Head of Corporate Strategy

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and solutions that serve a wide range of market participants, including individual and institutional investors in public and private capital markets, financial advisors and wealth managers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and issuers of fixed-income securities. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $328 billion in AUMA as of Sept. 30, 2024. The Company operates through wholly owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. 

The Group: The Corporate team unites a variety of functions at Morningstar including design, marketing, finance, quality, human resources, corporate communications, legal, compliance, strategic planning, and technology with the goal of keeping our business running smoothly. Each of these functions plays an essential role in supporting our company's infrastructure, day-to-day operations, and ongoing strategic initiatives. 

The Role: The Head of Corporate Strategy is a key partner to the CEO, CFO and Executive Leadership, in designing our path to growth and profitability. With a keen ability to understand the competition in financial technology and investment management, you’ll guide long-term economic value creation for the enterprise, and you’ll put processes, frameworks and people in place to guide the organization in making better decisions to support value creation. 

The role reports to the Chief Executive Officer and is based in the Chicago office. To foster continuous collaboration, at least three days in the office per week is required.
  

Responsibilities: 

• Collaborate with Morningstar’s executive team to drive clarity around our current positioning, our desired positioning, and our options for bridging the gap.  
• Develop business cases for deployment of resources for value creating opportunities. 
• Partner with senior business leaders to develop 3-year strategic plans including business cases, financial models, and market analysis.  
• Research the competitive landscape, identify key secular trends, and make recommendations around our strategic positioning and opportunities to invest. 
• Perform competitive analysis, including tracking and analysis of emerging industry trends and competitor performance to benchmark business unit results and inform strategy.    
• Guide merger and acquisition efforts including surfacing ideas, financial modeling and business case development. 
• Manage and guide the work of our SVP of Corporate Strategy and the Strategy Analysts.

Requirements: 

• 10+ years of relevant work experience, including 5+ years related to strategic planning or management consulting.  
• Undergraduate degree required; graduate degree preferred.
• High tolerance for ambiguity and ability to think logically and critically.
• Excellent organizational, communication and presentation skills.
• Strong collaboration and ability to influence across the organization.
• Effective people management and development skills.

Please prepare a short memo no longer than three pages outlining the two-four opportunities Morningstar has to grow value over the next three-five years. All ideas are fair game but should demonstrate your knowledge of our business and the industry i