Senior Manager, Office of Strategy Management

About Us

Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The 'family-like' atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together - building a strong collegiality and morale within the university.

Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities - all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence.

Job Description

• Strategic Planning and Implementation

• Facilitating the University's strategic planning framework, including the coordination of both short-term and long-term planning cycles across departments. This involves aligning departmental plans with the University's overarching strategic objectives and priorities.

• Supporting senior leadership in strategy formulation, through the planning and facilitation of executive meetings and retreats. This includes agenda development, preparation of materials, documentation of key discussions, and synthesis of insights to inform long-term strategic goals and frameworks. It also involves coordinating the communication of strategic directions across the University.
• Implementing robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the progress and performance of the University's Strategic Plan and associated initiatives. This includes conducting regular reviews, providing progress updates, and generating insights to inform continuous improvement and future strategy development.

• Coordinating the preparation and presentation of strategic reports, including progress updates, initiative reviews, and other key performance insights to support evidence-based decision-making and institutional planning.

• Corporate Planning and Performance Management

• Supporting the University's performance management frameworks, such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Dean's Discretionary Fund-BSC performance-based incentive framework, to drive continuous improvement and accountability.

• Acting as a strategic business partner in facilitating performance review sessions between University management and key business units. This includes facilitating the review of BSC targets, engaging stakeholders to understand performance drivers, identifying key achievements, and highlighting opportunities for improvement. Following these reviews, support target confirmation or revision, and ensure alignment of proposed work plans and annual budgets with desired outcomes.

• Facilitating the compilation, analysis, and reporting of performance data, budgeting information, and business initiatives to support evidence-based decision-making and effective institutional planning.

• Support the MOE Quality Assurance Framework for Universities external validation exercise.

• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in any field; postgraduate degree would be an advantage.
• 8 to 10 years of work experience within at least 5 years in strategic planning, preferably in higher education and/or consulting and/or public service.
• Experienced in strategic/corporate planning and review, secretariat functions for strategic/ corporate planning processes and organisation/leading of strategic/corporate planning events.
• Experience in managing a team and leading projects.
• Background in supporting the development of education and research policies; experienced in managing higher education institutes, preferably in strategic/corporate planning, preparing major strategic planning and/or organisational reporting documents, and overseeing enterprise performance.
• Demonstrated strong analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving, ability to assess and evaluate issues and data, and present options and their corresponding pros and cons.
• Strong communicator, both written and spoken.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage with colleagues of all seniority levels to achieve objectives. Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Strong supervisory and leadership skills.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

Other Information

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Candidates who do not possess the stipulated qualifications but have relevant work experience may still apply. Remuneration and appointment terms shall commensurate with qualifications and experience. SMU reserves the right to modify the appointment terms where necessary.