General Motors

Business Planner, Buick & GMC - Global Marketing

General Motors • $110K — $130K *
Warren, MI 48089In-Person
Manufacturing & Automotive
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, finance, communications, strategy, or equivalent experience
  • 10+ years in business planning, marketing strategy, or related field
  • Experience in supporting senior leaders within a complex organization
  • Proven track record in strategic and budget planning
  • Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret incomplete information
  • Exceptional communication and presentation abilities
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities with sound judgment

Responsibilities

  • Lead the integrated marketing planning processes for Buick and GMC
  • Translate diverse priorities into coherent marketing strategies
  • Align global and regional marketing efforts while allowing local adaptations
  • Establish performance metrics and monitor business plan adherence
  • Evaluate trade-offs and build business cases for resource allocation
  • Facilitate high-level strategic initiatives across functions
  • Design governance structures to improve decision-making effectiveness

Benefits

  • Flexible hybrid work model
  • Opportunities for continuous learning and professional development
  • Engagement in high-impact marketing initiatives
  • Collaboration with senior leadership
  • Participation in a dynamic, cross-functional team environment
Full Job Description
Job Description
Business Planner, Buick & GMC - Global Marketing

About the Role

The Business Planner serves as a strategic business partner and operating integrator for the Buick and GMC Global Marketing organization. This Level 8 individual-contributor role connects brand strategy, product marketing, marketing strategy & intelligence, media, performance marketing, communications, customer engagement, sales, finance, agencies, and regional marketing teams.

The role translates enterprise and brand priorities into clear plans, investment choices, operating mechanisms, performance commitments, and executive decisions. The Business Planner brings structure to complex, global work; identifies risks and trade-offs; and drives alignment and accountability across a matrixed organization without relying on formal authority.

This position is not the owner of brand positioning, product marketing, creative execution, media activation, or channel strategy. Instead, it ensures that those disciplines are aligned to shared Buick and GMC priorities and are operating against measurable business, brand, customer, and commercial outcomes.

Key Responsibilities
Integrated Business Planning
  • Lead the annual, quarterly, and multi-year planning processes for Buick and GMC Global Marketing.
  • Translate brand, portfolio, product lifecycle, customer, market, and commercial priorities into integrated marketing plans.
  • Connect global priorities with regional and market-level plans while allowing appropriate local adaptation.
  • Maintain clear business-plan milestones, owners, dependencies, risks, and decision points.
  • Coordinate planning inputs across Brand Strategy, Product Marketing, MSI, Performance Marketing, Media, Social and Content, Communications, Customer Engagement, Sales, Finance, and regional teams.
Investment and Resource Planning
  • Evaluate trade-offs across brands, markets, nameplates, audiences, channels, and strategic initiatives.
  • Build business cases and recommendations that connect resources to expected brand, customer, demand, retail, and profitability outcomes.
  • Monitor plan-versus-actual performance and recommend reallocations or corrective actions when priorities or conditions change.
  • Partner with Finance and Human Resources to develop investment, budget, headcount, agency, and capability scenarios.
Performance Management and Business Intelligence
  • Establish and maintain an integrated scorecard for Buick and GMC marketing performance.
  • Connect brand health, consideration, creative effectiveness, media and channel performance, qualified demand, retail outcomes, dealer impact, and profitability measures where appropriate.
  • Partner with Marketing Strategy & Intelligence and analytics teams to ensure KPIs are objective-led, decision-relevant, and consistently interpreted.
  • Lead monthly, quarterly, and executive performance reviews, highlighting progress, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
  • Convert complex quantitative and qualitative information into clear, concise, decision-ready narratives.
Operating Cadence and Governance
  • Design and improve the operating rhythm for leadership meetings, business reviews, planning forums, and strategic initiative reviews.
  • Clarify decision rights, governance, handoffs, escalation paths, and accountability across global and local teams.
  • Create practical mechanisms that improve visibility, prioritization, speed, and follow-through.
  • Ensure leadership commitments are translated into actions, owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
  • Identify recurring friction points and redesign processes to improve effectiveness and employee experience.
Strategic Initiative Leadership
  • Lead or coordinate high-priority, cross-functional initiatives sponsored by Buick and GMC leadership.
  • Manage complex workstreams involving multiple functions, agencies, markets, and competing priorities.
  • Anticipate dependencies, surface issues early, and drive resolution of barriers.
  • Facilitate alignment when teams have differing objectives, timelines, investment needs, or perspectives.
  • Support launch, lifecycle, portfolio, customer, and commercial initiatives that require integrated marketing coordination.
Global and Local Alignment
  • Establish common planning principles, tools, and performance language across markets.
  • Partner with regional leaders to understand market-specific opportunities, constraints, and execution realities.
  • Identify scalable best practices and facilitate their adoption across markets.
  • Balance global consistency with local relevance, cultural context, customer needs, and market conditions.
Executive Counsel and Communications
  • Serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the CMO and senior marketing leadership.
  • Prepare executive presentations, business reviews, decision memos, talking points, and leadership updates.
  • Provide clear points of view, recommendations, and implications-not simply status reporting.
  • Exercise sound judgment, discretion, confidentiality, and political awareness when handling sensitive business matters.
  • Tailor communication style and level of detail to executives, functional leaders, regional partners, agencies, and broader employee audiences.
Continuous Improvement and Organizational Effectiveness
  • Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, automate, and improve marketing planning and reporting.
  • Introduce effective tools, templates, dashboards, and ways of working that increase transparency and reduce administrative burden.
  • Encourage disciplined experimentation, learning, and adoption of better practices.
  • Help strengthen the organization's planning capabilities by sharing frameworks, coaching partners, and raising the quality of strategic work.


