Director, Strategic Initiatives - Science & Diagnostics

We understand that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today, and that’s why we’re inspired to make A Better World for Pets. Antech is comprised of a diverse team of individuals who are committed to each other’s growth and development. Our culture is centered on our guiding philosophy, The Five Principles: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom. Today Antech is driving the future of pet health as part of Mars Science & Diagnostics, a family-owned company focused on veterinary care.

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In this role, the Director of Strategic Initiatives will direct and oversee the strategic initiatives office to ensure that enterprise-wide programs and projects meet organizational goals and requirements. This role will work closely with key cross-functional leadership and teams to successfully execute on key initiatives supporting the strategy – including tracking progress against priorities, developing efficient organizational processes, and assessing interdependencies across initiatives to help prioritize resources and monitor risks. The Director of Strategic Initiatives will also serve as a key thought-partner to the VP of Strategy on strategy-related projects.

The Target Pay Range for this position is $169,884 - $212,355 annually. At Antech, pay decisions are determined using factors such as relevant job-related skills, experience, education, training and budget.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Strategic initiatives execution & tracking: Lead the execution, implementation, and tracking of enterprise transformation initiatives aligned to the strategy

• Strategy development: Support VP of Strategy in strategy development and strategic planning across the Diagnostics Group and communication to senior leaders internally (Antech) and externally (Mars Petcare)

• Manage interdependencies across the transformations, highlight and enable strategic resource allocation, and facilitate optimized decision-making by the LT.

• Facilitate strategic decision-making forums (e.g., transformation reviews, program boards, SteerCos etc.) to ensure timely and effective execution of key initiatives (including coordination of all pre-alignment, pre-reads and actioning of decisions).

• Program management: Provide project management support to key business initiatives; serve as a key cross-functional liaison across projects, owning project plans and maintaining clear communications to keep senior leaders & teams appraised of updates & deliverables

• Tools, Metrics and Governance: Establish relevant tools & metrics for assessing strategic priorities and better planning & tracking of priority initiatives. Design and implement new enterprise-wide tools, dashboards, and governance processes

• Other: May be asked to participate in other enterprise initiatives and special projects as needed

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:

• Required qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience; Master’s preferred

  • 8-10+ years of experience in program management and/or strategy execution and development

• Preferred qualifications:

  • Experience with introducing new business processes & standards

  • Experience with managing enterprise-wide cross-functional initiatives and change leadership & management
     

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:  

• Problem Solving – Ability to assess a broad range of solutions and effective at developing structured approaches to problems and adapt to changing contexts

• Organizational Agility – Can navigate matrixed organization & cross-functional teams effectively

• Standing Alone – Reliable with a strong sense of personal responsibility 

• Dealing with Ambiguity – Comfort with diving into ambiguous situations to understand key issues and structure a clear path forward

• Communication Skills – Strong written, oral and visual (PPT) communication skills 

• Some travel required for key workshops throughout the year

Working Conditions

This role operates in a standard office or remote home office environment with a moderate noise level and occasional presence of pets. The associate is frequently required to sit for extended periods while using a computer and performing tasks that involve manual dexterity, in