Senior Strategic Initiatives Specialist

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Missouri.

📋 Description

• Take charge of individual workstreams within the AI Strategy Program and other cross-functional projects — organize tasks, drive decisions, and ensure timely delivery of results.

• Establish and maintain the operational framework for complex projects: project trackers, decision logs, risk registers, governance frameworks, and meeting schedules.

• Prioritize incoming requests and competing tasks across the team’s portfolio; focus the team’s efforts on the most impactful work.

• Develop financial models, business cases, and ROI frameworks to aid strategic decision-making — ensuring they are clear, accurate, and practical rather than merely archived.

• Perform competitive intelligence and market research; distill findings into executive-ready summaries and actionable recommendations.

• Assist in tracking initiatives and KPI dashboards that link strategic priorities with measurable results.

• Prepare materials for the board, executive presentations, and governance committee outputs; maintain the quality of both narrative and numerical content.

• Act as a representative of the Strategic Initiatives team in cross-functional meetings; ensure stakeholders remain aligned and accountable without positional authority.

• Convert complex, unclear situations into clear problem statements and structured options for senior decision-makers.

• Aid in executing Focus’s enterprise AI strategy, which includes vendor evaluations, the intake process for use cases, governance committee operations, and management of pilot programs.

• Assist in developing and maintaining the AI program’s knowledge base, intake forms, risk frameworks, and operational rhythms.

• Serve as a knowledgeable, hands-on user of AI tools; contribute practical experience to discussions about how AI can add value at Focus.

⛳️ Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, or a related field is required; an MBA or CFA in progress or completed is preferred.

• Over 3 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, management consulting, or corporate strategy within a financial services firm.

• Proven ability to build and manage structured work products — including models, memos, and presentations — independently and under pressure.

• Experience in fast-paced settings with multiple simultaneous priorities and exposure to senior stakeholders.

• Exceptional financial modeling and Excel skills — able to create models from scratch rather than relying on templates.

• Strong structured communication abilities: capable of writing a one-page summary, creating a five-slide presentation, or leading a working session with equal proficiency.

• Inquisitive and comfortable navigating ambiguity; does not wait for direction on solutions.

• High level of personal accountability — takes ownership of their work, corrects mistakes, and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

• Naturally collaborative but also adept at working independently; can function with minimal supervision on defined tasks.

• Familiarity with AI productivity tools (such as Claude, Notion AI, Copilot, etc.) and a willingness to embrace new technologies. Experience in building with AI is advantageous but not mandatory.

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical insurance

• Dental insurance

• Vision insurance

• Life insurance

• 401(k) plan