Director, Corporate Strategy

ELC Beauty LLC•New York, NY

10d

About The Position

The Director, Corporate Strategy is a key member of The Estée Lauder Companies’ Corporate Strategy team, supporting the development and execution of enterprise strategy and priorities across Brands, Regions, and Functions. The Director leads strategy workstreams and cross-functional projects from problem definition through recommendation, using rigorous analysis and business judgment to develop actionable strategic perspectives. The role supports the annual strategy process and addresses priority questions involving growth, consumers, competitors, categories, channels, geographies, and performance. Operating independently across assigned workstreams, the Director engages stakeholders, translates complex information into clear recommendations and senior-ready communications, and drives projects with pace and rigor. The role manages and develops junior strategy talent and helps strengthen the effectiveness of the Corporate Strategy function. The Director owns significant workstreams or projects and is accountable for their quality, pace, stakeholder engagement, and recommendations, while receiving guidance from the Executive Director on broader enterprise context and senior-level decisions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least 6 years of experience in corporate strategy, strategic planning, business transformation, corporate development, management consulting, or a related strategic role.
At least 3 years of experience in a top-tier consulting firm.
Demonstrated experience independently leading complex strategic analyses and cross-functional projects and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
Strong strategic thinking and structured problem-solving capabilities.
Ability to independently structure ambiguous problems and determine the analyses required to answer them.
Excellent analytical skills, including interpretation of complex market, consumer, competitive, and financial information.
Strong business judgment and ability to move from analysis to insight to recommendation.
Ability to connect disparate information and identify broader business implications.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including clear, senior-ready presentations and strategic narratives.
Strong project leadership skills and ability to manage multiple stakeholders and workstreams.
Ability to build collaborative relationships, influence matrixed teams, and coach junior talent.
Strong attention to detail combined with a broader enterprise perspective.
Comfort with ambiguity, rapid learning, changing priorities, and a high bar for execution.

Nice To Haves

MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred.
At least 3 years of experience at a top-tier consulting firm, with MBB preferred.
Strategy consulting experience strongly preferred.
Experience in beauty, consumer products, prestige or luxury, retail, or another consumer-facing industry is a plus.
Experience managing or coaching junior team members preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead defined workstreams within the enterprise strategy and annual strategy process across Brands, Regions, and Functions.
Structure complex strategic questions, develop hypotheses, and determine analytical approaches to evaluate opportunities and challenges.
Lead analysis of consumers, competitors, categories, channels, geographies, market trends, and financial performance to identify implications for the company.
Translate quantitative and qualitative analysis into insights, strategic perspectives, and recommendations.
Develop senior-ready presentations and strategic narratives that communicate complex information clearly and support decision-making.
Partner with Brand, Regional, and Functional teams to gather perspectives, pressure-test hypotheses, and develop integrated recommendations.
Monitor consumer and cultural trends, competitor activity, category innovation, channel disruption, technology, and macroeconomic shifts, translating relevant signals into strategic implications.
Lead cross-functional strategic projects addressing priority enterprise, Brand, Regional, or Functional opportunities.
Translate strategic questions into structured project plans, analyses, milestones, and deliverables.
Coordinate stakeholders and subject-matter experts to keep work progressing with pace and rigor.
Synthesize stakeholder perspectives and data sources into coherent strategic recommendations.
Identify project risks, dependencies, and unresolved decisions, and proactively develop approaches to address them.
Support business leaders in translating strategic recommendations into actions, priorities, and success measures.
Track progress against strategic initiatives and identify opportunities to strengthen execution and impact.
Develop business cases and strategic analyses supporting prioritization, investment decisions, resource allocation, and evaluation of growth opportunities.
Manage and develop Senior Manager-level talent through direction, coaching, feedback, and development opportunities.
Review analyses and deliverables for accuracy, strategic rigor, and clarity of communication.
Create effective team structures and ways of working across assigned projects and workstreams.
Foster collaboration with Brand, Regional, Functional, Finance, Insights, and other partners.
Contribute to Corporate Strategy tools, frameworks, knowledge development, and ways of working.
Help build a high-performing team culture characterized by intellectual curiosity, collaboration, accountability, and excellence in execution.