As our Strategy Associate, Strategic Initiatives on the highly visible Strategy and Business Development team, you will work as part of a project team to solve complex problems, develop long-range plans for Guardian, and partner with senior leaders to identify, develop, evaluate, prioritize and deliver strategic initiatives across the organization. Our Strategy and Business Development team is responsible for overall strategy development and planning, executing cross-enterprise strategic initiatives, mergers and acquisitions/business development, corporate venture and driving business performance and management processes.
- You will have the opportunity to work on a range of high-priority projects spanning across strategy, M&A transactions, venture capital, and strategic execution, with a focus on supporting transaction and venture capital opportunities.
- Strategy Development and Planning: support the development of our strategic vision, direction and near-term priorities for Guardian supported by competitor/industry research and operational and financial analysis.
- Innovation / New Initiative Incubation: In collaboration with business areas, assess and develop business cases for new ideas, driving innovation, partnerships, and other areas of investment outside of business as usual and incubate initial development and execution of innovation initiatives.
- M&A Transactions and Venture: Support the execution of acquisition and disposition transactions on behalf of Guardian. Support due diligence, perform financial analysis/evaluation and preparing PowerPoint decks for our executives. Support a variety of venture capital efforts, including identifying, investing and operationalizing early-stage technology companies with strategic relevance to Guardian’s business. Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to support transactions and post-closing deal integration. Oversee proof-of-concept initiatives with portfolio companies and help scale those initiatives throughout numerous business lines to maximize impact.
- Execution of cross-cutting strategic initiatives: Identify, frame and implement specific cross-cutting strategic initiatives that are critical to the success of Guardian’s overall strategy. Support in managing the business performance of executed initiatives e.g. implement and management processes to monitor business performance, develop and monitor metrics and goals for business areas aligned with strategic plan, and support decision framework to allocate and re-prioritize resources as required to achieve vision and strategy.
In order to successfully deliver the projects and/or workstreams, you will be responsible for:
- Utilizing strategic frameworks to structure problem solving and identify issues.
- Structuring and building quantitative and qualitative/conceptual analyses of operational and financial data.
- Performing competitor/industry research leveraging both public and non-public sources.
- Identifying implications of data and analysis.
- Developing concise communication materials for senior management.
- Working collaboratively and building trust with team members across Guardian.
You Are
- Proactive, resourceful, impact oriented, and an excellent end-to-end generalist problem solver who is able to identify issues and analyze.
- Strong interpersonal skills, maturity and judgment with the ability to navigate relationships up and down the organization.
- An effective communicator (both oral and written) who works well in cross-functional teams.
- A self-starter who is able to work independently and prioritize across multiple tasks.
- Organized with strong attention to detail and able to coordinate and lead complex workstreams.
- Passionate about innovation in financial services, insurance, and / or technology.
You Will:
- Be exposed to and influence the agendas of Guardian senior executives.
- Develop expertise in a variety of functions and businesses.
- Gain exposure to other roles and lines of business in the company.
- Be mentored and coached by experienced leaders on strategy, transactions, problem solving, analytical, communications and leadership skills.
Qualifications
You have
- A Bachelor’s Degree from a top institution with strong academic performance and demonstrated leadership ability.
- 4 to 6 years of experience working in strategy consulting, business management or operational experience within a financial services or management consulting firm.
- Prior experience working with financial services companies is a plus but is not required.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and strong Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills.
- Ability to influence while building trust and consensus among multiple stakeholders/cross functional teams with competing interests.
- Familiarity with the financial services industry, including banks, insurance carriers and distributors, asset and wealth managers, broker-dealers and financial technology companies.
- Experience managing complex projects and/or timelines.
Reporting Relationships
As our Strategy Associate, Strategic Initiatives you will report to our Second Vice President, Strategic Initiatives who reports to our Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development.
Location
This position will be a work from home role until we reopen our offices (timing not yet determined). Once our offices reopen, you will be based in our Hudson Yards office, located in New York City, with some work from home flexibility.
Travel
Infrequent travel may be required to other locations nationwide in support of transactions or to attend conferences.
Our Promise
Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.
We Offer
- Meaningful and challenging work opportunities to accelerate innovation in a secure and compliant way.
- Competitive compensation package.
- Excellent medical, dental, supplemental health, life and vision coverage for you and your dependents with no wait period.
- Life and disability insurance.
- A great 401(k) with company match.
- Tuition assistance, paid parental leave and backup family care.
- Dynamic, modern work environments that promote collaboration and creativity to develop and empower talent.
- Flexible time off, dress code, and work location policies to balance your work and life in the ways that suit you best.
- Employee Resource Groups that advocate for inclusion and diversity in all that we do.
- Social responsibility in all aspects of our work. We volunteer within our local communities, create educational alliances with colleges, drive a variety of initiatives in sustainability.
If interested, please apply here.
