Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Strategy

EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and AI company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world's leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and capital markets, retail, communications and media, and energy and infrastructure, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have approximately 60,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information visit www.exlservice.com.

For the past 25 years, EXL has worked as a strategic partner and won awards in its approach to helping its clients solve business challenges such as digital transformation, improving customer experience, streamlining business operations, taking products to market faster, improving corporate finance, building models to be compliant more quickly with new regulations, turning volumes of data into business opportunities, creating new channels for growth and better adapting to change. The business operates across two parallel and interlocked structures: five Industry Market Units (IMUs) and seven Strategic Growth Units (SGUs). The IMUs are: Insurance, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Banking and Capital Markets, Diversified Industry Group and International Growth Markets. The SGUs are: Digital Engineering & AI Solutions, Data Management, Analytics & AI Services, Domain Platforms, Domain Operations, F&A Operations, and Payment Integrity. 

The Role

The Head of Corporate Strategy will be the senior-most strategy professional in EXL dedicated to supporting EXL’s definition and execution of effective long-term growth plans. In this role, the Head of Corporate Strategy will collaborate closely with business unit heads and strategy and growth leaders throughout the organization to ensure a cohesive approach to growth that maximizes the long-term value of the business. This leader will use their extensive experience to lead through influence to increase the rigor in the strategic planning process and ensure that investment resources are optimized across the organization.

Key responsibilities

• Cultivating a world-class strategy function to help support EXL in strategy formulation, planning and execution of critical priorities.
• Uncovering and assessing new growth options to determine which will provide the best opportunities to sustain top- and bottom-line expansion.
• Leading a business portfolio management process to maximize the return on invested capital by improving portfolio balance and alignment with critical strategic objectives.
• Communicating and implementing the company's strategy internally and externally so that all employees, partners, and suppliers understand the company-wide strategic plan and how it carries out the company's overall goals.
• Ensuring departmental/unit strategic planning projects reflect organizational strategic priorities.
• Facilitating investment decision-making and review processes to ensure investment capacity is optimized and deployed for achievement of strategic goals.
• Facilitating and driving key strategic initiatives from inception through execution.
• Partnering with institutional leadership, special committees, and consultants to support execution of key initiatives.
• Developing inclusive planning processes that incorporate outside viewpoints, strengthen enterprise alignment, and foster long-term thinking.
• Drive the business to realize its long-term goals by translating strategies into actionable and quantitative plans, effective strategy cascades, and driving execution through ongoing performance management.
• Mobilizing and managing teams of individuals charged with executing strategies, providing appropriate project management support.
• Acting as a resource across an organization to increase cohesion of strategic plans.

Professional experience/qualifications

• Demonstrated experience building deep internal and external partnerships, and excellent communication and executive presence to connect at all levels in the organization.
• Ability to communicate confidently at the C-level to build meaningful internal and external relationships.
• Broad functional knowledge within the sector and able to connect with a variety of executive level stakeholders on their specific pain-points.
• A forward & innovative thinker constantly focused on shaping the organization to anticipate and address both near and long-term business issues
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural global environment.

Key elements for the role

• Advanced strategic analysis and planning skills.
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across businesses, functions, including AI/technology, and levels of leadership.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to convey complex topics and to persuade a group to a new way of thinking.
• People management and leadership skills, including the ability to lead through influence.
• Market-driven, industry-focused approach.
• Drive and dedication to achieving business results.
• Being a thought-leader.

Education & experience

• MBA from a premier institute.
• 10-15 years of experience in management consulting and/or corporate strategy.
• Five+ years of experience in analytics, digital, data, technology, and/or complex business services.
• Five+ years of experience in B2B global businesses serving the insurance, healthcare, and/or banking and financial services industries.
• Experience with a wide range of business models, e.g., B2B solutions and services, SaaS, BPaaS and outcomes-based models.
• Experience with identifying, executing and integrating corporate acquisitions preferable.