Director, Strategic Planning SIAG

Sammons Financial Group Companies; West Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 94,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

ESOP

401(k) plan

Friday afternoons off

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development

Volunteer time off

Matching gifts

Job summary

Sammons Financial Group Companies seeks a seasoned strategy professional to lead the development and execution of the SIAG strategic planning discipline, partnering with senior leaders to translate priorities into actionable plans with clear ownership and milestones.

You will manage calendars, governance, and tools; design executive-ready materials and dashboards; coordinate inputs across product, sales, actuarial, and strategy teams; and drive clarity in decision points while maintaining

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, economics, strategy, marketing, management, or related field.
• MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years in strategic planning, corporate strategy, or related field.
• Experience supporting senior leadership strategy forums and annual planning.
• Experience with opportunity evaluation, business case development, and portfolio tracking.
• Financial modeling or business case analysis experience.
• Experience in financial services (annuities, life insurance, asset management, retirement) preferred.
• Ability to manage complex, cross-functional planning processes.
• Strong facilitation and executive presentation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Strong PowerPoint and executive presentation development.
• Strong organizational and project discipline.
• Analytical mindset and ability to structure problems.
• Ability to influence without authority and collaborate across teams.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the SIAG strategic planning calendar with senior leadership.
• Design and run the SIAG strategic planning process with clear inputs and milestones.
• Facilitate planning sessions and surface opportunities.
• Maintain the strategic opportunity pipeline and stage-gate process.
• Structure business questions and prepare decision-ready materials.
• Maintain the decision log and portfolio tracking.
• Handoff from strategic planning to execution teams with clear scope.
• Prepare executive-ready materials such as agendas, memos, scorecards, and PowerPoint decks.
• Build tools and templates to support repeatable planning discipline.
• Commit to Sammons values and attendance policies.
• Participate in other initiatives.

Skills

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Facilitation

Executive communications

PowerPoint

Portfolio management

Business case development

Financial modeling

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Influence without authority

Ambiguity management

Education

Bachelors degree

MBA

Job description

What You Can Expect In This Role

Lead the development and execution of Sammons Independent Annuity Group's (SIAG) strategic planning discipline in partnership with senior leadership. Manage the planning framework, calendar, governance routines, and supporting tools; coordinate cross-functional inputs; and maintain visibility into strategic opportunities, key decisions, milestones, and resource implications. Facilitate leadership discussions on priorities, trade-offs, and resource alignment. Guide early-stage opportunity assessments, develop executive-ready materials, and partner across SIAG and the enterprise to translate approved priorities into actionable plans with clear ownership, milestones, dependencies, and accountability.

Lead the development and execution of Sammons Independent Annuity Group's (SIAG) strategic planning discipline in partnership with senior leadership. Manage the planning framework, calendar, governance routines, and supporting tools; coordinate cross-functional inputs; and maintain visibility into strategic opportunities, key decisions, milestones, and resource implications. Facilitate leadership discussions on priorities, trade-offs, and resource alignment. Guide early-stage opportunity assessments, develop executive-ready materials, and partner across SIAG and the enterprise to translate approved priorities into actionable plans with clear ownership, milestones, dependencies, and accountability.

What You’ll Do In This Role

• Own and manage the SIAG strategic planning calendar in partnership with senior leadership, including annual planning, long-term planning, quarterly reviews, leadership offsites, decision forums, pre-reads, follow-ups, and planning milestones.
• Help design, refine, and run the SIAG strategic planning process, ensuring planning inputs, synthesis, leadership decision points, and cascade activities are clear, timely, and connected to long-term strategic priorities.
• Facilitate or co-facilitate planning sessions with stakeholders to gather inputs, surface opportunities, clarify assumptions, and identify trade-offs.
• Maintain SIAG’s strategic opportunity pipeline and stage-gate process, including opportunity status, strategic fit, executive sponsors, working owners, key questions, risks, dependencies, next steps, and decision timing.
• Support the evaluation of strategic opportunities by structuring business questions, gathering required inputs, organizing assumptions, assessing strategic fit, and preparing decision-ready materials for leadership review.
• Maintain the strategic decision log and portfolio tracking process, including decisions made, open issues, unresolved trade-offs, required follow-ups, owners, due dates, milestone progress, and items requiring escalation.
• Facilitate the handoff from strategic planning to Strategic Execution and other delivery teams once initiatives or decisions are approved; ensuring scope, owners, milestones, dependencies, and decision context are clearly documented.
• Prepare executive-ready materials, including agendas, pre-reads, strategy memos, opportunity summaries, scorecards, leadership updates, PowerPoint presentations, quarterly review materials, and synthesized intelligence inputs from relevant business partners.
• Build and refine the tools, templates, scorecards, operating routines, and governance artifacts needed to support a repeatable SIAG strategic planning discipline.
• Commitment to embrace Sammons Financial Group Companies shared values (Accountability, Connection, Openness, Respect and Integrity).
• As stated within the Company Attendance and Punctuality policy, regular attendance is required and expected in order to meet the business service levels and workflow demands.
• Participate in other initiatives and/or projects as necessary.

