Lead, Strategy Manager, Basketball/Kobe

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for a Lead, Strategy Manager who will work with the Director of Basketball Strategy and executive Basketball/Kobe leadership to develop and implement Nike Basketball’s global long-term strategy, identify and evaluate critical strategic priorities, and catalyze action against these priorities through business planning processes. Nike Basketball is the team that sets the pace for WNBA/NBA partnerships, Kobe brand, signature Basketball athletes, and global Basketball holistically.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional strategic thinker, problem solver, and collaborator who thrives in ambiguity and is energized by helping leaders make critical decisions. This person will bring a balance of analytical rigor, business acumen, and communication excellence to influence the future direction of one of Nike's most important and visible dimensions. This role will:

• Direct & execute analysis and due diligence for new growth opportunities, leading to actionable recommendations

• Lead strategic project workstreams leveraging sound hypotheses and rigorous frameworks, pushing beyond analytics & research to insight

• Catalyze the execution of actionable plans with senior leaders and their functional teams

• Align and lead senior teams through ambiguity in a complex organizational matrix, providing project management support to cross-functional teams, including coordinating process milestones and deliverables

• Collaborate with various cross-functional teams throughout the business to prepare business reviews, scorecards, and materials for strategic workshops

What You Will Work On

As a Lead, Basketball/Kobe Strategy, you will support Nike's Senior Leadership Team, partnering heavily with Finance, Insights & Analytics, Corporate Development & other cross-functional Strategy teams, help lead the strategic planning process, develop strategic recommendations, and serve as a trusted thought partner to senior leaders on the most important opportunities and challenges facing the business. You will independently lead cross-functional teams and strategic initiatives through three primary bodies of work:

• Building Integrated Growth Plans: Drive integrated actions that help Nike Inc. win with athletes* and consumers while delivering sustainable growth. Partner with leaders to answer complex strategic questions, align and mobilize cross-functional teams around shared priorities, and translate long-term strategies into actionable plans that accelerate business and organizational impact.

• Developing Future Strategies: Identify and shape Nike Inc.’s next growth opportunities beyond the core business. Through long-range planning and strategic exploration, develop frameworks, insights, and recommendations that help leaders evaluate emerging trends, unlock new growth vectors, and make informed choices about where Nike should invest for the future.

• Assessing Impact: Measure progress against strategic priorities and help leaders focus resources on the highest-impact opportunities. Diagnose performance, identify key learnings, develop KPIs, and communicate clear recommendations that strengthen decision-making, improve execution, and drive continuous improvement over time.

What You Bring to Nike

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Economics, Applied Science or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training

• Masters degree preferred

• 5+ years of experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, investment banking, corporate finance, business operations, business development, corporate development, or a related field

• Experience in leading sophisticated strategic projects and proven success in leading a methodical process of analyzing problems, gathering information, generating options, then proposing and acting on a course of action

• Proven success influencing cross-functional teams and stakeholders without direct authority

• Consistent track record of pulling together diverse individuals with different goals and facilitating productive discussions

• Strong understanding of growth strategy, business performance, and value creation within consumer-facing industries

• Experience in apparel, footwear, retail, consumer products, sports, or adjacent industries preferred

• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to create structure from ambiguity and synthesize large amounts of information into actionable insights

• Outstanding communication and written / verbal storytelling capabilities, with the ability to simplify complexity and influence executive audiences

• Bias towards action and comfortable working in ambiguity, and ability to work through complexity and adversity

• Advanced presentation and business communication skills, including proficiency with Keynote and other presentation tools

• Ability to balance strategic thinking with operational pragmatism and execution focus

• Strong interpersonal skills with a track record of building trust and credibility across diverse teams and leadership levels

• Curiosity, demonstrated learning agility, and a growth mindset

• Passion for sport, athletes, consumers, and products a plus

• Business development, quantitative & qualitative acumen

• Strategic planning 

• Project management in a cross-functional, global matrix environment  

We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed. If you discover, as you navigate our application process, that you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Candidate Accommodation Request Form.