Head of Strategic Planning

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.  

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Role Overview

Northern Trust is seeking an experienced and highly strategic leader to serve as the Head of Strategic Planning, reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer. This role will be responsible for driving the enterprise-wide strategic planning process, enabling effective execution through performance monitoring, and delivering high-quality insights and reporting to the Leadership Team and Board of Directors.

The successful candidate will act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, ensuring alignment of strategic priorities with business objectives, and embedding a disciplined approach to execution and governance across the organization.

Given Northern Trust’s global scale and regulatory environment, the role requires fluency in board governance, enterprise risk standards, and coordination across a matrixed operating model.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Strategic Planning

• Lead and orchestrate the firmwide annual and multi-year strategic planning process.
• Partner closely with the Leadership Team to define strategic priorities, growth initiatives, and transformation agendas.
• Synthesize business strategies into an enterprise plan, framing strategic trade‑offs and priorities.
• Ensure alignment between enterprise strategy, business unit plans, and key functional initiatives.
• Facilitate strategy workshops and executive discussions to drive clarity, alignment, and decision-making.

Strategic Execution & Performance Monitoring

• Establish and maintain a robust enterprise execution framework to track execution against strategic objectives.
• Develop and manage key performance indicators (KPIs), milestones, and dashboards to monitor progress.
• Drive consistency and standardization in reporting across business units to enable transparent, comparable, and enterprise-wide performance insights.

• Identify risks, gaps, and interdependencies, and proactively recommend course corrections.
• Drive accountability across business and functional leaders to ensure effective execution.

Board & Executive Reporting

• Develop strategy materials for Board of Directors and executive-level forums.
• Provide insights on strategic progress, business performance, and emerging risks/opportunities.
• Support the CAO and CEO in preparing for Board meetings, strategy updates, and key governance discussions.

Strategic Governance & Policy

• Responsible for governance of the Strategic Planning Policy.
• Partner with Strategic Risk and Audit; ensure adherence with planning standards and audit requirements.

Strategic Insights & Advisory

• Provide data-driven insights and external market perspectives to inform strategic decisions.
• Conduct scenario planning, competitive analysis, and strategic assessments.
• Act as a thought partner to senior leaders on enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.

Team Leadership

Lead and develop a high-performing team (the role currently manages a small team).

• Foster a culture of analytical rigor, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Build capabilities in strategic analysis, planning discipline, and executive communication.

Qualifications & Experience

Success in this role requires a high‑energy, highly adaptive operator who thrives in a fast‑paced, ambiguous environment. The role must combine sound judgment with pace, discretion, and a strong service orientation.

• 10+ years of experience in strategy, corporate planning, consulting, or related roles within a large financial services organization.
• Proven track record of leading enterprise-level strategic planning processes.
• Strong understanding of financial services, asset management, or banking industry dynamics.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and partner with senior executives and board-level stakeholders.
• Experience in performance management frameworks and strategic execution tracking.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and structured thinking capabilities.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with experience preparing Board-level materials.
• Comfortable operating in a highly matrixed organization and navigating ambiguity with composure and sound judgment.
• Tech-savvy with a strong orientation toward innovation, including leveraging digital tools to enhance strategic planning and execution.
• Strong leadership and team development experience.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) strongly preferred.

Location:

The role is based in Chicago

Salary Range:

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Working with Us: 

As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture in an organization where financial strength and stability is an asset that emboldens us to explore new ideas.

Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to assisting the communities we serve! Join a workplace with a greater purpose.

We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and sustainable companies! Build your career with us and apply today. #MadeForGreater 

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [email protected].

 
We hope you’re excited about the role and the opportunity to work with us. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people.

Apply today and talk to us about your flexible working requirements and together we can achieve greater.