Lincoln Chief of Staff

Ford Motor • Detroit, MI

12d • Hybrid

About The Position

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters. In this position... A high-impact, strategic leadership role serving as the primary advisor and "right-hand" to the General Manager of Lincoln. As a key leader within the Lincoln business unit, this individual is responsible for managing global business operations, and ensuring the business unit’s office functions with maximum efficiency. This role is not just an operator, but a strategic storyteller who can synthesize complex data and analytics into actionable insights that shape the future of Lincoln’s business. The ideal candidate will bridge the gap between high-level strategy and operational execution, translating technical and financial data into compelling narratives, removing barriers to change and navigating the complex, fast-paced environment of the premium industry. You will be accountable for the performance of the Lincoln Business Office, leading a team to deliver data-driven insights that shape the future of Lincoln’s business and portfolio.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, or a related analytical field.
• 10 years of progressive experience in business operations, finance, or strategic consulting.
• Experience managing teams and directing multiple departments.

Nice To Haves

• Executive Presence: Extensive experience working closely with senior executive leadership (ELT) and Boards of Directors.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Proven ability to facilitate rigorous, data-driven debate among cross-functional teams to reach optimal solutions that advance the organization’s collective strategic objectives.
• Communication: Exceptional ability to distill complex data into concise business documents and impactful presentations.
• Strategic Problem Solving: Guided by long-term objectives; able to solve abstract problems without precedent and remove barriers to change.
• Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of financial modeling, accounting principles, and the ability to identify complex financial issues.
• Agility: Proven success in a "startup" or high-growth environment; ability to adapt to shifting priorities in a fast-paced, global market.
• Industry Passion: Deep interest in electric vehicles, software-defined products, and the future of automotive retail.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Execution President Advisory: Serve as a trusted advisor to the President and Strategy team, proactively identifying and analyzing critical business issues, retail trends, and competitive threats in the luxury automotive market.
• Strategy Implementation: Support the mid- to long-term execution of the Lincoln strategy and business plans by ensuring the successful preparation and delivery of key milestones across all workstreams.
• Objective Setting: Lead the annual objectives and KPI setting process (aligned with Ford+ corporate goals), cascading these metrics across the Lincoln leadership team and cross-functional partners.
• Global Governance: Continuously improve the Lincoln Management System effectiveness and maturity level. Design and manage efficient global governance forums. Set agendas, facilitate decision-making, and ensure rigorous follow-up on action items to eliminate "blind spots." Support employee engagement initiatives to include ensuring business progress is broadly shared.
• Business Office Alignment/Best Practice Sharing: Maintain a high-impact collaborative network with the Business Office leads of Ford Blue, Ford Pro, Model e, and FCSD. Drive enterprise alignment by synchronizing cross-BU priorities, sharing operational best practices, and ensuring Lincoln’s methodologies are integrated effectively within the broader Ford+ framework.
• Business Operations Review (BOR): Lead the creation of monthly BOR and Board of Directors materials, crafting high-quality, data-driven narratives that reflect the state of the global Lincoln business.
• Workflow Optimization: Streamline the president’s daily operations and workflow, prioritizing projects and managing resources to ensure the leadership team remains focused on the highest-value initiatives.
• Financial Oversight: Partner with Finance to monitor budgets, track KPIs monthly, maintain a healthy Profit Improvement Action (PIA) funnel and coordinate "Plan-Do-Check-Act" (PDCA) cycles when performance deviates from the plan.
• Value Creation: Communicate the Lincoln transformation story to internal and external audiences in partnership with stakeholders, creating tailored materials for CEO speaker events and investor relations.
• Team Development: Manage and mentor the Business Office staff, fostering a culture of high performance, agility, and continuous learning.
• Ford OS Advocacy: Role model Ford OS behaviors and drive the adoption of new digital tools and technologies to improve global collaboration.
• Change Management: Improve team-wide information flows and onboarding processes to enable rapid scaling and cultural alignment within the Lincoln business unit. Manage SharePoint and Teams channels to centralize key information and increase transparency.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees