A chief strategy officer is a C-level executive present in discerning major organizations, and they are tasked with the duty of formulating, facilitating, and communicating the strategic initiatives and future goals of a company to others. Steven Rindner mentions that these professionals typically reports to the CEO or CFO of a firm, and works alongside them and the senior leadership team to develop the long-term and short-term strategic initiatives of a company, and guide the company through a systematic planning of business processes.

The corporate world has evolved and transformed considerably over the years. It has especially has become faster and more complex due to the advent of new trends and technologies, as well as the evolving client demand and business challenges. Steven Rindner mentions that in this contemporary scenario, a lot of CEOs do not have the time to stay at top of things, and micro-manage each aspect of their company. Hence, they tend to delegate the important strategy development initiatives to chief strategy officers. These officers are among an up-and-coming group of professionals who represent a shift in the way corporations think about business strategy. The position of the chief strategy officers has only become prevalent in the last two decades, with the increasing complexities in growth strategies. This role can have other tiles as well, such as a chief strategist or vice president of corporate strategy.

Unlike the CEO, who usually makes sure that the daily operations of a business goes on smoothly and focuses on short-term performance, chief strategy officers tend to be more dedicated towards the future prospects of a business. They try to create strategies that can provide long term value to a business, and ensure its superior prospects.  The chief strategy officers are majorly charged with the duties of developing and communicating the vision of an organization to the others, and sustaining the implementation efforts. While the specific duties of these professionals would differ from one company to another, their core duties according to Steven Rindner include:

  • Developing a comprehensive and inclusive strategic plan and growth strategy that is designed after collaborating with the CEO, the board of directors and the senior leadership.
  • Collaborating with the CFO for the purpose of developing a capital plan in line with the strategy of the organization.
  • Analyzing market dynamics, market share changes as well as product line performance.
  • Identifying vital capital projects, joint ventures, potential merger and acquisition targets and diverse other types of strategic partnership opportunities.
  • Identifying and conveying important strategic risks.
  • Communicating strategies throughout all the levels of an organization.
  • Overseeing and monitoring the execution of various types of business initiatives.
  • Making sure of the suitable metrics and key performance indicators that are in place for the purpose of measuring the performance and progress of a company.

Execution of divestments and divestiture are also often carried out by the chief strategy officers.