Senior Strategic Initiatives Specialist

Responsibilities

• Own individual workstreams within the AI Strategy Program and other cross‑functional initiatives — structure the work, drive to decisions, and deliver outputs on timeline.
• Build and maintain the operating infrastructure for complex projects: project trackers, decision logs, risk registers, governance frameworks, and meeting rhythms.
• Triage incoming requests and competing priorities across the team’s portfolio; keep the team’s attention on the highest‑leverage work.
• Build financial models, business cases, and ROI frameworks to support strategic decisions — clean, accurate, and built to be used, not just filed.
• Conduct competitive intelligence and market research; synthesize findings into executive‑ready summaries and recommendations.
• Support initiative tracking and KPI dashboards that connect strategic priorities to measurable outcomes.
• Prepare board materials, executive presentations, and governance committee deliverables; own the quality of the narrative and the numbers.
• Represent the Strategic Initiatives team in cross‑functional meetings; keep stakeholders aligned and accountable without positional authority.
• Translate complex, ambiguous situations into crisp problem statements and structured options for senior decision‑makers.
• Support the execution of Focus’s enterprise AI strategy, including vendor evaluations, use‑case intake process, governance committee operations, and pilot program management.
• Help develop and maintain the AI program’s knowledge base, intake forms, risk frameworks, and operating cadences.
• Serve as a credible, hands‑on user of AI tools; bring practical experience to conversations about where and how AI creates value at Focus.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics or related discipline required, MBA or CFA in progress or completed preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in investment banking, private equity, management consulting, or corporate strategy at a financial services firm.
• Demonstrated ability to build and own structured work products — models, memos, slide decks — independently and under time pressure.
• Experience working in fast‑paced environments with multiple concurrent priorities and senior stakeholder exposure.
• Exceptional financial modeling and Excel skills — builds from scratch, not template‑dependent.
• Strong structured communication skills: can write a one‑pager, build a five‑slide deck, or lead a working session with equal command.
• Intellectually curious and comfortable operating in ambiguity; doesn’t wait to be told what the answer should be.
• High personal accountability — owns their output, fixes their mistakes, and doesn’t let things fall through the cracks.
• Collaborative by instinct but comfortable working independently; can operate with minimal supervision on defined workstreams.
• Familiarity with AI productivity tools (Claude, Notion AI, Copilot, etc.) and a willingness to be an early adopter. Experience building with AI is a plus but not required.