Senior Strategist, Business Integration - External Affairs

Opportunity Overview

The Senior Strategist, Business Integration, serves as a strategic architect and connector across External Affairs and the enterprise, helping translate the firm's purpose, priorities and external engagement strategies into measurable business outcomes. This role is responsible for identifying, shaping and advancing opportunities that deepen the integration of External Affairs capabilities across the enterprise, ensuring the function drives meaningful impact for clients, colleagues, communities and the business. Inspired by the firm's Financial Fulfillment ambition, the strategist helps connect thought leadership, policy, community, reputation, research and stakeholder engagement efforts to enterprise priorities that enable more North Americans to thrive.  

What You'll Do 

• Lead highly complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives that strengthen the connection between External Affairs and key business priorities, including growth, client outcomes, reputation, community impact and Financial Fulfillment.  

• Develop and evolve strategies that position External Affairs as an integrated business partner rather than a stand-alone support function.  

• Identify opportunities to leverage enterprise capabilities, external partnerships, research insights, community investments, policy engagement and stakeholder relationships to create measurable value for clients, colleagues, communities and the firm.  

• Shape and communicate strategic recommendations, business cases, executive narratives, roadmaps and success measures for senior leaders.  

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to External Affairs leaders, business leaders and enterprise stakeholders to identify emerging opportunities, solve complex challenges and align investments with enterprise priorities.  

• Apply systems thinking and human-centered design principles to uncover unmet needs, identify strategic opportunities and accelerate innovation across the External Affairs ecosystem.  

• Lead the development of integrated strategies that connect research, communications, public policy, community engagement and business priorities into a cohesive External Affairs ecosystem to drive trust and business outcomes.  

• Facilitate alignment among leaders and stakeholders with diverse perspectives, balancing enterprise objectives, stakeholder needs, organizational realities and long-term strategy.  

• Influence decision making and drive momentum through ambiguity, helping the organization navigate emerging opportunities and transformational change.  

• Lead multiple strategic initiatives concurrently and provide day-to-day leadership across matrixed teams without direct management authority.  

Position Requirements

What You'll Need: 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience  

• 5+ years of applicable work experience, including demonstrated experience in leading complex enterprise-level strategic initiatives 

• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills, building relationships at all levels of the organization, and effectively tailoring messaging and approach to multiple audiences  

• Ability to quickly engage and inspire a diverse, multi-disciplinary team and lead/contribute to multiple large-scale efforts concurrently  

• Experience developing strategic business cases, frameworks, roadmaps and recommendations, including translating complex or ambiguous issues into clear choices and actionable plans. 

• Ability to articulate and evaluate how External Affairs capabilities create business and stakeholder value, including through trust, reputation, client outcomes, community impact, risk mitigation, growth and other enterprise outcomes. 

• Exceptional facilitation and collaboration skills, including the ability to bring together multidisciplinary perspectives and guide groups toward shared decisions and outcomes. 

• Demonstrated ability to apply systems thinking to complex business challenges, identifying interdependencies, feedback loops, stakeholder dynamics and high-leverage opportunities for intervention. 

• Demonstrated ability to create clarity, alignment and forward momentum in highly ambiguous or evolving environments, adapting strategy as new information, stakeholder needs and enterprise priorities emerge. 

• Some travel required. 
  
  *Candidates that live within a commutable distance from our Tempe, AZ and St. Louis, MO home office locations are expected to work in the office four days per week.*
   

Company Description

Awards and Accolades

EEO Statement

Edward Jones does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Salary Information

• Internal Work Arrangements: Campus-Based, Home-Based
• Area of Interest: Client Services & Operations
• External Work Arrangements: Campus-Based