Manager, Strategy and Business Operations

Recognized as one of Crain’s “Best Places to Work in Chicago” as well as a 2024 “Great Places to Work”, by the Great Place To Work Institute Inc., Sasser prides itself on supporting an employee-driven, opportunity-based culture that empowers, recognizes, and rewards its employees. From highly competitive benefits to exciting employee events to organic, grassroots philanthropy and volunteerism, Sasser is an awesome place to begin and grow your career. We are a fourth-generation, family-held transportation asset services and management company with roots dating to 1928. Sasser’s six subsidiary units are leaders in providing commercial- and industrial-focused rail, automotive, containerized shipping, and aviation transportation equipment solutions including asset leasing, fleet administration management, asset repair and maintenance, and innovative technology services.

Sasser Family Companies includes subsidiaries Chicago Freight Car Leasing, Union Leasing, CF Rail Services, Express 4x4 Truck Rental, Xced Aviation Services, and Falcon Lease. To learn more about what makes Sasser special, visit www.sasser.com.

The Manager, Strategy and Business Operations (SBO) is an engaged, proactive member of the Sasser SBO team focused on building a deep understanding of business processes, value propositions, and commercial and operational strategies across the Sasser portfolio of businesses. The Manager, SBO contributes to all stages of the continuous improvement lifecycle, including: current state and gap analyses, project ideation and planning, execution monitoring and coordination, and benefit / ROI analysis. This role functions in both a delivery management (25%) and individual contribution (75%) capacity—balancing broad, influence-based leadership duties alongside the need to contribute independent thought and work product across a variety of domains.

As a Manager, Strategy and Business Operations, Here's What You'll Do:

• Works with and across business units to identify, prioritize, and execute on critical-priority project opportunities.
  • Facilitating discovery and ideation sessions with cross-functional business groups.
  • Designing and executing analyses to support ROI and other inputs to prioritization.
  • Supporting team decision-making regarding solution and project design.
  • Contributing as evangelist, project manager, and team member so that projects are successfully completed.
• Leads department’s role as PMO, supporting and enhancing project-based and periodic planning and reporting.
  • Supporting annual business- and corporate-level goalsetting processes.
  • Designing, proposing, and supporting execution of new and enhanced KPI reporting mechanisms.
  • Conducting day-to-day, hands-on management and follow-through on key projects.
  • Reporting on project statuses and projecting potential risks and roadblocks for consideration.
  • Conducting postmortem and other meta-analysis to suggest project and process enhancements.
• Supports department’s goal of establishing strong, consistent business processes and system for defining and refining best practices.
  • Convening subject matter experts across businesses to discuss and document marketing best practices.
  • Supporting analysis of go-to-market processes at a given business, identifying potential recommendations to enhance process.
  • Creating communications and materials that support understanding of new / enhanced processes and business systems.
  • Acting as internal champion and support system for business team members executing on new / enhanced processes.
  • Stay updated on industry trends: Stay informed about industry trends and advancements in operational strategies to continuously improve processes and procedures

Here's What it Will Take to be Successful in This Role:

• Bachelor’s degree in business or related technical / professional field preferred
• MBA / advanced degree in related technical/profession field preferred
• Experience with go-to-market, commercialization, marketing, and / or product strategy helpful
• Minimum 5 years relevant experience
• Self-manage and engage with new problems proactively, with a sense of urgency, and with attention to detail.
• Approach problems from a process-orientation, considering not only the problem at hand but also its context within a larger system.
• Must