Head of Strategic Planning

The University of Southampton is a research‑intensive university with a strong educational offering and a consistent Top 100 global ranking. As a forward‑looking institution, the University operates in a complex higher‑education environment that requires clarity of purpose, robust evidence, and thoughtful long‑term planning.

The Strategy Office plays a central role in shaping and delivering the University’s strategic direction. An exciting opportunity has arisen to join as Head of Strategic Planning within the Strategic Planning & Analytics team.

The Role

The Head of Strategic Planning provides expert advice and guidance to faculties and senior stakeholders, ensuring local plans align with and support delivery of the University Strategy. The role oversees the annual planning cycle, student number planning, KPI reporting, and related activity, working in partnership across the University.

The role includes line management of a team of four and works closely with Senior Strategic Planning Managers and department colleagues to coordinate and deliver planning activity.

The postholder also acts as a faculty planning partner for one faculty and contributes to central strategic planning priorities as needed.

Key Responsibilities

The role coordinates strategic planning across the institution and acts as faculty partner for a designated faculty, ensuring alignment with the University Strategy and supporting delivery through strategic and annual planning processes. This includes developing, monitoring, and reviewing performance frameworks and KPIs, using evidence‑informed insight to assess progress and identify areas for improvement.

The postholder will seek opportunities to improve processes, working with the team to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis to support decision‑making, bringing together data from multiple internal and external sources. This includes undertaking sector benchmarking and analysis to identify strengths, risks, and opportunities.

Working closely with Finance, Faculty Operations, and Professional Services teams, the role contributes to process design, business cases, and investment proposals. It also supports strategic reviews and strategy renewal, monitoring policy, funding, and regulatory developments and communicating their implications clearly.

About You

This role would suit a thoughtful and approachable professional motivated by supporting a complex organisation to achieve its goals. You will bring experience in strategic planning within a complex environment, with the ability to connect institutional priorities with local delivery.

The role requires sound judgement and strong relationship‑building skills to work effectively with senior academic leaders and Professional Services colleagues. You will be comfortable offering constructive input and different perspectives where helpful. Strong analytical capability is important, alongside the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and adapt messages for different audiences. The postholder will be comfortable working with data (e.g. Excel) and collaborating with specialist colleagues where appropriate. A genuine interest in higher education is essential.

Why Join Us?

The University of Southampton is committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive, promoting inclusion, respect, and equality of opportunity. We offer a generous defined benefit pension scheme, competitive holiday allowance with additional closure days, and flexible, hybrid working. This is an opportunity to contribute to the direction of a leading UK university and support its continued development.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification

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