Data Strategy and Transformation Lead at Christian Aid (CA)

Department: Chief Executive’s Office
Reports to: Director of Strategy and Change
Type of Contract: Permanent
Contracted hours: 35
Contract length: Fixed Term (3 Years)

Role Purpose

• As part of the Strategy and Change team(S&GC), this role will work through new and existing structures to challenge and champion the use of high-quality data to enable decision makers to monitor organisational health, assess strategic alignment to corporate priorities, and progress against strategy.
• You will be responsible for working across Christian Aid to develop a coherent overall view on how performance related data is turned into actionable insights, both in terms of how data is made available and in terms of how people actively engage with the data once it is made available.
• You will own the direction and coordination of the data exploitation and business intelligence portfolio across the operational environment, and all business functions that will enable and support CA outputs such that it is fully optimised and enabled with data capability.
• 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:
Defining and implementing a high-level data strategy:

• Data Strategy: Lead the development of a business intelligence capability within the organisation, driving the function forward and introducing new partnerships, data technologies and methods, leveraging best practice, innovation and the continual evolution of business intelligence. Drive operational advantage and deliver business efficiencies by leading the adoption and value realisation of the data strategy
• Alignment with Global Strategic: Working closely with the Corporate Planning and Reporting Lead you will challenge and champion the use of high-quality data to enable decision makers to monitor organisational health, assess strategic alignment to corporate priorities, and progress against our global strategy Standing Together across the organisation

Drive forward organisational business intelligence capability and culture:

• Data driven intelligence: Identify areas where transformational value can be added from application of new data approaches and lead and influence to realise the value, Build and manage the portfolio of data capability projects needed to support our work, asserting the authority and influence of the function.
• Organisational Development: Drive awareness of new central data capabilities that may add value and support customers and programmes. Mature, implement and champion the organisations approach to business intelligence.
• 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.
• Accountability for the definition of data requirements specification method approach and standards, Interface and influence all aspects of our work to understand data requirements; assure their alignment to corporate strategy and priorities, building and solidifying core capability to drive clear business outcomes and to ensure that data expertise is embedded as required to functional standards for data specification;

Develop corporate-level dashboards, insight reports and related data for decision-making processes:

• Dashboard and data visualisation: Working closely with departmental data and dashboard owners across Christian Aid, lead the integration of reporting systems )Programme Management, CRM, Finance, People etc) to build and maintain corporate dashboards aligned to the corporate strategy and planning cycles.
• Ensure key metrics are brought together in meaningful and accessible dashboards which tell a clear and intentional story.
• Business Analysis: Enable the effective analysis and tracking of business trends and results.
  • Provide the information required to enable decision makers (from Trustees to Executive team to business owners) to have business intelligence to respond effectively to results and external factors and to hold each other accountable for impact and outputs.
  • the value from delivered data capabilities and products and ensure the portfolio of demand realises their expected value
• KPI development. Ensure key corporate performance indicators are consistent, logical and provide assurance around the core priorities and strategic direction.

A typical day might include:

• Continuous improvement of our Business Intelligence functionality, compiling and analysing the data form our dashboards and ensuring stakeholders have the information they need in a clear and available form
• Facilitation of architectural discussions for our data platforms
• Guiding decisions on the best techniques to be applied to varying datasets and scenarios
• Pairing and hands-on work that makes the most of your experience but doesn't block the critical path
• Developing mechanisms to fill data gaps and find new and accessible ways of gaining data across of work whether through programmes, systems, learning, planning or dashboard generation
• Shaping and tracking key organisational KPIs ensuring strategic alignment to priorities
• Setting our data vision, inspiring and enabling data champions across Christian to deliver impact through data
• Mentoring and developing our data champions and users spotting opportunities to help them accelerate
• Establishing a framework of idea to experimentation and production workload

Role agility:

• Expected national travel: Occasional travel
• Expected international travel per annum: No travel
• On call/unsocial hours No
• Surge capacity for emergency responses: 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 Corporate Planning and Reporting 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 be a data visionary with a passion for the transformational impact of data on business outcomes.
• You’ll be an advocate for this across Christian Aid and will help us use our organisational data to eradicate the injustice of poverty.
• You’ll work with data experts from across the organisation, creating a strategic plan of how we can maximise the impact of data to improve our effectiveness, upskilling and mentoring to make sure we’re ahead of the game.
• One of your first goals will be to collaborate closely with colleagues from across Christian Aid to build the impact of data on our Business Intelligence and beyond.

Role Requirements
Relationships:

External:

• Strong external networks to stay ahead of the game 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 data analysts.
• Decision making - strong commercial acumen as well as data expertise to enable effective decision-making, often with incomplete data.
• Budgetary responsibility - Able to assimilate budgets to ensure programmes remain on track for cost delivery and to ensure best use of resources on our digital and data projects.

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 technicalinformation to make commercial decisions about how to use of finite data resources.
• You require a high level of influencing skills with client teams and colleaguesacross divisions, along with the ability to create and present clear, impactful communications to Directors as required.
• 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 data and its impact.
• You are expected to maintain an up to date understanding of data and digital trends and a strong external network.
• 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.

Person Specification
Applied skills / knowledge and expertise

• Proven track record of leading transformation within organisations to data driven decision making and of building data driven business intelligence
• Strong ability to understand strategy and business priorities and to ensure that the appropriate change initiatives are in place to deliver accordingly
• Extensive experience of designing, building and deploying BI solutions using Microsoft Power BI or equivalent
• Skilled at analysing large and varied data sets, visualising key insights and ability to monitor trends though the use of corporate dashboards
• Experience of capturing user requirements in a structured manner and the confidence to discern and match data solutions to user need Skilled at connecting across functions and with people at all levels to bring together data from multiple sources, building strong relationships with data owners and users across the organisation
• Deep knowledge and experience of business operations and needs in a similar sized organisation
• Able to build organisational capacity on data analysis and provide support and guidance for stakeholders in project ideas (some of whom have limited experience of digital projects)
• Strong project analysis and management skills and able to consider ‘the art of the possible’ - understanding of what is technically possible for a specific project and able to identify and proactively manage project risks and issues
• Excellent communication skills; written, oral and visual.
• Ability to work with people at all levels both internally and externally, excellent interpersonal skills and experience of successful engagement across a wide variety of stakeholders.
• A commitment to Christian Aid’s vision, mission, values and analytical framework

Desirable:

• Experience in data visualisation and a good eye for design to present information with clarity
• Experience using digital channels to improve impact measurement, organisational performance, supporter and volunteer engagement.
• Experience of working in an international NGO and familiarity with international development theories/trends and programmatic work.
• Understanding of international development and global measures for poverty eradication

Digital / IT competencies required:

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint: Advanced
• Web content design & development: N/A
• Internet based collaboration tools and video calling: Advanced
• Social Media: Intermediate
• Data Visualisation: Advanced.

Salary
N25,622,246 Full time.