Director, Strategy & Planning

Major League Soccer’s Strategy and Business Intelligence group is tasked with supporting strategic decision making and resource allocation across the League – with a focus on driving fan growth, revenue capture, and operating efficiencies – by providing impactful data driven insights, analysis, and recommendations.  The group is seeking a new Director, who will bring a consultative approach to driving League strategy and planning.  This hire will partner with the VP, Strategy, to collaborate with departments in developing long-term & annual business plans, drive end-to-end project evaluations and manage development of new growth platforms. This individual is highly curious and analytical, able to distill clarity from complexity, and has ability to manage projects from start to finish.

Primary Responsibilities

• Support strategy development across the League, including ad hoc projects (e.g., operational efficiency studies, new initiative assessments) and formulation of new platform business plans
• Drive long-term and annual planning process across League – including developing planning timeline, building templates, developing associated communication materials, etc.
• Collaborate with Business Intelligence team to develop specific, timely and measurable long-term and annual goals across all business units & strategic priorities
• Partner with Fan & Market Insights team to identify key research needs & analysis required to drive strategic decision making
• Collaborate with business units to support development of League’s long-term and annual plans. Partner with business units to evaluate proposed objectives, strategies & initiatives, conduct resource analysis and support development of business cases and narrative.
• Partner with Finance and HR teams to drive planning process & evaluate investment & headcount needs across strategic priorities and business units
• Manage planning timelines for assigned departments – ensuring plans are completed within agreed upon timelines.
• Collaborate with key internal stakeholders and external resources to develop new growth platforms – including identifying macro trends, scoping needs, developing strategic framework, creating implementation plans, timelines, deliverables, etc.
• Develop communication materials to present proposed growth platforms to key stakeholders including Executives, Owner Committees, Clubs, etc.
• Maintain strong understanding of League & Club KPIs in order to develop key strategies & initiatives to achieve long-term and annual goals
• Prepare presentations, recaps and other materials needed to manage and communicate insights and strategic recommendations to key executives and stakeholders
• Drive scoping, qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and recommendations for ad hoc projects

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree
• 8+ years of work experience in either an in-house or external strategy function

Required Skills

• Exceptional written communication and presentation skills,
• Strong experience in developing clear and effective narratives to convey strategic concepts and gain internal buy-in for new initiatives
• Superior organizational and project management skills
• Ability to analyze and interpret data, and identify the most salient elements of the problem to create actionable insights
• Experience in presenting to senior stakeholders
• High level of commitment to a quality work product and organizational ethics and integrity
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to develop trust-based relationships
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment across multiple clients
• Advanced PowerPoint and Excel (e.g., full presentation development, exceptional financial modeling skills)

Desired Skills

• Experience at a management consulting firm
• Experience in the sports industry

Starting Base Salary: $115,000.00 – $155,000.00. MLS/SUM base salaries are contingent upon several factors including individual qualifications, market financials, and operational business needs.

We are committed to providing a Total Rewards package that attracts, supports, engages, and retains talent through the following:

• Benefits – comprehensive and competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, as well as a suite of programs to promote well-being including a $500 Wellness Reimbursement. A generous PTO offering, and hybrid Office/Remote Work Schedule are also offered to promote Work-Life balance.
• Career & Professional Development – on the job training, feedback, and on-going educational opportunities to continue your personal and professional development.
• Employee Engagement – office perks, discounts and employee events that go “beyond the traditional paycheck” to make you feel a part of our team and inspire you to elevate the Game.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.