Job Description
Head of Strategy
Location
The Head of Strategy (HoS) will be employed at the IAPS headquarters in Warwick, with a hybrid working pattern to be agreed. The nature of the role necessitates occasional national travel.
Reporting
The HoS will be directly responsible to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Responsibilities
The principal responsibility of the Head of Strategy is to oversee the tangible and effective realisation of the plans contained in IAPS’ current strategy.
The HoS is part of the senior staff of IAPS and as such is a leader and manager, both at HQ and across the organisation more widely.
The HoS will:
1. oversee the delivery of IAPS’ strategy, providing programme management across a complex matrix of projects, teams and schools, reporting regularly to the Board on progress towards accomplishment;
2. lead the team of project professionals, contributing to and supporting their work to plan and implement various projects across HQ and the wider organisation, as called for by the strategy;
3. act as the organisation’s most senior source of project management expertise, utilising this knowledge and experience to ensure our processes reliably deliver successful projects and that more junior project professionals are developed and supported;
4. manage the performance of their teams, growing a positive culture of collective responsibility and mutual support in which everyone is willing to learn from others;
5. recruit and develop outstanding team members, seeking to upskill and grow inexperienced people with the right values into great performers over time;
6. feed into the senior staff’s financial planning and ongoing oversight, so that the resources needed to deliver the organisation’s strategy are fully uncovered and agreed;
7. represent IAPS in front of Heads as required, using their personal credibility to give confidence to the audience in the proposed plans/ activities;
8. attend Board and Committee meetings by invitation, making contributions to discussions to help the governance structures of the organisation to make well-informed decisions;
9. constantly seek to understand the needs of members, so that these are reflected in every aspect of project planning, delivery and communication;
10. at times, as the rhythm of IAPS’ work may require, work extended hours and deliver against challenging deadlines;
11. undertake such other duties as are compatible with the nature of the post and as reasonably directed by their manager.
Requirements
1. A proven track record of managing complex change programmes at scale.
2. Affinity for the independent prep sector and an understanding of its features, needs and challenges.
3. Strong personal IT skills and an appreciation for the potential of technology to transform approaches and outcomes.
4. Commitment to excellence, relentlessly seeking to improve our work and the expectation that everyone around them will behave similarly.
5. Attention to detail in all that they – and by extension – their teams produce, accompanied by a strong sense of personal investment and accountability for the quality of output they oversee.
6. A ‘service mindset’ prompting the constant question ‘How can I better serve members, my team and the organisation?’ and leading to exemplary effort and reflective personal development.
7. The personal integrity to always follow through on commitments, perceived by others as highly effective & productive and faultlessly reliable; someone that gets things done, done well, and on time.
8. The emotional intelligence to quickly establish trust and rapport with Heads.
9. The ability to manage others effectively, recognising strengths and areas of development, providing support and challenge as necessary to get the best out of people.
10. The clarity of thinking and strength of personality to cut through obscuring detail and focus on the most important task, insight or action.
11. Strong communication skills, combining verbal articulacy with the ability to write with clarity, so that complex things can be effectively explained to busy or non-expert audiences.
12. Ability to manage competing priorities to demanding timescales and still deliver what is needed.
13. Ability to understand, analyse and interpret a range of information sources when making decisions.
14. Ability to work effectively with a diverse range of reports, including specialists in their field.