Business Planner

at  SNG Sovereign Network Group

It’s a really exciting time to join us as Sovereign have joined forces with Network Homes to form SNG (Sovereign Network Group). Together we provide over 84,000 homes and invest in communities across London and the South of England – our purpose being to provide quality affordable homes and places that people love for generations.
We have a fantastic opportunity to join our Corporate Strategy and People team as a Business Planner. This key role is designed to support the business to ensure all Directorates have clear outcome-focused, actionable and measurable strategies and plans in place aligning to, and delivering against, our ambitious Corporate Plan.
You’ll be based from our head office in Basingstoke, with a blend of home working and occasional travel to other sites.

THE ROLE

Reporting into the Head of Corporate Strategy and Performance, you’ll be responsible for supporting Directorates across the business to plan and develop their strategies and business plans , from inception through to benefit realisation. A key focus will be on enabling cross-functional working and greater collaboration across Directorates, supporting to build our maturity for strategy development and execution, and improving our overall approach so we can achieve our corporate objectives more efficiently and effectively.
Our Corporate Strategy and People function plays a key role in developing, integrating and aligning our business strategies and plans across the organisation. Your role will support in enabling the successful delivery of our corporate objectives by establishing good practice in strategy development, planning, and implementation.

Responsibilities include:

• Working in collaboration with the Performance Management roles across the business to develop a rolling planning and review process that will ensure Directorates are regularly keeping their plans up to date and measuring their success in relation to the Corporate Plan
• Working with the Transformation team to ensure initiatives are aligned and delivering our Corporate Objectives, challenging and testing project assumptions to ensure that plans are realistic and achievable
• Horizon scanning for any emerging challenges within SNG and externally, to identify required amends or reviews of plans across the business
• Working with the business, the PMO and our Change and Culture Consultants, to create visibility of change that’s impacting on other areas of the organisation, so we enable effective planning and maximise change adoption
• Working with the business to build understanding and capability in being able to measure progress towards goals and objectives
• Supporting the business in maturing our approach to strategy development, particularly with building plans collaboratively, ensuring they are evidence driven, clear and actionable, as well as being approved at the appropriate level
• Working with the business to build out their plans to deliver the corporate plan, undertaking strategic analysis to support with strategic solution design and options appraisal

You’ll need to demonstrate strong experience in a similar role, with experience in business planning and strategy to align organisational strategy and plans to corporate goals. You’ll have proven experience of business partnering, to support in planning processes as well as developing capability in strategy development and approaches to measuring success. You’ll also need:

• Experience in using strategic planning tools, including SWOT, prioritisation, options appraisal, strategic alignment and conducting gap analysis
• Demonstrable experience in defining, implementing, and measuring strategic outcomes across a business
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to make sense of complex information and distilling it for others
• Proactive and proven stakeholder management skills across all levels
• Strong presentation, listening and facilitation skills
• Excellent communication skills and ability to build trusted and credible relationships with key influencers across the organisatio