What does a strategic planner do?
Strategic planners are professionals who participate in the planning of business strategy for medium or large corporations as well as assess their operational and strategic performance. These planners are required to analyze financial and budget reports so that they can make strategic recommendations based on the financial health of the company. Together with the market researchers, these planners must conduct market research so that they can identify threats and opportunities. Strategic planners must also educate their senior executives in making effective decisions by constructing forecasts and analytical models.
Strategic planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real strategic planner resumes:
- Leverage native CRM service calendar to automate sales appointment and service activity scheduling & dispatch.
- Select to ramp up research portfolio and ensure compliance with DoD guidelines and customer requirements.
- Research, plan and draft the first-ever strategic plan for training DoD advance counterintelligence professionals.
- Utilize Facebook and LinkedIn as a primary marketing tool due to their limit budget.
- Plan production master schedule (MPS) & are responsible for MRP accuracy using an Ingress-Mimi MRP system.
- Analyze the configuration of MRP planning parameters for consistency with to ensure accuracy of material.
- Develop comprehensive logistics operational plans to transport, billet and provide communication support for the attendees.
- Facilitate investment and resource prioritization of process technology and manufacturing innovations portfolio across global manufacturing network.
- Provide focused subject matter planning expertise for adaptive, crisis action and analytic agenda planning events.
- Coordinate logistics for internal and external meetings and publish meeting agendas and follow-up action notes and/or reports.
- Evaluate scenarios of long range forecast of combination product development portfolio to enable syringe pricing and supplier strategy.
- Coordinate and participate in senior weekly working groups and strategy sessions with joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational leaders.
- Advise and implement SEM and organic SEO ensuring client's competitive online positioning.
- Support executive management in ISO process documentation and control.
- Carry out ERP system transactions as needed; identify opportunities for improvement through automation and process optimization.
Strategic planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Strategic Planners are proficient in Project Management, DOD, and Logistics. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Organizational skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Strategic Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 8%
Provided project management leadership by facilitating Utility Group initial and ongoing capital project commitments at the Operations Manager level.
- DOD, 8%
Supported broad national defense priorities by facilitating and disseminating Polygraph and Credibility Assessment information throughout DoD and the federal sector.
- Logistics, 6%
Recognized for directly facilitating 4 international logistics projects; budgets exceeded $470M in supply chain, distribution and transportation requirements.
- PowerPoint, 6%
Assist in the preparation Quarterly Program Reviews using Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Portfolio, 6%
Evaluated scenarios of long range forecast of combination product development portfolio to enable syringe pricing and supplier strategy.
- Lean Six Sigma, 4%
Passed the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt examination and led process improvement methodologies and techniques proposing feasible solutions to critical problems.
Common skills that a strategic planner uses to do their job include "project management," "dod," and "logistics." You can find details on the most important strategic planner responsibilities below.
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a strategic planner to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what strategic planners do because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Additionally, a strategic planner resume shows how strategic planners use creativity: "conduct market research; brief creative team; participate in client presentations/new business pitches; and more. "
Organizational skills. Another essential skill to perform strategic planner duties is organizational skills. Strategic planners responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." Strategic planners also use organizational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "collaborated with hr on organizational development/restructure plans. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for strategic planners to perform their duties. For an example of how strategic planner responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a strategic planner: "reviewed programs and curriculum to ensure training standards were met and conducted associated program management and analysis to determine efficiency standards. ".
Communication skills. For certain strategic planner responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a strategic planner rely on this skill, as "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what strategic planners do: "selected and trained teams on techniques in swot analysis, innovation, communications, product engineering optimization, and marketing. "
The three companies that hire the most strategic planners are:
- Salesforce52 strategic planners jobs
- Intel15 strategic planners jobs
- FleishmanHillard13 strategic planners jobs
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Compare different strategic planners
Strategic planner vs. Business development director
A business development director specializes in crafting plans and strategies to develop the relationship between the brand, clients, and other key characters in the industry. It is their responsibility to examine and understand everything about the brand and figure out which areas require improvement or changes. They must also conduct a thorough marketing analysis and remain updated on the latest trends in the market to identify new opportunities that would improve customer satisfaction. Furthermore, they must also communicate with all clients, even appear on public gatherings to strengthen brand awareness.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between strategic planners and business development director. For instance, strategic planner responsibilities require skills such as "logistics," "powerpoint," "portfolio," and "lean six sigma." Whereas a business development director is skilled in "healthcare," "crm," "patients," and "customer relationships." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Business development directors earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $124,195. On the other hand, strategic planners are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $92,745.On average, business development directors reach lower levels of education than strategic planners. Business development directors are 7.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Strategic planner vs. Senior director
Senior directors are the top management who manage the overall corporate structure of a brand. These executives take responsibility for the planning, operations, and profitability of the company. They direct and control all the functions of businesses. Their jobs cover the advertising, marketing, sales, and promotions of products and services. They are the people behind the tactical and strategic management of every asset of the enterprise through different programs.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real strategic planner resumes. While strategic planner responsibilities can utilize skills like "dod," "powerpoint," "program management," and "strategic development," senior directors use skills like "healthcare," "analytics," "patients," and "oversight."
On average, senior directors earn a higher salary than strategic planners. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, senior directors earn the most pay in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $180,537. Whereas strategic planners have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $92,745.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior directors tend to reach similar levels of education than strategic planners. In fact, they're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Strategic planner vs. Marketing director
Marketing directors are responsible for the overall branding and marketing direction of the company. They are in charge of identifying goals and strategies related to marketing. They create strategies that cater to the target market of the organization's products and services to help with sales. They lead the company's marketing department and create the company's brand promise. They ensure that all marketing collateral is in line with the rest of the marketing campaigns of the organization. They should be updated on all the current trends in the marketing world.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, strategic planners are more likely to have skills like "dod," "logistics," "portfolio," and "lean six sigma." But a marketing director is more likely to have skills like "digital marketing," "marketing campaigns," "sales strategies," and "crm."
Marketing directors make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $131,349. On the other hand, strategic planners are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $92,745.marketing directors typically earn lower educational levels compared to strategic planners. Specifically, they're 11.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Strategic planner vs. Business development manager
A business development manager's duties include identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships. A business development manager must have extensive knowledge of the market trends and adjust strategies as needed to meet the needs of the client. Excellent communication, decision-making, critical thinking, and leadership skills are just some of the key factors that business development managers should possess to communicate and negotiate with the clients.
Types of strategic planner
Updated January 8, 2025
