Senior Manager, Strategy Alignment

Department Summary

The Strategy Alignment Department is composed of a set of global technical teams working to enable all people and teams within Search to directly contribute to the formation and implementation of the organization’s strategy. It is made up of a set of technical teams: Institutional Learning, Children & Youth, Religious Engagement, Track II, Media and Program Quality. The department oversees strategy development and execution, planning & organizational performance, and capability strengthening. It enables strong program quality, ensures the quality of the evidence Search’s programs generate across the world, promotes best practices in research, learning, and evaluation, and contributes to shaping the broader field. The department is led by the Vice President, Strategy. It is global, dynamic, diverse, and engaged at multiple levels of the organization and with external partners.

Responsibilities

• Manage the pipeline, strategy, and allocation of time & resources for learning or a priority technical capacity as it relates to our organizational strategy in a defined portfolio with a high degree of autonomy;
• Coordinate in a matrixed structure to pursue goals, standards and best practices with other teams and departments;
• Oversee all internal and external reporting, ensuring high-quality, well-written and timely reports meet donor and Search requirements;
• Ensure skills development is incorporated into staff and personal objectives by proactively identifying paths for growth and opportunities to build technical skills.

Strategy Execution & Learning

• Play a lead role in sub-strategy development, implementation and review with team and department, and direct support in review of the organizational strategy.

Planning

• Lead planning for grants and partnerships within the team, ensuring alignment between resource allocation, objectives for the department and program management.

Organizational Performance

• Set in place action plans, objectives and key results to address bottlenecks to performance;
• Ensure objectives for personnel are aligned with organizational performance measures and that team results are pursued in line with organization and department results.

Evidence & Impact

• Approve deliverables within a portfolio of projects to ensure they build evidence for our field in line with Search standards, following expectations for quality;
• Produce, review and approve learning products and deliverables that directly contributes evidence in line with the organization’s learning agenda;
• Lead program and strategy development for team, reviewing and approving drafts, with a focus on feeding evidence and lessons learned back into programmatic design.

Technical Positioning

• When relevant within portfolio, provide technical backstopping, resources and training that guide program quality and impact in line with the goals of the organization;
• Ensure deliverables and projects directly support objectives for development of technical networks and skills building of staff;
• Drive donor and partner relationships that further our technical expertise and position Search as a field leader affecting policy and practice globally. Liaise with donors and partners for grants management and compliance, and ensure Search staff are represented in technical networks;
• Set goals and contributions for the organization’s learning platform.

New Frontiers

• Provide input and review to future scenario analyses to build organizational competencies;
• Build programs and key partnerships in future-oriented competencies that enhance opportunities for training and skills-building;
• Develop and prioritize a portfolio of partnerships, and organize events and initiatives around future opportunities and trends.

Contributions

• Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions as assigned.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Works collaboratively with senior managers and colleagues sharing senior expertise; builds teams for successful implementation of projects and programs.
• Effectively influences vendors, organizations, professional associations, partners, funders, and Search’s network of experts critical to the area of purview.
• Makes decisions on existing information when it may not be complete.
• Adapts to the personal style and preferences of colleagues to assess their needs and preferences; tolerates ambiguity.
• Articulates Search/function program/project goals and objectives within and external to Search; develops program objectives, indicators, and results; and participates in strategy development for the team.
• Creates standards across functions globally within Shared Services teams with the ability to create a best fit that considers international norms and compliance while supporting an organizational culture for work.
• Overcomes obstacles, including personal biases, by following Search’s ethics code in complex situations; displayed in activities as ethical principles and values that guide professional interactions.
• Assesses risks and opportunities in a complex environment and convenes discussions to lead to a favorable outcome.
• Establishes tools to monitor quality of work and verification of information.
• Has knowledge of project management tools including technology as resources and applies delegation skills to support the development of others, as well as the building of efficiency and reduction of stress.
• Supports employees in their efforts to achieve job goals (e.g., by providing resources, removing obstacles, acting as a buffer).
• Engages with Shared Services teams, cross-functional teams, and colleagues to produce innovative solutions.
• Uses analysis (costs, benefits, risks) to manage within a global standards and best practices framework.
• Guides colleagues, Shared Services teams, cross-functional teams, and direct reports toward learning resources for purposes of broadening skill sets and understanding for continued growth in both breadth and depth of knowledge for organizational functions, standards, and objectives.

Type and Nature of Contacts

• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
• Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Interacts with country office and regional staff.