Strategic Planning & Program Enablement Senior Manager

Choice Hotels International • North Bethesda, MD

8d • $114,907 - $140,184 • Hybrid

About The Position

Choice Hotels has an exciting opportunity for a Strategic Planning & Program Enablement Senior Manager within the Segment & Commercial organization. This role leads the processes, tools, and governance that help Segment and Commercial leaders translate priorities into plans and move owner-facing initiatives from planning through activation. Working closely with Segment and Commercial Leadership, Program Leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders, this role will manage strategic planning and initiative management processes while owning the Program Activation framework and Deployment Blueprint. The position will continuously improve how the organization plans and activates its priorities, including through AI-enabled tools and automation. This highly visible role is ideal for a strong operator and strategic problem solver who enjoys creating structure, improving how organizations work, and helping leaders and teams turn priorities into action.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Strategy, Operations, Organizational Leadership, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
• 5+ years of experience in strategic planning, program management, business operations, consulting, transformation, change management, implementation, or related disciplines.
• Experience leading complex cross-functional processes and initiatives involving senior leaders, multiple stakeholders, and competing priorities.
• Experience developing and managing governance models, program activation frameworks, implementation processes, or similar organizational capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to build, improve, and scale processes, tools, and ways of working.
• Experience supporting organizational readiness, stakeholder alignment, and adoption for large-scale programs or initiatives.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and executive presentation skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information for senior leaders.
• Strong judgment and organizational skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, anticipate needs, connect information across workstreams, and proactively identify issues and opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI and automation to improve processes, productivity, and user experience.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Teams, and SharePoint.
• Demonstrates key competencies - Action Oriented, Drives Results, Cultivates Innovation

Responsibilities

• Lead the Segment and Commercial planning process, coordinating timelines, templates, leader inputs, and annual plans.
• Maintain the single source of truth for Segment and Commercial initiatives, including progress, milestones, risks, dependencies, and decisions.
• Prepare recurring leadership business reviews, consolidating updates and materials to assess progress and priorities.
• Support leadership prioritization by organizing initiative needs, dependencies, and tradeoffs across the portfolio.
• Coordinate with performance teams to connect initiatives to appropriate measurement and continuously improve planning processes and tools.
• Own and evolve the program activation approach, including deployment guidance, tools, templates, and resources that help Program Leaders successfully bring programs to franchisees.
• Manage program intake and the activation pipeline, assessing owner impact and maintaining visibility into upcoming launches, timing, and activation needs.
• Partner directly with Program Leaders on high-priority programs to develop activation plans, align cross-functional stakeholders, and prepare the organization and franchisees for rollout.
• Run activation governance and readiness reviews, surfacing key risks, dependencies, decisions, and upcoming launches to Segment and Commercial leadership.
• Improve and scale the activation capability by incorporating feedback and deployment learnings and developing AI-enabled tools that make activation guidance easier to access and use.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance
• Financial benefits for retirement and health savings
• Employee recognition programs
• Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide
• Annual bonus based on the terms of Choice's Management Incentive Plan (MIP)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior