CHIEF STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATION OFFICER

JOB SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer (CSTO) serves as the enterprise-wide leader responsible for driving CARE USA’s organizational strategy, planning, and performance. This role ensures the organization remains focused, aligned, and agile as it delivers on its mission and advances the FY26–FY30 Global Strategy. 

The CSTO leads a portfolio dedicated to strategy development, integrated planning, organizational performance, enterprise transformation, innovative finance, and cross-functional alignment. This executive will steward CARE USA’s long-term strategic direction, lead change across the organization, and build the systems and capabilities needed to accelerate impact. The role is responsible not only for strategy development, but also for long-term implementation and execution. 

The ideal candidate is a forward-looking strategist with a strong financial background, an inclusive leader, and a skilled change agent with a passion for mission-driven transformation. They will work closely with the CEO, Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Regional and Country Directors, and key functional leaders to ensure CARE USA is well-positioned to meet its 2030 impact goals. 

The position will oversee two large, diverse, and globally distributed teams. The Strategy Team is managed by an Associate Vice President for Strategy, and the Transformation Team is led by a Senior Director. The two positions report directly to the CSTO and in total, the CSTO will be responsible for leading more than approximately 30 staff members. The CSTO will sit on the CEO’s Executive Leadership Team. The CSTO will guide the organization to a more digitally enabled, cost-effective, and private sector aligned and driven future. The CSTO will be an internal guide and an external ambassador for the organization's strategy.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategy Development & Organizational Alignment 

• Lead the implementation and refinement of CARE USA’s organizational strategy in partnership with the CEO and ELT. 
• Facilitate the annual and multi year strategic planning cycle, ensuring alignment between global strategy, regional and country office plans, and U.S.-based functions. 
• Translate enterprise strategy into clear priorities, workstreams, and metrics that drive coherence and focus across CARE USA. 
• Embed innovative financing considerations directly into enterprise strategy, ensuring that CARE’s long term plans anticipate and leverage new resourcing pathways (e.g., blended finance, pooled mechanisms, catalytic capital).
• Develop cross-organizational strategic frameworks that clarify how different financing modalities support CARE’s mission, programming priorities, and FY26–FY30 strategic commitments. 
• Ensure innovative funding models inform global and country-level planning, creating stronger alignment between resource opportunities and strategic priorities. 
• Conduct strategic analyses, scenario planning, and market assessments to inform executive decision-making. 
• Serve as chief advisor to the CEO and ELT on strategic issues, new forms of financing development, risks, opportunities, and organizational positioning. 
• Ensure CARE remains responsive to emerging trends, operating realities, and partner needs. 
• Evaluate and potentially execute strategic mergers and acquisitions to expand CARE’s global capabilities with a focus on social enterprise and sustainable financial models.  

Enterprise Transformation & Change Leadership

• Lead major organizational transformation initiatives to strengthen CARE’s effectiveness, culture, operating model, and cross-team collaboration. 
• Champion enterprise-wide change management, ensuring staff engagement, communication, and adoption of new ways of working. 
• Strengthen CARE's organizational identity and support CARE’s evolution toward a more innovative, partner-centered, and impact driven operating model. 
• Oversee cross-functional initiatives that streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and improve coordination between U.S.-based teams and global counterparts. 
• Drive digital transformation in partnership with technology and operational leaders, ensuring CARE’s systems support performance, data-driven decision-making, and future growth. 
• Lead cross-functional transformation initiatives to streamline internal operations so CARE can adopt and manage new financing mechanisms more efficiently (e.g., multi-partner funds, outcome-based approaches). 
• Championing a cultural shift toward entrepreneurial and adaptive resourcing, helping teams see financing innovation as a strategic lever—not only a fundraising tool. 

Organizational Performance, Planning & Accountability

• Oversee enterprise-wide performance measurement and management systems, ensuring CARE tracks progress toward strategic goals and impact commitments. 
• Lead integrated annual planning processes, aligning budgets, resources, personnel plans, and programmatic priorities. 
• Monitor organizational performance dashboards and KPIs, providing regular updates and insights to the CEO and Board. 
• Strengthen CARE’s culture of performance, accountability, and learning by guiding teams in setting goals, tracking outcomes, and evaluating progress. 
• Partner closely with Finance, Operations, and Program teams to ensure resource allocation supports strategic priorities. 
• Develop planning tools that help teams assess return on investment, cost-efficiency, and opportunity costs related to new financing mechanisms across departments. 
• Ensure annual planning processes examine organization-wide resourcing needs and capacity, enabling CARE to prioritize investments that enable long-term financial resilience and innovation. 
• Work with Finance to align budgeting processes with strategic choices, including those that require upfront investment to unlock innovative financing or diversified revenue streams.