Business strategists help businesses stay on track. As a business strategist, you're to set objectives for your company and devise tactics to ensure that those objectives are met.

This job entails a review of current practices and tactics to determine which areas need to be improved, as well as the creation of creative approaches to aid in the establishment and achievement of organizational objectives. You will, therefore, do a lot of planning and preparing paperwork related to organizational objectives while also assisting in the communication and organization of those objectives throughout the firm.

An ideal business strategist must be problem-solving, analytical, computer-savvy, and easy to interact with. Most businesses or employers need applicants for business strategist positions to have a bachelor's degree, preferably in business, management, or a related field. However, candidates having a master's degree in business administration often receive preference. You'll be paid an average of $71,000 yearly.

What Does a Business Strategist Do

There are certain skills that many business strategists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and creativity.

Learn more about what a Business Strategist does

How To Become a Business Strategist

If you're interested in becoming a business strategist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 73.0% of business strategists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.8% of business strategists have master's degrees. Even though most business strategists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Business Strategist

Business Strategist Career Paths

Average Salary for a Business Strategist

Business Strategists in America make an average salary of $62,796 per year or $30 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $117,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $33,000 per year.
Average Business Strategist Salary
$62,796 Yearly
$30.19 hourly

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Business Strategist

The role of a business strategist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general business strategist responsibilities:

  • Develop business cases. Ensure strategies are supported by business case analysis. Document expected costs, benefits,
  • Ensure to interpret business strategy and determine innovative solutions supporting strategy implementation design
  • Maintain and develop expert knowledge of the business models including assumptions

There are several types of business strategist, including:

Business Development Director

Role:

Many people seem to struggle with what business development entails. Mostly, because the business itself has so many different operational activities. But what it relates to is actually the act of acquiring new business to increase sales. Within the sales team, there are generally three important roles. The business development executive is responsible for generating leads and closing new accounts. An account manager is responsible for managing the relationship of these existing accounts. Last, but not least, a business development director is responsible for setting strategic plans to effectively chase, maintain, and deliver for new and existing business accounts.

A business development director is involved in tasks such as conducting market research, developing account management strategies, identifing business opportunities, and liaising between the sales team, vendor, and customers. Besides that, they track performance targets, handle requests for proposals, and facilitate the hiring and training of sales staff.

Employers require business development directors to have a bachelor's degree related to business. In addition, three to five years of relevant work experience need to be demonstrated. This role earns, on average, $57 per hour and suits individuals who have a passion for sales and management.

  • Average Salary: $117,784
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Strategist

Role:

A Strategist can be a somewhat diverse role, but the job essentially boils down to understanding the market and business sector well enough to be able to decide upon a path or paths which a company ought to take and the means they ought to employ to achieve certain goals and ends.

Sometimes, a Strategist might work across the company on multiple departments or on it as a whole or may instead focus on a particular product or service.

Typically, a candidate for this position must have a Bachelor's degree, at least. Communication, analysis, and computer skills are key for this job as well.
  • Average Salary: $104,881
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Business Director

Role:

In this day and age, business-management processes are so varied and specialized that it is becoming quite challenging to track all the different roles and titles for each function. Those seem like the good old days when you could paint a picture of a business by singling out the director from the rest of the employees.

Business directors come in all shapes and sizes and work across an array of different industries. They are responsible for coming up with business goals and creating timelines to organize the activities that lead to achieving those objectives.

As a business director, you will most likely spend every waking hour thinking about ways to increase your revenue and maximize profits. You will come together with team leaders and department heads of your company regularly to share your thoughts and receive more material to ruminate over.
  • Average Salary: $124,563
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Business Strategist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active business strategist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where business strategists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Business Strategist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California4,694$93,121
2New York2,338$81,680
3Texas2,127$69,382
4Illinois1,683$63,889
5Ohio1,671$73,611
6Minnesota1,325$65,868
7Massachusetts1,298$78,852
8Michigan1,203$72,976
9Florida1,201$59,172
10Virginia1,090$70,143
11Pennsylvania1,038$73,506
12Georgia1,003$66,782
13Washington958$96,115
14New Jersey954$86,632
15North Carolina926$68,769
16Missouri903$68,881
17Wisconsin867$65,056
18Tennessee851$55,155
19Indiana848$52,106
20Oregon596$77,386
21Kentucky558$51,986
22Iowa540$58,002
23Colorado529$67,593
24South Carolina528$65,838
25Maryland516$80,447
26Kansas509$52,255
27Alabama497$50,425
28Arizona486$83,906
29Arkansas463$57,878
30Nevada425$72,714
31Louisiana410$52,654
32Nebraska399$51,554
33Oklahoma358$52,007
34Utah354$68,530
35Connecticut336$75,125
36New Mexico264$62,804
37Mississippi222$56,068
38Montana215$58,342
39South Dakota186$53,264
40West Virginia181$62,787
41Rhode Island167$91,085
42New Hampshire158$69,270
43Alaska143$61,632
44Idaho138$74,890
45North Dakota111$58,524
46Delaware104$70,889
47Vermont89$68,493
48Maine87$69,664
49Hawaii64$66,429
50Wyoming48$58,573

