Strategic Planning & Program Enablement Senior Manager

Who are we looking for? 

Choice Hotels has an exciting opportunity for a Strategic Planning & Program Enablement Senior Manager within the Segment & Commercial organization. This role leads the processes, tools, and governance that help Segment and Commercial leaders translate priorities into plans and move owner-facing initiatives from planning through activation. 

Working closely with Segment and Commercial Leadership, Program Leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders, this role will manage strategic planning and initiative management processes while owning the Program Activation framework and Deployment Blueprint. The position will continuously improve how the organization plans and activates its priorities, including through AI-enabled tools and automation. 

This highly visible role is ideal for a strong operator and strategic problem solver who enjoys creating structure, improving how organizations work, and helping leaders and teams turn priorities into action. 

Your Responsibilities  

Strategic Planning & Initiative Management 

• Lead the Segment and Commercial planning process, coordinating timelines, templates, leader inputs, and annual plans. 

• Maintain the single source of truth for Segment and Commercial initiatives, including progress, milestones, risks, dependencies, and decisions. 

• Prepare recurring leadership business reviews, consolidating updates and materials to assess progress and priorities. 

• Support leadership prioritization by organizing initiative needs, dependencies, and tradeoffs across the portfolio. 

• Coordinate with performance teams to connect initiatives to appropriate measurement and continuously improve planning processes and tools. 

Program Activation & Enablement 

• Own and evolve the program activation approach, including deployment guidance, tools, templates, and resources that help Program Leaders successfully bring programs to franchisees. 

• Manage program intake and the activation pipeline, assessing owner impact and maintaining visibility into upcoming launches, timing, and activation needs. 

• Partner directly with Program Leaders on high-priority programs to develop activation plans, align cross-functional stakeholders, and prepare the organization and franchisees for rollout. 

• Run activation governance and readiness reviews, surfacing key risks, dependencies, decisions, and upcoming launches to Segment and Commercial leadership. 

• Improve and scale the activation capability by incorporating feedback and deployment learnings and developing AI-enabled tools that make activation guidance easier to access and use. 

Your Experience, Skills & Competencies  

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Strategy, Operations, Organizational Leadership, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience. 

• 5+ years of experience in strategic planning, program management, business operations, consulting, transformation, change management, implementation, or related disciplines. 

• Experience leading complex cross-functional processes and initiatives involving senior leaders, multiple stakeholders, and competing priorities. 

• Experience developing and managing governance models, program activation frameworks, implementation processes, or similar organizational capabilities. 

• Demonstrated ability to build, improve, and scale processes, tools, and ways of working. 

• Experience supporting organizational readiness, stakeholder alignment, and adoption for large-scale programs or initiatives. 

• Strong facilitation, communication, and executive presentation skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information for senior leaders. 

• Strong judgment and organizational skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, anticipate needs, connect information across workstreams, and proactively identify issues and opportunities. 

• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI and automation to improve processes, productivity, and user experience. 

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Teams, and SharePoint. 

• Demonstrates key competencies - Action Oriented, Drives Results, Cultivates Innovation  

SALARY RANGE

The salary range for this position is $114,907 - $140,184. In addition to the annual salary, this role is eligible for an annual bonus based on the terms of Choice's Management Incentive Plan (MIP).

Choice prioritizes our associate wellbeing by offering a comprehensive benefits program that is both competitive and flexible to help you achieve your wellbeing goals - here are just a few:

• Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance
• Financial benefits for retirement and health savings
• Employee recognition programs
• Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide

About Choice

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With 7,500 hotels in 45+ countries and territories, we offer a range of high-quality lodging options in the upper upscale, upper midscale, midscale, extended stay, and economy segments. We’re the hotel company for those who choose to bet on themselves — the striver, the dreamer, the entrepreneur — because that’s who we are, too.

At Choice, we are united by the simple belief that tomorrow will be even better than today — for associates, our company, and our franchisees. At our worldwide corporate headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland, at our technology center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and through our associates around the globe, every voice is heard and every idea is listened to, no matter what area of the company they come from. We are united in supporting the entrepreneurial dreams of our thousands of franchise owners, which propels us forward — giving our work at Choice a purpose larger than our business.

Our corporate office locations:

North Bethesda, MD — Located at Pike & Rose, our worldwide headquarters is less than 15 miles from Washington, D.C., one block away from the North Bethesda Metro station, with easy access to I-495, complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Scottsdale, AZ — Located at the northwest corner of Loop 101, the Scottsdale office is home to our technology, eCommerce and customer service organizations, with easy access to complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Minneapolis, MN — Select roles are based in our Minneapolis office on Highway 394, near the intersection with Highway 100, only five minutes from downtown.

Field/Remote — Select roles designated as field/remote will require associates to work from a home office, connecting virtually with Choice team members and leadership on Zoom, with possible required travel depending on the role.  

Choice’s Cultural Values

Welcome and Respect Everyone | Be Bold | Be Quick | Listen | Be Curious | Show Integrity

Choice’s Leadership Principles

Act with Intention | Lead with Authenticity | Grow & Deliver