Senior Strategy Associate

Key Relationships
Head of Strategy & Transformation line manager; sets priorities and quality standards
BU Managing Directors primary working relationship; the holder functions as their strategy partner
BU Management Teams scheduled member of covered BUs management forums
Group CEO and TAM Board contributor to board papers portfolio reviews and strategic agenda

Core Responsibilities

BU strategy ownership.Lead the annual strategic planning cycle for covered BUs setting agenda shaping strategic choices challenging assumptions facilitating BU management team discussion and producing the final strategy document owned by the BU MD. The holder is accountable for the quality and rigor of the BUs strategic thinking not only for the process.

Quarterly strategic monitoring.Run the quarterly strategy review process for covered BUs tracking execution against plan surfacing drift early challenging performance narratives and ensuring BU MDs have the analytical basis for course correction. Prepare quarterly strategy papers for BU and group forums.

BU management team contribution.Sit as a scheduled member of covered BUs management teams. Contribute strategic perspective to operational decisions challenge BU thinking where warranted and ensure group-level strategic direction is reflected in BU choices.

Group-level strategic work.Contribute to TAM board preparation Group CEO advisory board papers portfolio economics analysis and competitive positioning work at the group level. Aggregate BU strategic submissions into group-level views for executive and board consumption.

Competitive and market intelligence.Maintain rigorous view of competitor positioning macroeconomic and regulatory developments and sources of competitive advantage for ARM and its BUs.

Success Criteria

At 12 months the holder is expected to have:

• Delivered annual strategic plans for covered BUs of materially higher rigor than the prior cycle
• Established a functioning quarterly strategic review cadence at each covered BU
• Earned standing as a trusted strategic counterpart to BU MDs measured by unprompted BU engagement not forced participation

Experience and Background Required

69 years of strategy experience including strong foundation in structured problem-solving and strategic analysis
At least 3 years at a top-tier strategy consulting firm (McKinsey BCG PwC EY-Parthenon) or equivalent in-house group strategy role at a leading financial institution
Demonstrated experience leading strategic planning or major strategic analysis end-to-end not in a purely supporting capacity
Financial services exposure preferably in asset management banking or adjacent sectors
Direct experience working with C-suite executives; confident operating at senior levels

Strongly Preferred

Experience in the Nigerian or broader African financial services market
MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification from a leading institution
Prior exposure to transformation or major change programs even if not as lead

Competencies

Influence without authority.This is the binding competency. The holder will operate inside BU-owned initiatives with no line authority over BU teams. They must drive execution through the quality of their problem-solving the clarity of their communication and the trust they build with BU counterparts. Candidates whose transformation experience has been exclusively from positions of hierarchical authority will struggle in this role.

Execution tenacity.The ability to stay with a problem through resistance ambiguity and partial information and to keep pushing for resolution when it would be easier to escalate defer or declare the problem someone elses. This is the trait that distinguishes operators from advisors.

Diagnostic rigor.Consulting-grade problem structuring applied to execution problems not just strategy problems. The holder must be able to take an initiative that is stuck and decompose the blockage into addressable components quickly under pressure with imperfect data.

Pragmatism. The holder must be able to distinguish between what ARM needs and what best practice says. Transformation methodology is a tool not an end. The right answer is the one that lands in ARMs operating environment not the one that looks best in a framework.

Political awareness.Transformation work in a Holdco environment with regulated subsidiaries is inherently political. The holder must read organisational dynamics accurately anticipate resistance and navigate stakeholder complexity without being captured by any single constituency.

Communication and presence.Ability to produce clear honest portfolio updates for CEO-level consumption. Capacity to hold a room with senior executives and to deliver difficult messages initiative delays sponsor underperformance kill recommendations without flinching.

Why This Role

This is an unusually senior scope at this career stage. The holder will operate as strategy partner to the Managing Directors of regulated ARM businesses sit on BU management teams and contribute to CEO and board-level strategic work exposure and responsibility typically reserved for roles one to two rungs higher in most organizations. The role is positioned for accelerated growth as the Strategy & Transformation function expands and as the successful holder demonstrates fit for broader is in the midst of an ambitious multi-year transformation with active CEO sponsorship. The Strategy & Transformation function is being rebuilt with senior transformation capability and the Senior Strategy Associate is a foundational role in that rebuild.