Business Strategist Education

Business Strategist Majors

27.0 %
14.1 %
7.0 %

Business Strategist Degrees

Bachelors

73.0 %

Masters

19.8 %

Associate

3.0 %

Top Colleges for Business Strategists

1. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Finance
Psychology
Marketing
Accounting

2. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Economics
Psychology
Finance
Communication
Political Science

3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Psychology
Economics
Finance

4. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Communication
Computer Science
Finance
Accounting

5. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Political Science
Psychology
Business
Economics
Marketing

6. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Accounting
Psychology

7. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Communication
Accounting
Economics

8. Ohio State University

Columbus, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,726

Enrollment

45,769

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Finance
Business
Psychology
Communication
Marketing

9. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Finance
Business
Economics
Political Science
Computer Science

10. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Economics
Accounting
Psychology
Computer Science
Business

Top Skills For a Business Strategist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.7% of business strategists listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Business Strategist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Business Strategist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Business Strategist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume
Business Strategist Resume

Business Strategist Demographics

Business Strategist Gender Distribution

Male
Male
62%
Female
Female
38%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among business strategists, 37.8% of them are women, while 62.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among business strategists is White, which makes up 74.6% of all business strategists.

  • The most common foreign language among business strategists is Spanish at 34.8%.

Online Courses For Business Strategist That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Business Strategy Development: The Art of Differentiation

udemy
4.5
(2,303)

Learn 3 key business strategy tools. Improve your business innovation skills and drive profitable business development...

See More on Udemy

2. Business Development Masterclass: Learn To Build Businesses

udemy
4.2
(459)

258 Page Course Business Book Included, Project Based Learning, Professional Business Advice & Over 125 Lectures...

See More on Udemy

3. How To Write A Business Plan And A Winning Business Model

udemy
4.6
(2,260)

Business plan template & business plan examples: Create a top business model & business plan for your business ideas...

See More on Udemy
Show More Business Strategist Courses
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Business Strategist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a business strategist. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Business strategists make the most in Washington with an average salary of $96,115. Whereas in California and Rhode Island, they would average $93,121 and $91,085, respectively. While business strategists would only make an average of $86,632 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Business Strategist Jobs: 4,694
Highest 10% Earn:
$154,000
Location Quotient:
1.24

2. Rhode Island

Total Business Strategist Jobs: 167
Highest 10% Earn:
$165,000
Location Quotient:
1.06

3. Washington

Total Business Strategist Jobs: 958
Highest 10% Earn:
$163,000
Location Quotient:
1.01
Full List Of Best States For Business Strategists

How Do Business Strategist Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Business Strategist? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary
Do you work as a Business Strategist?
Rate how you like work as Business Strategist. It's anonymous and will only take a minute.

Top Business Strategist Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ business strategists and discovered their number of business strategist opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Regions Financial was the best, especially with an average salary of $59,640. Pasona N A follows up with an average salary of $63,035, and then comes Accenture with an average of $109,595. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a business strategist. The employers include UBS, VMware, and Teleperformance USA

Most Common Employers For Business Strategist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1VMware$157,265$75.617
2Debevoise & Plimpton$154,590$74.324
3Google$151,798$72.9811
4IBM$142,410$68.479
5Intel$142,030$68.289
6Cisco$124,151$59.694
7Dell$122,207$58.755
8Accenture$109,595$52.6926
9Amazon$108,707$52.264
10Motorola Solutions$94,585$45.474