Director of Corporate Strategy

Your Job

The Molex Corporate Development and Strategy team is seeking a Director of Strategy to join our team, supporting Molex's Optical Solutions business unit in the Datacom/AI market. The Strategy team is responsible for collaborating with Molex leadership to set the organization's strategic priorities and supporting teams through execution. Molex's Optical business unit is a market leader in optical products used in data transmission, such as transceivers, optical cables and connectors, amplifiers, and optical switches; sold to leading customers in data and artificial intelligence such as Amazon, Google, and others. This role will help assess new market opportunities, identify where we should compete, define the capabilities needed to succeed, and drive flawless execution against the vision. The role will be based out Molex's Fremont (San Francisco bay area) or Chicago/Lisle offices.

What You Will Do

You will lead strategic projects and initiatives across the Optical Solutions business, which is helping drive innovation and advancement in AI, Cloud and Data center applications. You will help define our strategies, assess new markets, new customers, or new or technical applications, support strategic decision making and investments, and interface with key business leaders to organize Molex's response to critical strategic opportunities. You will be responsible for driving collaboration with Molex business, sales and operations leaders to drive strategic decisions and execution against strategic plans. In particular, this may include:

Shape our growth strategies and overall strategic planning: Collaborate with business unit leaders and Molex executives to define where and how Optical Solutions can grow.

• Define our right to win across key markets, customers, products and technology applications
• Build understanding of market trends, headwinds, tailwinds, risks and competition
• Define critical capabilities needed for success
• Prioritize and weigh alternative courses of action

Identify new opportunities for inorganic growth (acquisition, licensing, etc.) and build relationships with external industry participants in support of this objective

New market, customer, or technology assessments: define, lead, conduct analyses to assess the attractiveness of existing, adjacent, and white-space markets, customers, or technology applications, plus potential inorganic opportunities within those markets

• Develop fact-based, economically driven, 'outside-in' perspectives on potential new market, customer or technology application spaces; update and refresh points of view on areas where Molex has existing presence
• Attend trade shows, industry conferences and interface with industry experts
• Perform primary and secondary market research; leverage internal and external expertise, conduct subject matter expert interviews
• Identify key market trends, dynamics, value chain participants and translate into actionable insights for Molex leadership

Translate insights to action through partnership across the division:

• Support and coordinate execution of our strategies and projects
• Identify and drive linkages with Operations, Sales, and Product teams

• Help ensure clarity of Vision, adherence to timelines, alignment of requisite people / talent to key activities
• Partner with Strategy Team, Molex senior leaders and cross-functional executional teams to drive consensus around priority opportunities and key execution requirements

Support investment decisions for organic capacity, manufacturing space, equipment, and people resources, as well as for inorganic investments

• Build the strategy for such investment decisions
• Identify alternatives and weigh options
• Drive alignment and influence between senior internal stakeholders
• Communicate recommendations to business leadership and Molex c-suite

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• A minimum of three [LE1] years of post-MBA (or equivalent) professional experience, preferably from a data center operator, hyperscaler, datacom enterprise hardware company, optical supplier, silicon supplier, or interconnect company focused on the AI / data center space
• Experience running a P&L or in Corporate Strategy or Corporate Development

• Structured and logical thinking with an ability to identify core business problems and demonstrate a 'nose for value' to discern what is most critical and important

• Proven strategy skillset
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders' thinking
• Powerful written communication skills and a proven ability to succinctly articulate key elements of complex topics in written form

• Strong verbal communication and experience partnering with executives and sales leaders
• An ability and understanding for how to deliver on short time frames and be committed to meeting deadlines at all times

• Proven ability to manage execution of major cross-functional strategic programs, at a higher level than day-to-day project manager.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Deep knowledge of data centers, AI hardware, or optical products
• Broad existing relationships with people at companies in the data center, AI hardware, or optical products space; which you could leverage to improve our real-time market knowledge or tap to become Molex's suppliers, customers, partners, or acquisition targets

• A modest and humble demeanor

• Utmost respect and dignity in all manners

• Prior experience leading and working with global teams across time zones
• A strong bias for action and a proven ability to drive projects through execution

• Proven managerial skills and a mentorship mindset