Senior Director, Business Strategy & Planning

Reports to: Vice President, Head of Operations

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Business Strategy & Planning will serve as a strategic operating partner to the Vice President, Head of Operations and lead the team responsible for establishing and running the business operating system for the Studio Business Group (SBG).

This leader will build and manage a high-performing Strategy & Planning team that creates an integrated view of business performance, organizational health, strategic priorities, portfolio considerations and emerging risks. The team will translate complex information from across the business into clear insights, recommendations and decision agendas for the Studio Business Group CEO and senior leadership team.

The role will own and continuously improve the executive operating rhythm, including business reviews, strategic planning, KPI reporting, risk management and leadership decision forums. Working across studios, Production, Finance, Technology, Development Strategy and other Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) partners, the Senior Director will connect strategy to execution and ensure leadership attention is focused on the organization’s most important choices.

This position requires a leader who can operate as both a senior strategic advisor and a hands-on builder: setting direction, developing talent and personally engaging in the most complex and high-impact work.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Strategy and Advisory

• Serve as a trusted strategic partner to the Vice President, Head of Operations.
• Develop and maintain a holistic view of Studio Business Group performance, organizational health, strategic priorities and enterprise risks.
• Identify emerging issues, interdependencies and business trade-offs that require leadership attention.
• Translate complex or ambiguous business questions into structured analysis, recommendations and decision options.
• Prepare executive briefings, strategic narratives and decision materials for the Studio Business Group CEO and leadership team.
• Support discussions related to organizational design, operating models, studio footprint, portfolio priorities and long-term investments.
• Provide an objective enterprise perspective while balancing the needs of individual studios and functions.

Strategy & Planning Team Leadership

• Build, lead and develop a small Strategy & Planning team.
• Establish the team’s mandate, roles, operating model and ways of working.
• Set clear priorities and ensure the team focuses on the highest-value strategic and operational needs.
• Delegate work effectively while remaining personally engaged in complex executive-level analysis and decision support.
• Coach team members in strategic thinking, executive communication, business judgment and cross-functional leadership.
• Create a high-performing team culture grounded in accountability, curiosity, collaboration and sound judgment.
• Assess future capability and resource needs as the Strategy & Planning function matures.

Business Planning and Operating Rhythm

• Design, establish and manage the Studio Business Group’s integrated operating cadence.
• Lead the planning and coordination of recurring business forums, including:
  • Management Review Process activities
  • Quarterly and periodic business reviews
  • KPI and performance reviews
  • Strategy and risk discussions
  • Annual and multi-year planning activities
  • Leadership decision and follow-up processes
• Ensure executive forums are designed to drive decisions, accountability and action rather than simply report information.
• Create clear connections among strategic priorities, operating plans, financial commitments and execution progress.
• Establish processes to track decisions, actions and unresolved issues across leadership forums.

Business Performance and Insights

• Build an integrated executive view of business performance, risks and opportunities.
• Partner with Finance and functional leaders to establish meaningful KPIs and performance measures.
• Lead the team in synthesizing quantitative and qualitative information from across studios and functions into actionable executive insights.
• Identify patterns, business implications and areas requiring intervention or further analysis.
• Ensure executive materials clearly communicate performance, risks, choices and recommended actions.
• Raise the quality and consistency of analysis used in senior leadership decision-making.

Strategic Initiative Leadership

• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that span studios, functions or SIE organizations.
• Establish clear objectives, decision rights, milestones and measures of success.
• Assign members of the Strategy & Planning team to priority initiatives based on business need and individual capability.
• Coordinate work across teams without assuming ownership that appropriately sits within existing functions.
• Surface dependencies, resolve ambiguity and escalate issues when leadership decisions are required.
• Ensure strategic initiatives are sequenced appropriately so the organization is not overloaded by competing demands.
• Step into ambiguous or high-risk work where direct senior leadership involvement is required.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Build strong partnerships across Production, Finance, Development Strategy, Technology, Portfolio Management, HR and studio leadership.
• Connect information and priorities across teams that may otherwise operate independently.
• Support alignment between Studio Business Group priorities and broader SIE planning and operating rhythms.
• Help clarify roles, ownership and decision rights when work crosses organizational boundaries.
• Facilitate productive executive discussions around competing priorities and trade-offs.
• Represent the Strategy & Planning function in senior-level cross-SIE planning and operating forums.

Leadership Expectations

The Senior Director will lead a small team while also operating as a senior individual contributor on the organization’s most consequential work.

The successful candidate must be able to move fluidly between:

• Advising senior executives
• Setting direction for the Strategy & Planning function
• Developing and coaching team members
• Leading complex cross-functional initiatives
• Reviewing and elevating the quality of team output
• Personally producing analysis and recommendations when the work is highly sensitive, ambiguous or strategically important

The role requires strong judgment regarding what to own directly, what to delegate to the team and what should remain with established functional leaders.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in business strategy, business operations, strategic planning, management consulting, corporate development, portfolio strategy or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing a high-performing strategy, operations, consulting or planning team.
• Experience directly advising C-suite or equivalent senior executives and supporting complex enterprise-level decisions.
• Proven ability to synthesize large volumes of complex information into clear insights and recommendations.
• Strong business judgment and the ability to understand connections among strategy, operations, financial performance, organizational design and execution.
• Experience designing or improving executive operating rhythms, planning processes or performance management systems.
• Demonstrated success leading complex work across a highly matrixed organization.
• Exceptional written, verbal and executive presentation skills.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and facilitation capabilities.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, challenge constructively and establish structure where limited structure currently exists.
• Experience in gaming, technology, entertainment, media or another product development environment is preferred.

Measures of Success

Success in this role will be reflected through:

• Improved quality, speed and clarity of executive decisions
• A consistent and effective business operating cadence
• Greater visibility into business performance, risks and strategic trade-offs
• Stronger alignment across studios, functions and SIE partners
• Clearer accountability and follow-through on leadership decisions
• High-quality strategic insights and executive recommendations
• Effective sequencing and delivery of cross-functional priorities
• The establishment of a credible and valued Strategy & Operations function
• Development and retention of a high-performing team
• Increased confidence from the CEO and senior leadership team in the organization’s strategy and planning capability