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s Degree Business, Finance, Economics, Strategy, Marketing, Management, or a related field Preferred
• Master’s Degree MBA or other advanced degree Preferred
• Minimum 7 years' Experience in strategic planning, corporate strategy, business planning, business management, portfolio management, consulting, or a related field Preferred
• Experience supporting senior leadership strategy forums, offsites, annual planning cycles, or enterprise planning processes Preferred
• Experience with opportunity evaluation, business case development, stage‑gate processes, portfolio tracking, or initiative governance Preferred
• Financial modeling or business case analysis experience Preferred
• Annuity, life insurance, asset management, retirement, or broader financial services experience Preferred
• Experience in corporate strategy, strategic planning, business transformation, or management consulting Preferred
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional planning processes.
• Strong facilitation skills, including the ability to guide discussions, surface trade-offs, and drive clarity across senior stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare executive-level materials.
• Strong PowerPoint and executive presentation development skills.
• Strong organizational and project discipline, including the ability to manage calendars, milestones, owners, decision logs, and competing priorities.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to structure problems, synthesize inputs, pressure-test assumptions, and support decision-making.
• Ability to influence without authority and collaborate across Product, Sales, Marketing, Actuarial, and Strategy teams.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and creating structure where processes are still being built.

Other Requirements

• Criminal background check required.
• Due to the financial nature and level of accountability of this position, a credit and criminal background check is required - The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires Sammons Financial Group Companies to notify you that, as a routine part of processing this application for employment, Sammons Financial Group may request a consumer report on you to verify all information contained in this application. Such report may include information about work-related behaviors, performance, character, general reputation, and personal characteristics, in addition to information about your previous employment, education, credit history and criminal records

Salary Range Information

USD $94,134.00 - USD $196,111.00 /Yr. Range includes data points from multiple labor markets. Specific range is dependent on the labor market where the incumbent will be hired to perform the position. Starting salary is dependent on candidate qualifications and experience. For a narrower salary range specific to your labor market, please inquire.

What you can expect when you join Sammons Financial Group

• Comprehensive health coverage for you and your family, including Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA & FSA options, and term life insurance.
• Competitive compensation with a performance-based incentive program tied to clear goals and individual and/or company success.
• Invest in your future with our 100% company-funded Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), plus automatic enrollment in our 401(k).
• Work-life balance that means something. Friday afternoons off year-round, generous paid time off, and paid holidays.
• Commit to your growth with paid development time, tuition reimbursement, and professional development opportunities across industry, individual, and leadership programs.
• Make an impact beyond the workplace through volunteer time off, and our company nonprofit matching gift program, supporting the causes that matter most to you.
• An ownership culture that inspires; join a connected, values-driven workplace where employees take accountability, support one another, and are empowered to do their best work—together shaping our future shared success.

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we’re not considering candidates that need any type of immigration sponsorship now or in the future or those needing work authorization for this role (This includes, but is not limited to students on F1‑OPT, F1‑CPT, J‑1, etc.).

Additional Information

Sammons Financial Group Is An Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

ADA

Sammons Financial Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in all aspects of the employment process. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the application or hiring process, including navigating our website or applying for a position, please contact [e-mail] or call 800-728-2987.

E-Verify

Sammons Financial Group participates in E-Verify and will provide the Social Security Administration and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

Policy for External Search Firms and Agencies

Sammons Financial Group maintains an internal Talent Acquisition function and does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from search firms, staffing agencies, or other third‑party recruiting vendors. Please review our Recruitment Agency Policy for additional information here.