Strategic Initiatives Lead

Vanguard; Malvern (Chester County); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is seeking a Strategic Initiatives Lead to drive the evaluation of strategic opportunities. This role involves analyzing trends, supporting inorganic opportunity prioritization, and working across teams to refine deal structures.

The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in strategy or corporate development and must demonstrate strong project management and conceptual thinking skills. Vanguard does not offer visa sponsorship for this position.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of related experience in strategy, consulting, or corporate development.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Prior experience with strategic partnerships and M&A preferred.

Responsibilities

• Analyze industry trends, competitor activity, and emerging capabilities.
• Support intake, screening, and prioritization of inorganic opportunities.
• Contribute to development of partnership constructs and commercial models.
• Support tracking of key metrics and performance indicators.

Skills

Strong conceptual thinking

Project management skills

Ability to operate independently

Collaboration across teams

Education

Undergraduate degree or equivalent

MBA

Job description

Strategic Business Development shares in Vanguard’s mission to take a stand for all investors. You can help us change the way the world invests, by identifying strategic inorganic opportunities that will increase value for our clients. You will be a part of the team tasked with guiding the organization through complex issues related to M&A, strategic partnerships, and venture investing - supporting multiple stages of the deal lifecycle, with a focus on research, analysis, and execution.

The Strategic Initiatives Lead plays a key role in how Vanguard identifies, evaluates, and advances inorganic opportunities from early thesis development through execution alignment and value realization.

In this role, you will work across strategy, corporate development, and business teams to conduct analysis, develop materials, and support the evaluation and execution of inorganic opportunities.

Responsibilities

Opportunity Framing & Market Insights

• Analyze industry trends, competitor activity, and emerging capabilities relevant to Vanguard’s priorities
• Develop core deliverables such as market maps, target lists, competitive analyses, and opportunity briefs
• Synthesize research into clear insights that inform early-stage opportunity evaluation

Strategic Prioritization & Opportunity Development

• Support intake, screening, and prioritization of inorganic opportunities using established frameworks
• Help assess strategic fit, potential value drivers, and key risks through structured analysis
• Partner with business sponsors and deal teams to refine opportunity scope, define strategic objectives, and assess potential partnership or deal structures, including scenario analysis and key value drivers

Deal Shaping, Diligence & Execution

• Partner closely with M&A, partnerships, and venture teams to refine opportunities as they progress through diligence and negotiation
• Contribute to development of partnership constructs, commercial models, and key business terms
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and clearly communicate in-depth market research, analyses, and detailed models to senior stakeholders
• Manage assigned components of workstreams (e.g., research, analysis, deliverables) with guidance from senior team members
• Build and evolve playbooks, standards, and working models that improve speed, rigor, and execution quality

Value Realization & Ongoing Partnership Support

• Support the tracking of key metrics and performance indicators across partnerships and venture investments
• Enable post-deal success through structured engagement (e.g., pilots, commercialization support, executive alignment)
• Capture and feed lessons learned back into future thesis development and prioritization
• Participate in special projects and performs other duties as assigned

This role requires strong conceptual thinking, comfort with ambiguity, project management skills, and the ability to operate independently while collaborating across teams. You will lead workstreams, influence senior stakeholders, and help raise the overall bar for how inorganic opportunities are selected and evaluated at Vanguard.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of related experience, with demonstrated experience leading complex, cross‑functional initiatives in strategy, consulting, corporate development, venture, or adjacent fields
• Prior experience with strategic partnerships and M&A preferred.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. MBA preferred.

Special Factors: Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.