferred.
• Prior experience leading strategy projects or large-scale programs/projects at a global scale.
• Prior experience in a professional services firm (e.g., consulting, private equity, investment banking).
• Technical background with advanced data analytics experience.