Director, Strategy and Corporate Development

What You Will Work On

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of strategists (three direct reports on day one), fostering a culture of high performance, collaboration, and continuous learning
• Set team standards for strategic rigor, insight synthesis, and communication
• Evolve a strong operating model for Corporate Strategy, defining clear ways of working to ensure insights flow consistently into strategic decision-making

Strategic Foresight and Distilling Priorities

• Help our team of strategists build their skills in and approach to strategic foresight and begin to fold it into how the Strategy & Corporate Development team operates
• Leverage qualitative and quantitative research, trend sensing, and insight synthesis to develop structured perspectives on long-term trends, uncertainties, and emerging risks and opportunities
• Act as a thought partner and trusted advisor to executive leadership during strategy formulation, decision-making, and execution
• Ensure the team balances near-term decisions with long-range thinking, helping Justworks anticipate change and make durable, forward-looking strategic decisions

Growth, Market, and Competitive Strategy

• Lead work to proactively identify and evaluate new growth opportunities (M&A, investment, and partnership) that align with Justworks’ long-term vision, competitive advantages, and customer needs
• Lead market, customer, competitive, and macroeconomic analyses, in close partnership with Research & Insights, to ensure strategic recommendations are grounded in deep customer understanding, unmet needs, and real-world behaviors—not just surface-level metrics
• Partner with cross-functional leaders to conduct analyses and build business cases that shape commercial and go-to-market strategies to unlock growth and improve execution
• Translate research outputs (e.g., customer insights, segmentation, needs-based frameworks, opportunity sizing) into clear strategic choices, investment theses, and growth narratives for executive and board audiences

Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships

• Support and, where appropriate, lead inorganic growth initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships
• Conduct opportunity assessment, business case development, diligence support, and integration planning in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders

Executive Communication & Alignment

• Clearly articulate strategic opportunities, principles, and recommendations (grounded in evidence and insight) to executives, senior leaders, and key stakeholders
• Drive organizational alignment through crisp storytelling, structured frameworks, and data-informed recommendations
• Support executive- and board-level discussions with rigorous analysis and clear strategic narratives

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, investment banking, corporate development, or a related strategic role
• Prior experience working in venture capital or private equity is a strong plus
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives in a high-growth or evolving environment
• Proven people leader with experience managing and developing high-performing teams
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders through structured thinking and clear communication
• Familiarity with strategic foresight methodologies and a track record of applying future-oriented thinking to corporate strategy, planning, or growth initiatives
• Strong analytical and financial modeling skills
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Comfort operating across multiple time horizons in a fast-paced, evolving environment

Base wage range: $225,000 - 250,000 annually.