Corporate Planning and Reporting Lead at Christian Aid (CA)

Department: Chief Executive’s Office
Reports to: Director of Strategy and Global Change
Type of Contract: Permanent
Contracted hours: 35
Contract length: Fixed Term (3 Years)
Salary Band: B mid
Competency level: 4

Role Purpose

• As part of the Strategy and Global Change team (S&GC), this post holder of this role will work through new and existing structures to challenge and champion strategic alignment to corporate priorities and the Global Strategy across the organisation.
• You will be responsible for working across Christian Aid to lead the corporate planning and reporting cycle ensuring departmental SMT’s and other senior managers are aligned in their implementation, monitoring, communication and assessment of the corporate strategy priorities.
• You will identify and work with key stakeholders to ensure that the delivery and mainstreaming of planning processes are supported by accurate reports and business intelligence.
• Throughout the role you will take responsibility for modelling the enabling culture required to realise the transformational impacts of the global strategy.
• This is people and processes-oriented role that includes advising internal customers (users) on complex, inter-dependent and potentially contentious issues and leading the cultural change required to ensure quality use of data across the organisation.

Key Outcomes:

• Alignment with Global Strategic: Working closely with the Data Strategy and Transformation Lead you will challenge and champion strategic alignment to corporate priorities , and progress against our global strategy Standing Together across the organisation
• Strategic oversight: Work with the Director of S&GC to enable the Board, directorate and senior leadership team to access and engage with plans and reports at a strategic level, to stimulate strategic thinking and help ensure we are accountable and delivering with impact.
• Planning and Performance Processes: Lead on the design, maintenance and review of the corporate planning and reporting cycle, and other strategic corporate processes working closely with internal stakeholders across the organisation to ensure quality engagement and consistency of approach
• Lead and drive change: actively champion standardisation, coherence, use of information and spearhead for a culture that uses data for high quality decision making, through education, training, and setting standards across a set of stakeholders and their programmes.
• Strategic coherence: Ensure that the articulation of our priorities and incentives are embedded in the planning and performance processes reflect our understanding of poverty, power and prophetic voice, and encourage design and delivery of transformational programming.
• Organisational Development: Provide leadership and creative solutions to stimulate strategic thinking and to strengthen the confidence and capabilities of key actors in the strategy, planning and reporting cycle
• Business Analysis: Works with the Data Strategy and Transformation Lead to ensure that reporting systems facilitate the right information to enable senior decision makers to respond effectively to results and external factors in order to maintain impact and accountability
• Communications: Lead on communications to senior management and the wider organisation on corporate plans to provide a clear strategic direction and on reports to celebrate achievement and impact and foster a culture of accountability.
• Reporting: Lead on the process for reporting performance against plans and ensure that the corporate strategy is reported on accurately to key stakeholders through regular reports to management and the Board and through Christian Aid’s Annual Report & Accounts

Role agility:

• Expected national travel per annum: Occasional travel
• Expected International travel per annum: No travel
• On call/unsocial hours: No
• Surge capacity: No
• In order to respond to ever changing demands within the environment, Christian Aid operates within an agile framework (both in workforce and operational) that requires from all employees, a high level of responsiveness and adaptiveness to processes and structures making flexibility and a project based working approach the norm.
• To sustain this system, managers may/will agree further details of specific tasks and duties as part of the performance agreement.
• Any reasonable duty may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility, and employees may be required to change the focus of their role from time to time.

Role Context:

• This role is based in the Strategy and Global Change team, a small agile team that drives change through leveraging and inspiring relationships across business owners.
• The team sits within the Chief Executive’s office and you will work in close collaboration with the Data Strategy and Transformation Lead to ensure corporate priorities are developed, planned, tracked, delivered and reported upon.
• Our corporate strategy Standing Together was launched in 2019 and runs to 2026. You will ensure that there are clear processes for translating strategy into plans through current annual plans, three year rolling plan and future iterations of the strategy.
• You will have a passion for the transformational impact of great planning and reporting on business outcomes.
• You’ll be an advocate for this across Christian Aid and will help us use our planning, reporting mechanisms and accountability practices to eradicate the injustice of poverty.
• You’ll work with experts from across the organisation to improve our effectiveness, upskilling and mentoring to make sure we’re ahead of the game.

Role Requirements
Relationships:

• External: Strong external networks to ensure Christian Aid is at the cutting edge of best practice within the sector and great relationships with supplier partners, while able to negotiate and influence effectively
• Internal: Influencing and delivery through others. Able to inspire colleagues with a vision and then provide the rigour to deliver. Comfortable and effective at all levels, from trustees and directors to reporting leads within departments.

Decision Making:

• Demonstrates confidence and uses initiative and judgment when making recommendations on interventions.
• Influences others, including senior leaders, to reach good planning decisions aligned to corporate strategy
• Holds decision making responsibility for planning and reporting processes and ensures all corporate reporting processes are well managed and well-aligned.

Analytical Skills:

• The role is complex, requiring you to interpret incomplete data and make recommendations in an uncertain and rapidly evolving operating environment. You will need to assimilate large amounts of detailed and technical information to make commercial decisions about how to use of finite data resources.
• You require a high level of influencing skills with client teams and colleagues across divisions, along with the ability to create and present clear, impactful communications to Directors as required.

Developing Self and Others:

• Number of Direct reports: 1
• Overall people management responsibility: n/a
• You are a strong leader and influencer.
• The Strategy and Global change team is a small agile team that drives change through leveraging and inspiring relationships across business owners.
• The team sits within the Chief Executive’s office and you will work in close collaboration with the corporate and planning lead to ensure corporate priorities are tracked and delivered.
• You are able to motivate others and build capacity outside your immediate workgroup and have an infectious enthusiasm for great planning, accountability and their impact.
• You are expected to keep abreast of professional developments and cutting edge thinking on effective strategy and planning, including the integration of digital systems and solutions, both to maintain their own knowledge and to enable Christian Aid to develop its performance practice.
• The role holder will be expected to demonstrate a reflective approach to personal learning.
• Actively seeking feedback from others and acting upon it to improve personal performance.

Role related checks:

• DBS clearance: Standard
• Counter-terrorism screening: Not required

Person Specification
Applied Skills / Knowledge and Expertise:

Essential:

• Experience in leading planning and performance processes in a complex organisation
• Proven track record in leading reporting cycles across a range of qualitative and quantitative data sources to communicate and assess impact
• Experience of working effectively with organisational boards, directorates and other senior leaders
• A high level of business intelligence and experience of working across departments with diverse functions including finance
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage diverse internal audiences, including facilitating workshops and group meetings to ensure that corporate level processes are accessible, effective and understood by the users
• Ability to negotiate with, influence and persuade others in a collaborative manner resulting in buy-in to changes in ways of working and behaviour
• A creative, strategic and lateral thinker who combines big picture thinking with practical application
• Highly motivated team player with the ability to take satisfaction in the success of the organisation rather than individual projects
• Experience of producing global Annual Reports or similar publications
• A commitment to Christian Aid’s vision, mission, values and analytical framework

Desirable:

• Qualification in performance monitoring and evaluation practice / management / business administration.
• Experience of planning systems that enable critical reflection and learning
• Experience of working in an international NGO and familiarity with international development theories/trends and programmatic work.

Digital / IT Competencies Required:

• Word, Excel, Power Point: Advanced
• Web content design & development: Basic
• Internet-based collaboration tools and video calling: Advanced
• Social Media: Intermediate
• Data Visualization: Intermediate

Salary
N25,622,246 per anum.