Ford Motor Company

Director of Portfolio Strategy and Analytics

Ford Motor Company

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: Dearborn • Missouri • United States

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Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • **What you'll do...**
  • - Portfolio Strategy & The "Analytical Backbone"
  • - Own the Portfolio View: You will define the portfolio-level product strategy across Ford’s digital ecosystem (Connected Services, Software Platforms, Data Experiences). You will evaluate product-market fit and customer value, ensuring our "Good-Better-Best" bundling strategy is commercially viable.
  • - Pressure-Test Major Bets: You will not just accept roadmaps; you will rigorously pressure-test major product bets and long-range investment themes. You will partner with Finance and Product Leaders to stress-test business cases, ensuring decisions are grounded in data, customer reality, and execution feasibility.
  • - The Insight System: Build and maintain a portfolio insight system, including KPI trees, leading indicators, and early-warning signals. You will synthesize second-order conclusions (i.e., "If we do X, then Y happens three years from now") to guide capital allocation.
  • - Executive Storytelling & Narrative Alchemy
  • - Own the Board Narrative: You will own a meaningful share of ELT (Executive Leadership Team) and Board-level product strategy narratives. You will synthesize complex inputs—technical architecture, P&L models, and market dynamics—into simple, compelling stories told with conviction.
  • - Clarity Over Complexity: You have a high tolerance for ambiguity but an obsession with clarity. You will ensure that leadership discussions result in clear decisions, not endless analysis. You will translate ambiguity into crisp options, tradeoffs, and specific recommendations.
  • - Operating Cadence & Decision Velocity
  • - Run the Strategic Engine: You will establish and run the strategy operating cadence, including quarterly portfolio reviews (QBRs), decision logs, and follow-through mechanisms. You will ensure strategic decisions translate into execution plans with clear ownership.
  • - Orchestrate the "Run of Show": You will manage the rhythm of the business, ensuring pre-reads are distributed and stakeholders are aligned before the meeting. You are the guardrail against "analysis paralysis," driving the organization to move with the velocity of a startup.
  • - Market, Ecosystem & Partnership Strategy
  • - Build, Buy, or Partner: You will drive "Build vs. Buy vs. Partner" recommendations with clear strategic rationale. You will shape the ecosystem strategy, supporting partnership evaluation and long-term value creation without getting bogged down in commercial negotiations.
  • - Intelligence Loop: Establish a continuous market and competitive intelligence loop. You will track external signals, platform shifts, and partner moves to identify threats we haven't seen and opportunities we haven't seized.
  • - Leadership & Team Building
  • - High-Leverage Team: Build and lead a small, elite product strategy team. You will model a pragmatic, builder-oriented mindset that is allergic to performative strategy.
  • - Trusted Thought Partner: Act as the strategic right hand to the Global Head of Digital Product. You will influence diverse stakeholders (Engineering, Design, GTM) to drive consensus without needing to be their direct manager.

Requirements

  • **You'll have...**
  • - Education: Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or equivalent advanced degree strongly preferred.
  • - 5+ years of experience in Product Management, Corporate Strategy, or Management Consulting, with a specific focus on digital products or automotive technology.
  • - Elite Communication Skills: You are a master of the written word and the visual presentation. You can command a room of senior executives and can turn a 50-page technical document into a 3-slide executive summary.
  • - Operational Resilience: Demonstrated ability to manage time effectively in a high-pressure environment. You have a track record of delivering high-quality work on a weekly executive cadence.
  • - Cognitive Agility: You can zoom in to the details of a specific feature set and zoom out to the 5-year corporate strategy in the same conversation.
  • - Influence Without Authority: You can align diverse stakeholders (Engineering, Design, Finance, Marketing) behind a single narrative without needing to be their direct manager.
  • **Even better, you may have...**
  • - Background in Management Consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) creating deliverables for Fortune 100 clients.
  • - Deep experience with PRFAQ / Amazon-style working backwards methodologies.
  • - Design proficiency: The ability to not just write the story but visualize it (wireframing concepts or high-end presentation design).
Benefits
  • Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
  • Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
  • Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
  • Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
  • Tuition assistance
  • Established and active employee resource groups
  • Paid time off for individual and team community service
  • A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
  • Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
Product ManagementCorporate StrategyManagement ConsultingDigital ProductsAutomotive TechnologyKPI TreesMarket IntelligencePortfolio StrategyData AnalysisPresentation Design
Soft Skills
Elite Communication SkillsOperational ResilienceCognitive AgilityInfluence Without AuthorityLeadershipTeam BuildingStorytellingDecision MakingStrategic ThinkingStakeholder Alignment
Certifications
Bachelor’s DegreeMBA or Equivalent Advanced Degree