Corporate Strategy Associate

Company Overview: When you join Land O’Lakes, you are joining a Fortune 250 agribusiness and food production leader with more than 100 years of operations as a farmer- and member-owned cooperative. With business units spanning crop insights, animal nutrition, and dairy foods you will gain a purpose-driven, hands-on experience 

Team overview: The Corporate Strategy and Business Development team at Land O’Lakes leads high-profile projects and initiatives sponsored by Land O’Lakes Executive Leadership Team to support enterprise and business unit strategy and growth.  The team serves as trusted business partners across three disciplines – strategy formulation, industry and competitive insights, and M&A – to have a significant impact on the company’s strategy and performance.   

Position Overview: The Associate role provides a tremendous opportunity to deepen and broaden your knowledge of Land O’Lakes’ food and agribusiness segments, accelerated professional development, and exposure to the executive leadership team. Associates are integral members of project teams and manage critical growth initiative workstreams while partnering directly with internal business partners.  

Key Responsibilities: 

Strategic Planning: Support the development and implementation of corporate strategic plans in alignment with organizational goals, market trends, and competitive dynamics. Continuously assess and refine strategies to ensure responsiveness to evolving business landscapes. 

Market Industry Analysis and Insight: Partner with Economic Research team to develop comprehensive market analysis, including competitor benchmarking, industry trends, and customer insights. Translate findings into actionable recommendations to inform strategic decision-making processes. 

Strategic Growth Initiatives: Support strategic initiatives sponsored by executive leadership, with primary focus on growth, in consulting-like engagements. Develop rigorous, fact-based, quantitative analyses to support recommendations. Build and manage relationships with company executives, supporting and influencing decisions aligned with enterprise and business unit strategy. Collaborate cross-functionally and influence without authority to drive business decisions and advance long-term strategic efforts. 

Candidate Profile 

• Curious & Analytical – Intellectually curious with a proven ability to dig beyond surface-level information, conduct primary/secondary research, analyze complex data, and synthesize insights into actionable business implications.  

• Driven & Results-Oriented – Highly motivated self-starter with a strong sense of urgency and flexibility to manage multiple priorities; committed to delivering consistent, high-quality outcomes  

• Problem solver  – Skilled at transforming ambiguity into clarity by framing complex challenges into structured questions and actionable steps to validate or disprove hypotheses 

• Strong Collaborator – Trusted team player with a track record of quickly building credibility and influencing cross-functional teams; adept at partnering with business leaders to drive alignment and execution.  

• Excellent Communicator – Demonstrates professional confidence and clarity in verbal communication and presentations; proven ability to articulate complex business strategies effectively to executive leadership. 

• Business Acumen – Skilled in applying quantitative and qualitative strategic and financial frameworks to evaluate growth opportunities; brings foundational knowledge across key disciplines such as marketing, supply chain, and finance/accounting.  

Desired Experience and Education  

• BA is required
• 4 or more years of broad-based business/commercial experience in strategy, consulting, finance, marketing, or supply chain
• Proven experience working on high-impact projects and initiatives, including project management experience 
• Food and agribusiness industry experience a plus
• MBA Preferred

Salary range: $107,680 - $161.520 (in most cases, candidates offered employment can expect to be hired at a pay rate near the middle of our salary ranges) 

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