Success Measures

Success in this role will be demonstrated through:
  • Higher-quality and more integrated Buick and GMC business plans.
  • Clearer prioritization and faster leadership decision-making.
  • Stronger alignment between global, regional, brand, product, and channel teams.
  • Improved visibility into investment, resource, milestone, and performance risks.
  • More effective allocation of marketing resources against business and brand priorities.
  • Consistent adoption of common KPIs, planning tools, and governance practices.
  • Improved execution of strategic initiatives and reduced cross-functional friction.
  • Increased confidence and trust among senior leaders and key partners.

Required Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, finance, communications, strategy, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
  • 10 or more years of experience in business planning, marketing strategy, marketing operations, corporate strategy, management consulting, program management, or a related discipline.
  • Experience supporting senior leaders in a complex, matrixed organization.
  • Demonstrated experience with strategic planning, budget or investment planning, resource allocation, and performance management.
  • Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to evaluate trade-offs and connect activity to outcomes.
  • Proven ability to lead complex initiatives across functions and geographies without direct authority.
  • Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and executive storytelling skills.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to interpret ambiguous or incomplete information.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities with autonomy, sound judgment, accountability, and attention to detail.
  • High integrity and discretion when handling confidential or sensitive information.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in automotive, mobility, consumer products, technology, retail, or another global consumer-facing business.
  • Experience in a global marketing organization, brand portfolio, agency, dealer, or tiered marketing environment.
  • Experience partnering with Brand Strategy, Product Marketing, Marketing Intelligence, Media, Performance Marketing, Communications, Customer Engagement, Sales, Finance, and regional teams.
  • Experience managing marketing budgets, agency investments, headcount plans, or operating forecasts.
  • Familiarity with marketing performance measurement, brand health, customer insights, creative effectiveness, media effectiveness, and commercial KPIs.
  • Experience with enterprise planning, workflow, dashboard, or data visualization tools.
  • MBA or advanced degree preferred.

