Senior Director Strategy and Corporate Development

Job Description

We're hiring a Senior Director, Strategy and Corporate Development who will report to the Senior Vice President, Strategy, Planning and Sustainability. As a Senior Director, you will be actively involved in major company-wide strategic initiatives to deliver Grace’s growth strategy consistent with its Strategic Framework. This role will play a  key and highly visible position in the organization with substantial engagement, collaboration and presentation interaction with the senior leadership team, including the business and corporate functional leaders.

This position will be based at our corporate headquarters in Columbia, MD. You will have the ability to work a hybrid work schedule, 3 days in the office and 2 day from home.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute Grace’s Strategy process including defining key strategic topics to be addressed and assimilating individual business strategies into a corporate strategy.
• Manage the monthly strategic topics discussion with the LT ensuring objectives are established and progress tracked in each session.
• Execute capex prioritization process including recommendations on what is included in each strategic plan and potential modifications discussed in the quarterly capex reviews.  
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of Grace’s businesses
• Build an internal network within Business and Functions across the global organization.
• Design and implement an M&A pipeline process working in partnership with the business segment leadership teams to execute acquisition strategies.
• Partner with Standard Industries to execute all aspects of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process, including target identification, assessment, and development; financial and strategic analysis; complex modeling and valuation; and due diligence
• Perform rigorous analysis of potential opportunities through in-depth assessments of markets, value chains, and competitors including all available financial data.
• Lead internal reviews of and provide recommendations on acquisition opportunities, deal terms and negotiating positions.
• Exceptional communications skills with the ability to develop compelling arguments and confidently and concisely present analysis and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Lead teams (internal cross functional teams above and below reporting level as well as external advisors) to attain results through others.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. degree in business related field, such as Strategic Marketing, Finance, Economics, or related field.
• 10+ years experience in business development or strategy with increasing levels of responsibility within either in-house corporate development or investment banking teams – ideally with chemical / industrial market exposure.
• Knowledge of assessing value chains in the specialty and fine chemicals markets.
• Demonstrated success leading various aspects of the M&A process from a principal perspective, including target identification; assessment and development; complex modeling, and post-acquisition integration.
• Experience and ability to gather and interpret complex information from diverse sources in a wide variety of forms.
• Ability to identify issues, collect data, establish facts, and present conclusions in situations where few decision-making guidelines exist. Integrity and courage to address difficult situations and provide objective and realistic insights regardless of the message.
• Exceptional communications skills with the ability to develop compelling arguments and confidently and concisely present analysis and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Advanced competency with necessary software tools, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, as well as external data sources such as Capital IQ, Thomson, and Bloomberg.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with managing and training analysts with varying experience
• MBA or similar advanced degree

Benefits

U.S. Employee Benefits Summary (grace.com)

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance and Disability 
• Grace Wellness Program
• Flexible Workplace 
• Retirement Plans  
• 401(k) Company Match – Dollar to dollar up to the first 6%
• Paid Vacation and Holidays
• Parental Leave (salaried only)
• Tuition Reimbursement 
• Company Donation Match Program