Senior Manager, Strategic Management

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Manager, Strategic Management at UL Research Institutes within our Operations team. 

The Senior Manager, Strategic Management will play a key role in the design, coordination, and implementation of Underwriters Laboratories Research Institute’s (ULRI) long-term strategic management approach and direction. This individual will partner with senior leadership, research institutes, and key stakeholders to operationalize strategies that align with ULRI’s mission and global priorities. The role will be responsible for management of strategic processes, performance measurement, and ensuring execution of initiatives that enhance ULRI’s research impact and organizational effectiveness. 

This role helps to ensure that ULRI’s long-term strategic agenda is clear, actionable, and measurable, positioning ULRI as a globally recognized and sought-after research institute. A hallmark of this role is executional rigor that will not only help frame ULRI’s strategy but also translate it into consistent behaviors, systems, and initiatives that deliver results. Acting with a mindset of “ruthless consistency,” the role will orchestrate strategic clarity, disciplined focus, and coordinated follow-through across the enterprise. 

UL Research Institutes: 

At UL Research Institutes (ULRI), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge. 

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with our Fire Safety teams who conduct the research required to produce that knowledge and put it into practice. 

What you’ll learn and achieve: 

As the Senior Manager, Strategic Management you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you: 

• Facilitate the development and disciplined execution of ULRI’s multi-year strategy in strong partnership with the senior leadership and institute teams. 

• Support annual and multi-year strategic management and planning processes across the ULRI organization. Partner with executive directors and research leaders to align strategy with mission-driven research. 

• Lead the implementation of ULRI’s strategic framework processes in partnership with senior leadership. Translate strategy into actionable frameworks, measurable goals, and accountability mechanisms that drive organizational alignment. 

• Manage governance, compliance, and enterprise risk management processes to ensure visibility and accountability on strategic initiatives. 

• Drive cross-institute coordination to identify emerging opportunities, risks, and synergies in research, policy, and partnerships while working with research and operations leaders to accelerate impact in focus areas. 

• Drive ULRI strategic change initiatives (SCI) and cross-functional strategic projects that improve performance and strategic alignment. During SCI’s, employ structured problem-solving, executive-level influence, and end-to-end delivery. 

• Manage ULRI’s performance management framework, supporting the development and tracking of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 

• Instill executional discipline by ensuring leaders and teams consistently align actions, decisions, and investments with ULRI’s strategy while translating ambiguous challenges into structured frameworks, guiding cross-functional teams through complex transformations. 

• Conduct environmental scans to identify trends, risks, and opportunities that inform ULRI’s strategic direction and benchmark ULRI’s progress against peer organizations and identify opportunities for improvement. 

• Develop clear, data-informed recommendations that support the advancement of ULRI’s mission and research impact, with reports, dashboards, and presentations summarizing progress on strategic goals. 

• Contribute to and/or lead departmental or cross-unit initiatives as assigned 

What makes you a great fit: 

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes: 

• Connects vision to disciplined execution, ensuring focus, alignment, and accountability while bringing clarity to ambiguous challenges and builds actionable frameworks that drive results. 

• Operates with high integrity, discretion, and judgment on complex and sensitive issues while thriving in a mission-driven, global, and interdisciplinary environment. 

• Exceptional collaboration and stakeholder management skills to drive alignment and influence across cross-functional teams and leadership with a bias for action. 

• Expert-level project management skills, including planning, resource allocation, risk mitigation, and execution of complex, cross-functional initiatives to achieve strategic objectives on time. 

• Advanced analytical and strategic thinking capabilities to synthesize complex data, identify trends, and develop actionable strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes 

• Outstanding communication and storytelling skills—written, verbal, and presentation—to articulate strategic insights and recommendations with clarity and impact. 

• Strong organizational and prioritization expertise to manage high-stakes initiatives, competing priorities, and dynamic business environments with precision. 

• Forward-thinking and proactive mindset with a proven ability to anticipate market shifts, uncover growth opportunities, and lead transformative initiatives. 

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include: 

• Master’s degree is required. MBA or a PhD in a relevant field preferred. 

• 10+ years of progressive experience in strategy focused management consulting or organization transformation ideally in mission-driven or research-intensive organizations. 

• Proven track record of leading enterprise-level strategic planning and execution. 

• Experience leading transformation initiatives in Research Environment. 

• Strong consulting toolkit: structured problem-solving, change management, transformation leadership, and presentation development (written, verbal, and visual storytelling). 

• Experience in performance measurement including designing and tracking OKRs/KPIs. 

About UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement 

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.  

Our affiliate, UL Solutions, stands alongside us in working for a safer and more sustainable world.  UL Solutions conducts testing, verification and certification, and provides training and advisory services, along with data-driven reporting and decision-making tools, for customers around the world. 

To learn more, visit our websites UL.org and ULSE.org.  

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