Sr Rail Partner Strategy Analyst

Job Summary

The Senior Rail Partner Strategy Analyst serves as a key contributor to the development, growth, and performance of the company's short line railroad partnerships. This role is responsible for leading analytical efforts, supporting strategic partner engagement initiatives, identifying commercial growth opportunities, and providing insights that drive mutually beneficial business outcomes.

The Senior Analyst works directly with short line leaders, commercial decision-makers, and internal stakeholders to strengthen partnerships, advance growth strategies, improve service performance, and support long-term business development initiatives. This position requires a highly analytical and relationship-focused professional capable of independently managing projects, influencing stakeholders, and translating complex information into actionable recommendations.

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Primary Activities and Responsibilities

Strategic Short Line Partnership Management

- Develop and maintain strong working relationships with short line leaders, commercial teams, and key industry stakeholders.
- Serve as a primary commercial liaison supporting a portfolio of short line partners and assisting in the execution of strategic partnership initiatives.
- Lead and coordinate recurring business reviews with short line partners to assess performance, identify opportunities, and align on joint growth objectives.
- Support the development and execution of partnership strategies designed to strengthen commercial relationships and expand rail market opportunities.
- Identify, evaluate, and advance joint business development opportunities that drive incremental revenue growth for both organizations.
- Facilitate collaboration between short line partners and internal business units to support customer growth, service improvements, and operational alignment.
- Track and communicate partner priorities, investment initiatives, infrastructure developments, and emerging opportunities to internal stakeholders.
- Represent the company in short line meetings, industry associations, customer forums, and commercial engagement activities.
- Support management of strategic partner engagement programs, including partner scorecards, relationship plans, growth pipelines, and executive engagement efforts.
- Assist in planning and coordinating short line conferences, caucus meetings, industry association activities, and partnership development events that strengthen relationships and promote commercial growth.

Commercial Growth & Business Development

- Lead market research and commercial analysis efforts to identify new customer opportunities, commodity growth prospects, and market expansion initiatives.
- Develop business cases, financial analyses, revenue forecasts, and strategic recommendations supporting growth opportunities.
- Maintain and track short line growth opportunity pipelines, including project status, anticipated volumes, revenue potential, and implementation milestones.
- Support joint customer development efforts through market intelligence, competitive analysis, and commercial planning.
- Partner with Sales, Industrial Development, and Marketing teams to identify opportunities for truck-to-rail conversion, network expansion, and incremental business growth.
- Identify trends and opportunities that improve network utilization, strengthen rail competitiveness, and enhance customer value.

Service Performance & Operational Coordination

- Develop and maintain dashboards, scorecards, reporting tools, and KPIs related to partner performance, interchange activity, service metrics, and commercial growth.
- Analyze interchange performance and operational trends to identify improvement opportunities and support data-driven decision-making.
- Lead analytical efforts supporting service issue resolution, escalation management, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Coordinate with Operations, Network Planning, Customer Service, Marketing, and partner railroads to address service challenges and improve customer outcomes.
- Monitor and communicate service performance metrics to internal leadership and external partners.
- Support development of service improvement initiatives that strengthen partner satisfaction and improve network fluidity.

Strategic Planning & Leadership Support

- Prepare executive-level presentations, reports, briefing materials, and strategic recommendations for senior leadership.
- Support development and implementation of short line engagement strategies, commercial growth initiatives, and partnership programs.
- Analyze industry trends, competitive developments, regulatory changes, and market conditions to identify risks and opportunities.
- Lead or support special projects focused on partner development, network growth, infrastructure investment, and long-term strategic planning.
- Assist with evaluation and prioritization of growth initiatives, infrastructure opportunities, and partnership investments based on commercial impact and strategic value.
- Provide analytical methodologies, reporting processes, and best practices as appropriate.