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About the Role

As part of the Strategy Office, the Strategic Planning Team exists to enable and support successful development and delivery of the University Strategy. It is a dynamic and fast-paced team of strategic planning professionals leading and overseeing unit business planning and strategic investment, strategic risk management, and performance monitoring on behalf of the institution.

The Strategic Planning team has a strong focus on collaborative working and you will have the opportunity to engage with a wide range of colleagues from across the University.  

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Strategic Performance, the Manager, Strategic Performance, works to fulfil three key objectives:

• To contribute to the continuous improvement of University strategic performance and risk reporting frameworks, aligned with institutional strategic goals and objectives.
• To support the development, implementation and review of processes that underpin the University’s approach to strategic performance and risk management.
• To support the cultivation of an effective performance and risk culture throughout the organisation, providing tools and training to build capability to promote good practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain strategic performance and risk reporting dashboards, working collaboratively across the University as required, ensuring they are aligned with institutional success measures and targets.
• Develop, maintain and continuously improve effective processes for collating up-to-date strategic performance and risk data and narratives to inform decision making related to the delivery of the University Strategy.
• Ensure that all processes are properly documented and supported by a robust timetable – taking into account other strategic planning activity - which is communicated with key contacts and the strategic planning community.
• Develop and maintain relevant areas of the Strategic Planning Hub, keeping it up to date with the latest policies, guidance and tools as well as maintaining the Risk Management System where Units record their risks.
• Ensure that all strategic performance and risk management templates, tools and documents are easily accessible and actively promote good practice in risk-based decision making and action.
• Work with members of the Strategic Planning team to build and sustain strong internal networks, identifying stakeholder engagement needs in relation to specific activity, and taking responsibility for planning stakeholder engagement with the Strategic Planning Community of Practice.
• Provide advice and support to colleagues across the University on strategic performance and risk-related matters, including deputising for the Senior Manager, Strategic Performance, at cross-institutional groups as appropriate.
• Work with the Senior Manager, Strategic Planning, to regularly review the risks within the Risk Management System to identify key themes, challenges and opportunities, and to inform the Strategic Risk Register.
• Work with the Senior Manager, Strategic Performance, to regularly review the Strategic Risk Register, including contributing to formal reporting though University Governance.
• Participate actively as a member of the Strategic Planning Team, contributing to the delivery of team objectives, being prepared to support other activities related to the Strategic Planning Team’s core responsibilities and supporting the development of a professional and collaborative working culture.

About You

Essential:

• Well-developed IT skills to support processes and to facilitate communication, including PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint, and Power Products (Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI), with the ability to learn new systems.
• Appreciation of the OU’s strategic context and the risks it faces.
• Excellent research and analytical skills with the ability to assimilate information from multiple sources and stakeholders.
• Excellent written, oral and online communication skills with ability to lead, as well as contribute to, informal and formal discussions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships at all levels, demonstrating discretion and strong negotiation and influencing skills
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, taking personal responsibility for the management and development of a discrete area of work and able to positively prioritise conflicting demands and deliver to tight deadlines.
• Experience of identifying and implementing quality enhancements for making continuous improvement.
• Ability to work in accordance with the University’s values and carry out the role in a way that is consistent with equality legislation and University policies.

Desirable:

• Professional risk management expertise, including an appropriate qualification or membership of a relevant professional organisation.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be on average at least once per week.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

We anticipate that interviews for this role will be taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 13 April 2026. 

Early closing date notification

We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following documents:

• CV, including how you meet the skills and experience required.
• Complete the additional application questions within our online application form.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.