Director of Corporate Strategy

Director of Corporate StrategyThe Molex Corporate Development and Strategy team is seeking a Director of Strategy to join our team, supporting Molex's Optical Connectivity business in the Datacom/AI market. The Strategy team is responsible for collaborating with Molex leadership to set the organization's strategic priorities and supporting teams through execution. Molex's Optical Connectivity business is a rapidly growing player in optical fiber cable and connector products sold to leading customers in data and artificial intelligence such as Amazon, Microsoft, nVidia and others. This role will help assess new market opportunities, identify where we should compete, define the capabilities needed to succeed, and drive flawless execution against the vision. The role will be based out Molex's Chicago or Lisle, Illinois or Minneapolis offices.You will lead strategic projects and initiatives across the Optical Connectivity business, which is helping drive innovation and advancement in AI, Cloud and Data center applications. You will help define our strategies, assess new markets, new customers, or new or technical applications, support strategic decision making and investments, and interface with key business leaders to organize Molex's response to critical strategic opportunities. You will be responsible for driving collaboration with Molex business, sales and operations leaders to drive strategic decisions and execution against strategic plans. In particular, this may include:Shape our growth strategies and overall strategic planning: Collaborate with business unit leaders and Molex executives to define where and how Optical Connectivity can grow.Define our right to win across key markets, customers, products and technology applicationsBuild understanding of market trends, headwinds, tailwinds, risks and competitionDefine critical capabilities needed for successPrioritize and weigh alternative courses of actionBuild and maintain market models to assess right to win and prioritize where to playIdentify new opportunities for inorganic growth (acquisition, licensing, etc.) and build relationships with external industry participants in support of this objectiveNew market, customer, or technology assessments: define, lead, conduct analyses to assess the attractiveness of existing, adjacent, and white-space markets, customers, or technology applications, plus potential inorganic opportunities within those marketsDevelop fact-based, economically driven, 'outside-in' perspectives on potential new market, customer or technology application spaces; update and refresh points of view on areas where Molex has existing presenceAttend trade shows, industry conferences and interface with industry expertsPerform primary and secondary market research; leverage internal and external expertise, conduct subject matter expert interviewsIdentify key market trends, dynamics, value chain participants and translate into actionable insights for Molex leadershipTranslate insights to action through partnership across the division:Support and coordinate execution of our strategies and projectsIdentify and drive linkages with Operations, Sales, and Product teamsHelp ensure clarity of Vision, adherence to timelines, alignment of requisite people / talent to key activitiesPartner with Strategy Team, Molex senior leaders and cross-functional executional teams to drive consensus around priority opportunities and key execution requirementsSupport investment decisions for organic capacity, manufacturing space, equipment, and people resources, as well as for inorganic investmentsBuild the strategy for such investment decisionsIdentify alternatives and weigh optionsDrive alignment and influence between senior internal stakeholdersCommunicate recommendations to business leadership and Molex c-suiteWho You Are (Basic Qualifications)A minimum of three years of post-MBA (or equivalent) professional experience, preferably from a data center operator, hyperscaler, datacom enterprise hardware company, optical supplier, silicon supplier, or interconnect company focused on the AI / data center spaceExperience running a P&L or in Corporate Strategy or Corporate Development or FinanceStructured and logical thinking with an ability to identify core business problems and demonstrate a 'nose for value' to discern what is most critical and importantProven strategy skillsetProven ability to influence senior leaders' thinkingPowerful written communication skills and a proven ability to succinctly articulate key elements of complex topics in written formStrong verbal communication and experience partnering with executives and sales leadersAn ability and understanding for how to deliver on short time frames and be committed to meeting deadlines at all timesProven ability to manage execution of major cross-functional strategic programs, at a higher level than day-to-day project manager.What Will Put You AheadDeep knowledge of data centers, AI hardware, or optical productsBroad existing relationships with people at companies in the data center, AI hardware, or optical products space; which you could leverage to improve our real-time market knowledge or tap to become Molex's suppliers, customers, partners, or acquisition targetsA modest and humble demeanorUtmost respect and dignity in all mannersPrior experience leading and working with global teams across time zonesA strong bias for action and a proven ability to drive projects through executionProven managerial skills and a mentorship mindsetAt Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.