Senior Strategic Planning Manager

The University of Southampton is a world‑leading, research‑intensive university with a high‑quality educational offering and a consistent position within the Top 100 universities globally. As an ambitious and forward‑looking institution, the University operates in an increasingly complex higher‑education environment that requires clarity of purpose, robust evidence, and effective 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 the Office as a Senior Strategic Planning Manager within the Strategic Planning and Analytics team covering a period of maternity leave.

The Role

The Senior Strategic Planning Manager acts as a strategic business partner, providing expert advice, rigorous analysis, and constructive challenge to ensure the University Strategy is translated into ambitious, coherent, and deliverable faculty plans. The role works closely with Deans, Faculty Leadership Teams, and senior Professional Services colleagues, operating as a trusted adviser to support strategic alignment and effective delivery.

Alongside this faculty‑facing partnership, the postholder leads selected University‑wide strategic planning activities. This includes competitor and benchmarking analysis, horizon scanning of policy and sector developments, and contributing to the development, monitoring, and reporting of university‑level strategic key performance indicators. The role will suit someone comfortable working with senior stakeholders in a complex organisation.

Key Responsibilities

The role leads and coordinates strategic planning within designated faculties, 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‑based insight to assess progress and recommend action where required.

The postholder undertakes qualitative and quantitative analysis to support strategic decision‑making, synthesising data from multiple internal and external sources. This includes leading competitor analysis and benchmarking, drawing on sector intelligence and performance metrics to identify strengths, risks, and opportunities.

Working closely with Finance, Faculty Operations and other Professional Services teams, the Senior Strategic Planning Manager contributes to action plans, business cases, and investment proposals. The role also supports strategic reviews and strategy renewal processes, applying knowledge of the higher‑education landscape to horizon scan policy, funding and regulatory developments and communicate their implications clearly.

About You

This role is suited to a confident and analytically minded professional motivated by supporting a complex organisation to achieve its strategic ambitions. The successful candidate will bring strong strategic planning experience in a complex environment, with the ability to move between institutional strategy and local delivery.

The role requires the judgement and people skills needed to act as a trusted adviser to senior academic leaders and Professional Services colleagues, including the confidence to offer constructive challenge. Strong analytical skills are essential, along with the ability to communicate complex ideas succinctly and tailor messages for different audiences. The postholder will be comfortable interrogating and modelling data independently, for example using Excel, and collaborating with specialist analytics colleagues where appropriate. A genuine interest in higher education is essential.

Why Join Us?

The University of Southampton is committed to creating a working environment where everyone can thrive, promoting inclusion, respect, and equality of opportunity. The University offers a generous defined benefit pension scheme, competitive holiday allowance with additional closure days, and flexible and hybrid working arrangements. This is an opportunity to work at the heart of a leading UK university, influencing strategic direction and shaping its future.