Senior Manager: Strategic Planning at Auditor-General of South Africa

Requirement Overview

This role is responsible for supporting the Business Unit Leader: Strategy in formulating and maintaining the AGSA and functional strategies, compiling strategic and functional plans and scorecards, formulating and aligning strategic initiatives that further the delivery of the AGSA’s constitutional mandate.

Roles & Responsibilities

Strategic Function:

• Support the Business Unit Leader in advising the top leadership on strategy formulation, strategic alignment, strategic plans compilation, implementation and execution, strategic process improvements, alignment and communication of strategies to all stakeholders.
• Develop the AGSA’s strategy and, at appropriate intervals, initiate and coordinate formal reviews of the strategy.
• Develop the AGSA’s 3-year rolling strategic plan and budget (the Blue Book), including the development of requisite presentations to various forums, e.g., Exco, BU Leaders’ Forum, Scoag, etc.
• Develop the AGSA balanced scorecard (BSC) with defined strategic goals, objectives, measures, and targets.
• Prepare formal strategic environmental analyses as an input for decision-making and strategy formulation, including the development of requisite presentations to various forums.
• Facilitate the development and maintenance of the strategy management tools (applications, central database, SharePoint sites, etc.).
• Develop strategic maps outlining causes and effects between objectives to communicate organisational strategy.
• Advise portfolios and business units in the AGSA on the formulation and alignment of portfolio and BU-specific BSCs.
• Develop and maintain strategic alignment mechanisms, e.g., strategy cascading guidelines, workshops, staff engagement sessions, BSC alignment tools, integration maps, and others as applicable and based on best practice at the time.
• Ensure adequate record-keeping for all strategic engagements, e.g., summaries, workshop reports, etc.
• Develop organisational strategic awareness and communication campaigns and requisite material.
• Develop and maintain the strategic planning framework and related policy and procedures, strategy management processes, and guiding documents.
• Analyse organisational performance and conduct environmental scanning to identify both internal and external factors that may impact the achievement of the organisational mandate and strategy.
• Conduct benchmarking studies and scenario planning exercises to identify alternative strategic options.
• Research, review, and analyse best practices in strategy management and available strategy management tools and apply such research in the improvement of the function. Ensure systems and processes remain at the desired maturity level.
• Analyse industry trends, applicable regulatory requirements, and their impact on the operation and the strategy of the organisation.
• Compile requisite narrative for the BU and the AGSA quarterly and annual reports.
• As part of the Strategy BU, ensure alignment with and contribute as required to the work of the other centres in the BU, e.g., provide input to the formulation of frameworks, policies, and procedures related to monitoring and evaluation of the strategy implementation and achievement.
• Provide subject matter support to the development of organisational policies and procedures.

Stakeholder Management:

• Build and maintain positive relationships with all members of staff and contacts within and outside the AGSA.
• Ensure that the reputation of the business unit and the organisation is preserved and enhanced in every stakeholder engagement.
• Facilitate the cooperation by various stakeholders in strategy formulation, cascading, implementation, and evaluation.
• At every opportunity, communicate the organisational strategy and the strategic goals and objectives to both internal and external stakeholders to further understanding of these by all relevant stakeholders.
• Engage with both internal and external stakeholders to identify and evaluate performance barriers and successes to continuously improve the compilation of the strategic plans.
• Liaise with relevant stakeholders in drawing environmental scanning reports.
• Provide subject matter advice to any stakeholder in the organisation.
• As part of the Strategy BU, ensure excellent communication with all members of the unit.
• Implement activities outlined in the BU Stakeholder engagement plan.

People Management:

• Provide leadership and direction for the centre.
• Motivate, coach, and mentor staff to ensure maximum productivity and development of the staff to their full potential.
• Manage own professional development and ensure the required continuous professional development credits are achieved. Attend all mandatory training required by the BU and the organisation.
• Manage the human capital in the centre which involves:
  • Determination of the mix and level of capability required to enable the centre to support BU and organisational objectives.
  • Development of job descriptions, performance guidelines, and manuals within the centre.
  • Performance management of the employees within the centre, setting performance objectives and targets, and providing regular, constructive feedback.
  • Instilling an ethical, high-performance culture based on trust and respect for the employees.
• Implement activities outlined in the BU’s People plan.
• Contribute to the AGSA and the BU’s transformation and culture plans.

Financial and Operational Management:

• Compile the centre budget and contribute to the development of the business unit’s budget.
• Manage the expenditure of the centre.
• Ensure adherence to all internal controls.
• Ensure correct interpretation and application of organisational policies.
• Contribute to the risk assessment and management activities in the BU.

Ad Hoc:

• Lead projects as and when required by the BU leader.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties as may be requested from time to time by the BU leader.

Skills, Experience & Education

Formal Education:

• Honours Degree/Post Graduate Diploma/Bachelor’s Degree (NQF Level 8).
• A Master’s degree (including an MBA) and registration with a relevant professional body will be advantageous.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years’ demonstrable experience in a strategic management role or 3-5 years’ experience in a senior management role.

• Strategy management – especially the development of performance scorecards, strategy maps, compilation of business plans, environmental analysis, and strategic intelligence gathering.
• Tracking the execution of strategies and performance plans.
• Data analysis and visualization.
• Strong business writing skills.
• Engaging with senior stakeholders.
• People management.
• Creativity and problem-solving.
• Good presentation and public speaking abilities.
• Proficiency with tools such as MS Excel, Projects, and Power BI.