Manager, Strategic Planning

Organization Unit: Risk Management and Strategic Planning

Reports to: Senior Advisor, Risk Management

Grade: SO5 / CG10

Date Published: 15 January 2025

Closing Date for Applications: 6 February 2025 at 9am CET

About CGIAR

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is conducted closely with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector.

About the position

The Risk Management and Strategic Planning team provides information, insights and advice to ensure that leaders are equipped with the information they need to achieve results and operational excellence. This involves tracking operational achievements and identifying how business practices can be improved to strengthen performance and outcomes achieved.

The Risk Management and Strategic Planning team works collaboratively with functional leaders to develop specific business strategies and associated plans. The team monitors the execution of these plans with a focus on continually improving efficiency and effectiveness and carries out a full evaluation of the results achieved.

The Risk Management and Strategic Planning team provides a robust approach to the management of risk across CGIAR through the development and implementation of an effective CGIAR Risk Management Framework. The team monitors operations according to the risk appetite determined and highlights concerns that are arising alongside how they should be addressed.

The Manager, Strategic Planning, is responsible for monitoring internal and external factors, ensuring the availability of accurate, complete, comparable and timely information to aid business decisions. This involves tracking and reporting on metrics relating to operational performance to assist with the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness. The Manager, Strategic Planning, identifies where improvements might be made and develops frameworks and processes to support operational implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop standards, processes and tools to effectively review and monitor internal and external factors affecting performance, delivery and overall institutional efficiency.
• Develop an approach to collating recommendations from audits, independent bodies and governance bodies and monitor the progress made towards full implementation.
• Revise and tailor approaches to achieving operational excellence through effective and efficient planning processes, including and monitoring execution and assessing results, that respond to organizational needs.
• Conducting research on trends and best practices, and data analysis to inform business decisions
• Implement a coherent method of benchmarking performance and the associated approach to risk management to support improved strategic decision-making.
• Engage with leaders across the System Organization to support them in developing a clear understanding of the planning process and how such process can support effective delivery of their objectives.
• Advise managers and teams on new approaches that will improve operational planning and performance and work with them to build capacity in delivering excellent outcomes.
• Make leaders aware of relevant information to facilitate strategic decision-making through regular reports and access to ad hoc information as required.
• Build collaborative networks which deepen the shared perspective on improving the effectiveness of operations.
• Organize the approaches to tracking commitments and delivery progress across the System Organization using a range of operational performance metrics.
• Organize the development of operational dashboards and ensure that the information gathered is accurate, reliable and easily accessible.
• Working closely with the Senior Advisor, Risk Management, evolve methods to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats across operations and propose changes to support the timely introduction of improvements.
• Optimize current System Organization internal reporting organizational tools to streamline processes and identify alternative approaches to align timelines to operating context.
• Evolve quality standards by incorporating new thinking and lessons learned.

Requirements

Education and Experience

• University Degree or equivalent in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field.
• Significant experience of project management and business improvement in a complex organization

Key Competences

• Demonstrated understanding of internal and external factors which affect operational effectiveness.
• Demonstrated knowledge of business operations and procedures
• Analytical mind with problem-solving aptitude
• Ability to influence, persuade and align thinking in approaches to operational delivery.
• Ability to advise people and to communicate clearly at all levels of seniority.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills and ability to work collaboratively with people at all levels in a decentralized, respectful, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary organization.
• Personal integrity and the ability to uphold the highest ethical standards by inspiring trust and treating all people with respect

Languages

Fluency in English essential to communicate in writing and speaking. Knowledge of a second language desirable.

The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position.

If you face challenges in submitting your application, please email recruitment@cgiar.org with the position title in the subject line.