Leadership Behaviors

The successful candidate will be:
  • Strategic and commercially minded: Connects brand ambition to business performance.
  • Low ego, high impact: Creates value through influence, clarity, and follow-through.
  • A systems thinker: Sees connections across brands, functions, markets, and initiatives.
  • Decisive in ambiguity: Frames problems, evaluates options, and recommends action.
  • Globally oriented: Respects local market expertise while advancing common standards.
  • A trusted partner: Builds credibility through judgment, rigor, discretion, and consistency.
  • Change-oriented: Improves processes and ways of working rather than maintaining activity for its own sake.
GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc).This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}.The selected candidate will be required to travel

About General Motors

General Motors Company engages in the manufacture and sale of cars and trucks in the United States, China, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. It offers sedans, crossovers, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, coupes, sports/convertibles and hybrid vehicles, hatchbacks/wagons, and vans, as well as mini cars in India. The company also provides parts and accessories, such as iPod and MP3 compatibility, mobility accessories, performance parts, AC parts and services, and merchandise. In addition, it offers vehicle safety, security, and information services. The company provides used vehicles. It offers its products through dealers and distributors. General Motors Company was formerly known as NGMCO, Inc. and changed its name to General Motors Company in July 2009. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Detroit, Michigan. It operates manufacturing facilities in India, the United States, and Canada. General Motors Company operates as a subsidiary of the United States Department of The Treasury. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer than any other automaker, and is currently among the world's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales. General Motors acts in most countries outside the USA via wholly-owned subsidiaries but operates in China through 10 joint ventures. GM's OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security, and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, and emerged from a government-backed Chapter 11 reorganization. In 2010, GM made an initial public offering IPOs to date and returned to profitability later that year.

General Motors Careers

Join the dynamic team at General Motors, a global leader in automotive innovation and technology. At General Motors, we offer unparalleled job opportunities that propel your career forward while contributing to a legacy of engineering excellence.

Work You’ll Do

Embark on a career with General Motors to drive the future of mobility. Our team is dedicated to redefining the automotive landscape through innovation and leadership in electric vehicles and sustainable solutions. By joining us, you will be part of a culture that values diversity, teamwork, and continuous professional growth.

Transform Your Career

General Motors is not just a company; it's a community where you can grow your skills alongside the best in the industry. Our leadership is committed to providing every employee—from interns to senior professionals—with opportunities for career advancement, leadership development, and diversity training.

Innovate and Lead

At General Motors, innovation is at the core of everything we do. From research and development to manufacturing, our teams work collaboratively to lead the industry with cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices. We encourage our employees to think big and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Join Our Global Team

As part of our global workforce, you will collaborate with talented individuals who are passionate about shaping the future of transportation. General Motors offers a variety of career paths in engineering, design, IT, marketing, and more. With over 155,000 employees worldwide, our network provides expansive opportunities for networking and professional development.

Internship Programs and Employment Benefits

Start your career journey with a General Motors internship, where you can apply your academic knowledge to real-world projects. Our internships provide a robust foundation in the automotive industry, with mentorship from experienced leaders. Full-time employees enjoy a wealth of benefits, including comprehensive health care, retirement plans, and performance bonuses, ensuring that your hard work is rewarded.

Explore Job Opportunities

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a recent graduate, General Motors offers positions that leverage your unique skills. Our hiring process is designed to identify and nurture talent, focusing on aligning your capabilities with the right opportunities for growth within the company.

Stay Connected

Join Our Team Search open positions that match your skills and interests. At General Motors, we look for innovative, driven, and solution-oriented team players. Explore the possibilities that await you in a career at General Motors.

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Customize your subscription to receive job alerts, latest news, and insider tips tailored to your preferences. Discover the exciting and rewarding career opportunities available at General Motors. Embark on a journey of growth, innovation, and leadership at General Motors. Shape your future in an environment that fosters diversity, learning, and the pursuit of excellence. Join us and redefine the roads of tomorrow.
Learn more about General Motors
Size
157,000 employees
Market Cap
$46.9 billion
Industry
Manufacturing & Automotive
Net Income
$6.4 billion
Founded
1908
5 Year Trend
-3.2%
Revenue
$122.4 billion
NASDAQ
GM
* Ladders Estimates

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