Sr Dir Corporate Strategy

UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group); Montpelier (VT); On-site; USD 207,000 - 296,000; Full time

Job summary

UKG is seeking a seasoned strategy leader to shape enterprise strategy and multi-year plans. You will advise the Executive Committee, sponsor cross-functional initiatives, and identify opportunities to accelerate growth and strengthen margins.

You will lead analytics, align stakeholders, and communicate insights to senior leaders. With 12+ years of experience in corporate strategy or related fields, you will drive strategic priorities, partner across geographies, and coach a high-performing team

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in Corporate Strategy, management consulting, strategic finance, business operations, product strategy, or related field.
• Experience leading enterprise-level strategic work and advising C-suite executives.
• MBA or other relevant graduate degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Shape UKG's enterprise strategy and multi-year agenda based on market, customer, product, and financial insights.
• Serve as trusted advisor to the Executive Committee and leaders with structured problem solving and recommendations.
• Lead cross-functional strategy engagements across market entry, product strategy, and operating model.
• Identify, size, and activate opportunities to accelerate growth and improve margins.
• Set analytical approach for complex questions, including market sizing and business cases.
• Build coalitions across functions to move from recommendation to decision and execution.
• Distill complex issues into clear, executive-ready narratives and materials.
• Represent Corporate Strategy in industry forums to strengthen outside-in perspective.
• Lead, coach, and develop strategy talent and foster an inclusive team.

Skills

Executive communication

Strategic thinking

Leadership

Influence without authority

Problem solving

Analytics

Financial modeling

Education

MBA or relevant graduate degree

Job description

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.

Key Responsibilities

• Enterprise strategy and strategic planning. Shape UKG's enterprise strategy and multi-year strategic agenda; translate market, customer, product, financial, and competitive insights into clear choices, priorities, and resource implications.


• Executive advisory. Serve as a trusted thought partner to the Executive Committee and functional leaders, bringing structured problem solving, independent perspective, and well-reasoned recommendations to ambiguous or high-stakes issues.


• Strategic initiative leadership. Sponsor and lead cross-functional strategy engagements across market entry, product and portfolio strategy, operating model, growth acceleration, strategic alliances, and other enterprise priorities.


• Value creation. Identify, size, prioritize, and help activate opportunities to accelerate growth, improve competitive position, expand margins, or strengthen long-term enterprise value.


• Decision framing and analytics. Set the analytical approach for complex strategic questions, including hypotheses, decision frameworks, market sizing, scenario modeling, business cases, primary research, and synthesis of imperfect data.


• Enterprise alignment and influence. Build coalitions across functions and levels, reconcile competing perspectives, and create the clarity and momentum required to move from recommendation to decision and execution.


• Executive communication. Distill complex issues into compelling narratives and board- or executive-ready materials that focus leaders on the decisions, tradeoffs, and actions that matter most.


• External perspective. Represent Corporate Strategy in selected industry, customer, partner, and market forums to strengthen UKG's outside-in perspective and strategic network.


• Team and talent leadership. Lead, coach, and develop strategy talent; raise the bar for problem solving, executive communication, and quality of output; create an inclusive, high-accountability team environment.

About You

• 12+ years of relevant experience in Corporate Strategy, management consulting, strategic finance, business operations, product strategy, or a related field, including significant experience leading enterprise-level strategic work.


• Experience in enterprise software, SaaS, HCM, workforce management, AI-enabled software, or an adjacent technology market.


• MBA or other relevant graduate degree preferred.


• Proven ability to advise C-suite or senior executive leaders on complex, ambiguous, and cross-functional business decisions.


• Demonstrated ownership of major strategy engagements from problem definition and analytical design through executive recommendation, alignment, and activation.


• Exceptional business judgment and commercial acumen, with the ability to connect market, customer, product, operational, and financial dynamics.


• Advanced quantitative and analytical capabilities, including experience overseeing complex market sizing, scenario analysis, business cases, financial modeling, primary research, and synthesis of large or imperfect data sets.


• Outstanding executive communication skills, including strategic storylining, concise writing, distinctive presentation development, and confident facilitation of senior-level discussions.


• Track record of influencing without direct authority and building trusted relationships across functions, geographies, and organizational levels.


• Demonstrated people leadership, including coaching and developing high-performing teams and setting a consistently high bar for quality and impact.


• Leadership style that combines low ego with high standards: intellectually curious, candid, collaborative, resilient, and focused on enterprise outcomes over individual credit.


• Comfort operating as a player-coach - able to move seamlessly between executive-level synthesis, hands-on problem solving, and team development.


• Entrepreneurial mindset and strong ownership orientation; energized by unstructured problems and able to create clarity amid uncertainty.

Company Overview:

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

UKG is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, disability, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.

View The EEO Know Your Rights poster (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/EEOC_KnowYourRights_screen_reader_10_20.pdf)

UKG participates in E-Verify. View the E-Verify posters here (https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/EVerifyParticipationPoster.pdf) .

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email [e-mail] .

The pay range for this position is $207,400 to $296,000. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits

It is the policy of Ultimate Software to promote and assure equal employment opportunity for all current and prospective Peeps without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, veteran status, and any other legally protected status entitled to protection under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws. This policy governs all matters related to recruitment, advertising, and initial selection of employment. It shall also apply to all other aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay-offs, terminations, leave of absence, and training opportunities.