What are the responsibilities and job description for the Strategic Planning Manager position at Mobile Beacon?
Title: Strategic Planning Manager
FLSA Status: Exempt
Date: July 2026
Work Environment: Office
Company Description:
Mobile Beacon strengthens communities across the United States by providing high-speed, low-cost, mobile internet access to the anchors of communities: the nonprofits, schools, libraries, museums, and healthcare organizations that provide vital services to millions of Americans every day. With our broadband service, these organizations have an essential tool they need to fulfill their missions and maximize their philanthropic impact. Our anytime, anywhere connectivity allows them to access more, reach more, and help more in their communities.
We are passionate about what we do and we are looking to grow our team with people who share our commitment as a mission-based organization and who would enjoy helping nonprofit organizations better serve their communities. It is an exciting time to join as we are experiencing tremendous growth and demand.
Position Summary:
Reporting to The Executive Director
The Strategic Planning Manager is responsible for establishing and leading Mobile Beacon's organizational planning and execution discipline. This role is responsible for transforming organizational goals into comprehensive, actionable plans that align teams, resources, priorities, and cross-functional execution.
The Strategic Planning Manager is not responsible for managing a specific operational department. Rather, this role ensures that all departments contribute effectively to organizational planning, execute against agreed-upon priorities, and operate within a disciplined framework for decision-making, forecasting, resource allocation, and accountability.
This individual serves as a strategic partner to the Executive Director and leadership team, ensuring that decisions are supported by data, recommendations are developed through thoughtful analysis, and initiatives are executed with clarity, ownership, and measurable results. The successful candidate will be a highly analytical operator who combines strategic thinking, planning discipline, financial and operational modeling, and strong execution leadership.
Core Responsibilities:
Organizational Planning & Prioritization
● Facilitate and lead strategic planning sessions and organizational goal-setting activities.
● Translate strategic objectives into actionable annual, quarterly, and monthly roadmaps with clear
ownership and success measures.
● Develop and maintain the organization's integrated operating plan that provides visibility into
priorities, timelines, dependencies, risks, and resource requirements.
● Facilitate prioritization discussions and help leadership make informed tradeoff decisions.
Strategic Initiative Management
● Oversee planning and execution of the organization's highest-priority initiatives.
● Ensure initiatives are fully scoped before execution begins.
● Establish clear goals, success metrics, ownership, timelines, and dependencies.
● Monitor progress and proactively address execution risks.
● Lead post-implementation reviews and capture organizational learnings.
Forecasting, Modeling & Decision Support
● Develop forecasting and planning models to support organizational decision-making.
● Partner with department leaders to forecast demand, capacity, staffing needs, and organizational
impact.
● Evaluate alternative scenarios and present leadership with clear recommendations and associated
tradeoffs.
● Improve the organization's overall forecasting and planning capabilities.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Accountability
● Drive alignment across departments and ensure coordinated execution of organizational priorities.
● Identify gaps in ownership and execution and work with leaders to address them.
● Surface and resolve assumptions, competing priorities, resource constraints, and change
management. Escalate risks, delays, and unresolved decisions when appropriate.
● Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and proactive problem-solving.
● Hold teams accountable to planning commitments, deliverables, timelines and organizational
priorities.
Organizational Performance & Reporting
● Provide the Executive Director with clear visibility into organizational performance, initiative progress,
resource constraints, and emerging risks.
● Prepare executive dashboards, planning materials, forecasts, and strategic analyses.
● Synthesize information from multiple departments into concise recommendations and decision-ready
presentations.
● Establish and monitor organizational performance metrics. Partner with department leaders to
improve measurement, reporting, and accountability.
● Provide leadership with visibility into progress against strategic objectives.
● Ensure decisions are supported by accurate and actionable data.
Education & Experience
● Bachelor's degree required; MBA or related graduate degree preferred.
● Project Management Certification.
● 3-5 years of experience in strategic planning, program management, business operations, consulting,
portfolio management, organizational effectiveness, or related leadership roles.
● Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional initiatives.
● Experience developing planning processes, forecasting models, and executive-level
recommendations.
● Strong analytical, financial, and operational modeling capabilities.
● Experience working directly with executive leadership teams.
● Experience building alignment across multiple departments and stakeholders.
Knowledge, Skills & Competencies
● Exceptional strategic thinking and business judgment.
● Strong forecasting, modeling, and analytical skills.
● Ability to synthesize complex information into actionable recommendations.
● Demonstrated ability to challenge assumptions and drive accountability.
● Excellent facilitation, communication, and presentation skills.
● High level of ownership, urgency, and follow-through.
● Strong organizational and prioritization skills.
● Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment where priorities evolve.
● Strong data orientation and comfort working with dashboards, reporting tools, and business
intelligence systems.
● Commitment to Mobile Beacon's mission and values.
The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
NOTE: This job description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job and is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Employees may perform other related duties as assigned to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.