Senior Director, Strategy Planning & Consulting

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Director, Strategy Planning & Consulting is a key member of the Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC) Strategy Planning & Services organization, providing end-to-end strategy, planning, and consulting advisory support to the Chief Commerce Officer, APEC and regional leadership teams. This role leads cross-disciplinary strategic initiatives, combining structured problem-solving and data-driven insights to define growth priorities and enable execution across commercial functions.

Reporting to the Chief Commerce Officer, APEC, the position is responsible for driving long-term strategic planning, evaluating growth opportunities, and orchestrating high-impact, enterprise-wide initiatives across the region. The role partners closely with senior executives to shape and implement APEC’s commercial strategy, ensuring alignment across Marketing, Loyalty, Operations, Finance, and Data & Analytics.

Success in this role requires strong strategic thinking, executive communication, and the ability to lead complex, cross-functional programs while influencing stakeholders across multiple markets and disciplines.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree holder and above in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Hotel Management, or related major
• Preferred MBA from top tier institution
• 12+ years of progressive professional experience, including significant exposure to major strategy/ management consulting firms, along with hospitality corporate strategy, or commercial leadership roles

Preferred Skills & Knowledge

• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen, with the ability to translate insights into actionable plans and drive execution
• Advanced problem-solving capabilities, including structured thinking and hypothesis-driven approaches
• Exceptional stakeholder management and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and engage effectively with senior and C-level executives
• Advanced presentation and storytelling skills, with the ability to develop executive-level materials and compelling narratives
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple high-impact initiatives in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams and drive alignment across diverse stakeholders
• High emotional intelligence, with the ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics and drive consensus
• Leadership capability to coach, mentor, and develop high-performing teams
• Deep understanding of hospitality, commercial strategy, or related service industries is advantageous
• Must be fluent in English; knowledge of Mandarin or other Asian languages is advantageous

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Strategy Planning: Lead the end-to-end Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC) Long Range Planning process, from strategic framing/planning and stakeholder alignment through to communication and activation across the region.

• Define planning timelines and lead a series of executive workshops, research initiatives, and insight sessions to inform mid-year and annual strategy planning cycles
• Design and facilitate structured sessions to align senior leadership on strategic priorities and desired outcomes
• Develop and orchestrate agendas and engagement approaches to ensure effective decision-making and delivery of key outputs
• Facilitate planning discussions and partner with external advisors where appropriate to enhance outcomes
• Collaborate with communications teams to ensure clear articulation and cascade of strategy across APEC associates

Consulting Projects/Business Assessment Leadership: Lead cross-functional teams comprised of discipline experts from Operations, HR, Finance, Development, Brand, Marketing, Sales, Revenue Management, Digital Platforms, etc, and drive enterprise-wide strategic and consulting engagements to evaluate and unlock new growth opportunities across APEC.

• Define scope, structure, and lead workplans for complex strategic initiatives, partnering with senior stakeholders to deliver against business objectives
• Leverage primary and secondary research, market insights, and data analysis to inform strategic recommendations
• Synthesize findings into actionable insights and develop strategic frameworks to guide decision-making
• Present recommendations and strategic options to senior leadership and key stakeholders, including ownership groups
• Communicate insights through clear, compelling narratives and executive-level storytelling

Strategic Program Leadership: Provide strategic oversight and leadership of large-scale, cross-functional initiatives, ensuring effective translation of strategy into execution and sustained business impact.

• Accountable for end-to-end delivery and outcomes of high-impact, enterprise initiatives
• Provide strategic direction, governance, and decision-making oversight across program lifecycles
• Guide program structure, key milestones, and success metrics to ensure alignment with business objectives
• Lead executive reviews at critical milestones and drive go/no-go decisions in partnership with senior leadership
• Ensure alignment, sponsorship, and resource allocation across stakeholders and functions
• Drive implementation roadmaps, monitor progress, and ensure timely delivery against strategic priorities
• Actively contribute to and shape broader strategic discussions and enterprise priorities

MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Leadership

• Communication - Conveys information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner through a variety of methods.

• Leading Through Vision and Values - Keeps the organization's vision and values at the forefront of decision making and action.

• Managing Change - Initiates and/or manages the change process and energizes it on an ongoing basis, taking steps to remove barriers or accelerate its pace; serves as role model for how to handle change by maintaining composure and performance level under pressure or when experiencing challenges.

• Problem Solving and Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; obtains and compares information from different sources to draw conclusions, develops and evaluates alternatives and solutions, solves problems, and chooses a course of action.

• Professional Demeanor - Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values.

• Strategy Development - Develops business plans by exploring and systematically evaluating opportunities with the greatest potential for producing positive results; ensures successful preparation and execution of business plans through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.

Managing Execution

• Building a Successful Team - Uses an effective interpersonal style to build a cohesive team; inspires and sustains team cohesion and engagement by focusing the team on its mission and importance to the organization.

• Strategy Execution– Ensures successful execution across of business plans designed to maximize customer satisfaction, profitability, and market share through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.

• Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required.

Building Relationships

• Customer Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer/stakeholder needs and actions consistent with the company’s service standards.

• Global Mindset - Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and/or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential.

• Strategic Partnerships - Develops collaborative relationships with fellow employees and business partners by making them feel valued, appreciated, and included; explores partnership opportunities with other people in and outside the organization; influences and leverages corporate and continental shared services and/or discipline leaders (e.g., HR, Sales & Marketing, Finance, Revenue Management) to achieve objectives; maintains effective external relations with government, business and industry in respective countries; performs effectively as a liaison between locations, disciplines, and corporate to ensure needed resources are received and corporate strategies are understood and executed.

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability

• Organizational Capability - Evaluates and adapts the structure of assignments and work processes to best fit the needs and/or support the goals of an organizational unit.

• Talent Management - Provides guidance and feedback to help individuals develop and strengthen skills and abilities needed to accomplish work objectives.

Learning and Applying Professional Expertise

• Technical Acumen - Understands and utilizes professional skills and knowledge in a specific functional area to conduct and manage everyday business operations and generate innovative solutions to approach function-specific work challenges.

• Creative Expression-The ability to generate novel ideas or strategies, and to communicate them with unusual, clever, or novel methods that captivate and influence others.Brand Management-The ability to generate marketing strategies that create brand recognition and differentiation and ultimately have a positive impact on customer relationships and business profitability.Strong SQL and data modelling skills5+ years report building experience using various software products (Cognos Report Studio, Tableau, MicroStrategy, Business Objects, etc.)5+ years data modeling experience with various relational database applications (Oracle, DB2, Netezza)Excellent PC skills including proficiency using spreadsheets and database applications required

Basic Competencies - Fundamental competencies required for accomplishing basic work activities.

• Basic Computer Skills - Uses basic computer hardware and software (e.g., personal computers, word processing software, Internet browsers, etc.).
• Mathematical Reasoning - Adds, subtracts, multiplies, or divides quickly, correctly, and in a way that allows one to solve work-related issues
• Oral Comprehension - Listens to and understands information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Reading Comprehension - Understands written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents
• Writing - Communicates effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.