Associate, Corporate Strategy and Business Development - Land O'Lakes Inc.

Associate, Corporate Strategy and Business Development

Job Overview:

The Corporate Strategy and Business Development team leads high-profile projects and initiatives sponsored by Land O'Lakes Executive Leadership Team to support enterprise and business unit strategy and growth. The team serves as trusted, internal consultants across three disciplines - strategy formulation, industry and competitive insights, and M&A - to have a significant impact on the company's strategy and performance.

The Associate role provides a tremendous opportunity to deepen and broaden your knowledge of Land O'Lakes' food and agribusiness segments, accelerated professional development, and exposure to the leadership team. Associates are integral members of project teams and manage critical project workstreams while engaging directly with internal client teams.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise and BU Strategy Formulation

• Enterprise Strategic Planning
  • Support the enterprise strategic planning process and creation of key deliverables for the LOL Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team
• Strategy Projects
  • Support strategic initiatives sponsored by executive leadership, with primary focus on growth, in consulting-like engagements
  • Develop rigorous, fact-based, quantitative analyses to support recommendations
  • Build and manage relationships with company executives, supporting and influencing decisions aligned with enterprise and business unit strategy
  • Collaborate cross-functionally and influence without authority to drive business decisions and advance long-term strategic efforts

Industry Intelligence and Insights

• Conduct industry-wide and firm-level analyses and synthesize findings to support enterprise and BU strategy formulation and decision making
• Monitor and evaluate disruptive trends in food and agribusiness to identify potential opportunities and risks for our businesses and members
• Research macroeconomic and policy developments to understand impact and implications
• Source and disseminate relevant primary and secondary market research

M&A

• M&A Strategy and Game Board Development
  • Partner with leadership to evaluate white space, current markets/segments, and our existing portfolio to align on platforms/segments to enter, enhance, or exit through inorganic moves (i.e., acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and divestitures)
  • Identify, evaluate, and prioritize M&A targets aligned with BU strategy and financial targets
• Transaction Execution
  • Formulate and stress-test the strategic rationale for potential M&A transactions
  • Lead a cross-functional teams on one or more diligence & integration work streams, cultivating insights to inform valuation & acquisition (go/no-go) decisions
  • Develop integration/separation plans with cross-functional teams

Candidate Profile

• Curious and Analytical
  • Intellectually curious with the ability to go beyond surface-level information to seek and understand key insights and business implications
  • Ability to track down primary/secondary research, analyze data, and synthesize findings
• Business Acumen
  • Experience using quantitative and qualitative strategic and financial frameworks to analyze the attractiveness and potential of growth opportunities
  • Foundational knowledge and exposure to multiple business disciplines (i.e. marketing, supply chain, or finance/accounting)
• Driven and Results-Oriented
  • Sense of urgency and flexibility to meet tight deadlines while juggling multiple priorities
  • Motivated self-starter with the ability to work through ambiguity
  • Commitment to consistent, high-quality deliverables
• Strong Collaborator
  • Team player
  • Track record of quickly gaining credibility, partnering with business leaders
  • Able to effectively lead and contribute to cross-functional teams through influence
• Excellent Communicator
  • Demonstrated professional confidence, communication and presentation skills when interfacing with executive leadership
  • Proven ability to articulate business strategies

Required and preferred Experience and Education:

• BA or higher - required
• 4 or more years of broad-based business/commercial experience in strategy, consulting, finance, marketing, or supply chain - required
• 1 or more years of quantitative analytics or modeling experience - required
• Strong Excel skills - required
• Track record of outstanding performance while working on high-impact projects and initiatives, including project management experience - required
• Food and agribusiness industry experience - preferred
• MBA - Preferred

#LI-DF1

About Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Join us and be part of a Fortune 250, farmer- and member-owned cooperative that is reimagining the business of food. We have been named a Top Workplace by Indeed and LinkedIn, and to the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

We provide a broad portfolio of benefits to keep you and your family at your best. Land O'Lakes is Where Your Future Takes Root.

Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) M/F/Vets/Disabled. The company maintains a drug-free workforce, including post-employment substance abuse testing pursuant to a Drug and Alcohol Policy.

Neither Land O'Lakes, nor its search firms, will ever contact you and ask for confidential information over the phone or in email. If you receive a call or email like this, please do not provide the information being requested.