Planning and Strategy Lead - 7623

Cambridge University Press & Assessment; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Private medical insurance

Discretionary annual bonus

Group personal pension scheme

Life assurance

Green travel

Job summary

Cambridge University Press & Assessment invites applications for a Planning & Strategy Lead in Cambridge. The role shapes the Core English Strategy, oversees annual planning and performance reporting, and collaborates with Propositions and the English business to ensure governance and insightful decision-making.

You will lead governance discussions, present robust dashboards to senior leaders, and drive improvements in planning, reporting and cross-functional collaboration within a hybrid work

Qualifications

• Significant experience in strategy, business planning, portfolio management, transformation, business performance, or related discipline.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders in a complex, matrix organisation.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret, synthesise and communicate complex information.
• Experience developing strategic recommendations, business cases, or performance reporting.
• Strong facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to challenge constructively and support effective decision-making through evidence and insight.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and delivering outcomes through others.
• Advanced presentation and analytical skills, including PowerPoint and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Lead key elements of the Core English Strategy and North Star review and development.
• Drive the operational delivery of the annual business planning cycle, ensuring plans are aligned to strategic priorities.
• Lead strategic analysis, performance monitoring and insight generation to support decision-making.
• Develop and present reports, dashboards and recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Partner with leaders across English to identify opportunities, risks and dependencies affecting delivery.
• Support governance forums by ensuring strategic discussions are informed by robust evidence and clear recommendations.
• Drive continuous improvement of planning, governance and performance management practices.
• Influence decision-making through analysis, insight and constructive challenge.

Skills

Strategy development

Business planning

Portfolio management

Transformation

Performance reporting

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

PowerPoint

Excel

Influencing

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Job Title: Planning & Strategy Lead

Salary: £48,100 - £64,375

Location: Cambridge, UK – Hybrid (at least 2 days per week in the office)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (35 hours per week)

Do you enjoy turning strategy into action? Are you passionate about helping organisations make better decisions through insight, planning, and performance management?

About The Role

As Planning & Strategy Lead, you will help drive the development, delivery and performance monitoring of the Core English Strategy and annual business planning cycle. Working across Propositions and the wider English business, you will ensure that strategy, planning and execution remain connected through clear governance, meaningful performance measures and high-quality strategic insight.

This is a highly visible role with significant exposure to senior stakeholders. You will lead strategic planning processes, shape performance reporting, provide insight and challenge, and support leaders in making informed decisions about priorities, risks and opportunities.

• Lead key elements of the Core English Strategy and North Star review and development process.
• Drive the operational delivery of the annual business planning cycle, ensuring plans are aligned to strategic priorities.
• Lead strategic analysis, performance monitoring and insight generation to support decision-making.
• Develop and present reports, dashboards and recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Partner with leaders across English to identify opportunities, risks and dependencies affecting delivery.
• Support governance forums by ensuring strategic discussions are informed by robust evidence and clear recommendations.
• Drive continuous improvement of planning, governance and performance management practices.
• Influence decision-making through analysis, insight and constructive challenge.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

You will bring a blend of strategic thinking, analytical capability, and stakeholder influence. You are comfortable moving between big-picture strategy and practical execution, and you enjoy helping organisations translate ambition into results.

• Significant experience in strategy, business planning, portfolio management, transformation, business performance, or related discipline.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders in a complex, matrix organisation.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret, synthesise and communicate complex information.
• Experience developing strategic recommendations, business cases, or performance reporting.
• Strong facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to challenge constructively and support effective decision-making through evidence and insight.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and delivering outcomes through others.
• Advanced presentation and analytical skills, including PowerPoint and Excel.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Experience in the education, publishing, assessment or related sectors
• Experience in portfolio management, transformation or change
• Experience in performance reporting and dashboard development
• Experience in developing governance and decision-making frameworks
• Experience in continuously improving planning and governance processes

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards And Benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world‑class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 5th October. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from the week commencing 12th October.

• 1st stage: Virtual interview via MS Teams. There will be a task as part of the interview, and details will be shared in advance.
• 2nd stage: Virtual interview via MS Teams or a face‑to‑face interview at our Cambridge office.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.