Senior Director Strategy

6 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants

Reporting to Head of Corporate Strategy, the Senior Director of Group Strategy and Business Development is a key role that will drive, facilitate and enable Pearson’s Corporate strategy as well as strategic business partnerships. The role will support the business strategy leads, SME’s, PEM members and Board to deliver that strategy. This role will align our people, enabling functions, businesses and change transformation agenda and market priorities to enable a balance between current state forward and future state back plans and initiatives.

This role will be accountable for ensuring that Pearson orientates and continues to move towards our 5-year strategic vision. This role will connect the various business teams, functions, and investment plans to connect a new strategy advisory council with representations from across the business and key functions to ensure a joined-up pathway towards the future state. This role will be part of the expanded Corporate Development & Strategy team, and work closely with senior business leaders and their key team members, Finance and other key enabling functions such as the Transformation Office to ensure the strategic opportunities are aligned to our long-term appetite and business vision.

Location: This is a remote role and will allow for home working, travel may be required on occasion.



Key Responsibilities

The role will be accountable for the following key outcomes:

• Own the development and execution of key strategic initiatives – The role will identify, develop and execute key strategies across the organization using a project-based approach. The candidate will be responsible for developing a baseline, a vision, goals and strategic plan to solve a business imperative as well as the execution of said plan in conjunction with key business stakeholders.
• Develop and align our strategic plan and priorities – This role will help to build and articulate in partnership with key business strategy owners what our business and group plans are and how Pearson will realize its strategic vision in a way that balances short and long-term returns. It will help ensure that our plans identify clear priorities and pathways to develop the capabilities needed to deliver winning propositions for our customers.
  
  It will work with key stakeholders to ensure investment plans and strategic planning are interlocked and connected.
• Building capacity and accountability for execution – This role goes beyond the planning and will help to ensure that we translate our plans into action. It will support and connect key strategy and planning leaders accountable for driving the execution of the Pearson plan. It will be responsible for pushing our business leaders beyond status quo and ensuring we have an integrated execution.
  
  This will connect financial, strategic planning and transformation roadmaps for each business across Pearson. This will include the formal creation of a Strategic Advisory Council that will work with the CEO and PEM members to ensure future state back alignment with our priorities, opportunities, and plans.
• Drive agile portfolio planning – Working as part of Finance, this role will have a Group responsibility to help all lines of business and functions to come together to maximize shareholder value and deliver our future state strategy by being an independent voice on how we allocate capital across our businesses and commercial opportunities. Working with Corporate Development on opportunities as well as Finance and Transformation office on investment priorities it will connect our needs today with aspirations of tomorrow.
• Identify, enable and execute on strategic business partnerships – The role will own end-to-end business partnerships, identifying likely candidates, developing relationships and executing on these partnerships as needed. The role will ensure tight alignment with the business and the transition of these relationships to the right business owner once executed.

• Significant experience in strategy, commercial, consulting or operational management. Ideal candidate…