Senior Executive Strategic Operations Analyst

This role is four days onsite at our Seneca One Buffalo, NY location, with the flexibility to work from home one day per week

M&T Bank is seeking a highly analytical, collaborative Strategic Operations professional to help leaders plan, track, and deliver a portfolio of high-priority work across multiple businesses and functions. 

Day to day, this role turns “what we need to do” into a clear plan and a set of decision-ready updates—building simple but durable project artifacts (combining scope, milestones, risks, dependency & stakeholder maps) - translating quantitative & qualitative data and business updates into concise insights, and creating executive-ready materials (briefing decks, status readouts, options/recommendations). The ideal candidate can bring structure to evolving priorities, run an effective operating cadence with partners, and communicate clearly with stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership. 

• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from planning through execution, including defining scope, objectives, deliverables, timelines, risks, dependencies, and stakeholder roles. 

• Bring structure to ambiguous business problems by clarifying priorities, organizing workstreams, identifying key decisions, and establishing a practical path forward. 

• Analyze data, updates, and business context to identify trends, risks, gaps, and non-obvious insights that inform decision-making. 

• Develop executive-ready materials including presentations, briefings, project updates, recommendations, and decision support for senior leaders. 

• Partner with stakeholders across business lines and functions to gather requirements, align priorities, manage expectations, and drive initiatives forward. 

• Monitor project performance and execution risk including scope, schedule, budget, dependencies, issues, change controls, and corrective actions. 

• Exercise sound judgment and influence by determining when to escalate, when to independently resolve issues, and when to respectfully challenge assumptions or direction. 

• Support strategic transformation and operational improvement through process enhancement, change management, reporting, and execution support. 

• Maintain adherence to risk, regulatory, audit, compliance, and internal control standards in accordance with M&T Bank requirements. 

  Promote an environment that supports belonging and reflects M&T Bank brand. 

• Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators as applicable.

• Complete other related duties as assigned.

• Operating in ambiguity 

• Structured thinking and problem solving 

• Strategic analysis and data-driven storytelling 

• Executive communication and presentation development 

• Stakeholder management and influence 

• Judgment, prioritization, and escalation discipline 

• Cross-functional project and initiative management 

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 4 years’ proven project management experience, or in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 8 years’ higher education and/or work experience, including a minimum of 4 years’ project management experience.

• Strong analytical, critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

• Experience managing complex projects, initiatives, or workstreams involving multiple stakeholders or functional areas. 

• Experience translating complex information into clear insights, recommendations, presentations, or executive-level updates.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint. 

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage ambiguity, influence stakeholders, and bring structure to evolving priorities. 

• Experience in financial services, technology, operations, or another highly regulated industry.

• Experience supporting strategic transformation, organizational change, process improvement, or enterprise-wide initiatives. 

• Familiarity with data visualization or reporting tools such as Power BI or Tableau. 

• Experience working with senior leaders, cross-functional teams, or matrixed organizations.