Senior Manager, Office of Strategy Management

Singapore Management University; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Singapore Management University seeks an experienced strategist to lead university-wide planning and performance management initiatives. You will coordinate strategic planning across departments, support leadership with evidence-based insights, and drive continuous improvement through robust monitoring and reporting.

Leveraging expertise in analytics, dashboards, and cross-functional collaboration, you will partner with senior management to align plans with budget and institutional priorities,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in any field; postgraduate degree would be an advantage.
• 8 to 10 years of work experience in strategic planning, performance management, policy, consulting or related fields; background in higher education/public service is advantageous.
• Experience in strategic/corporate planning and review, secretariat functions for planning processes, and leading strategic events.
• Experience in leading complex cross-functional projects and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving, and ability to present options with clear pros and cons.
• Excellent executive writing, presentation and verbal communication skills with concise narratives.
• Ability to build trust, influence without formal authority, facilitate constructive challenge and negotiate alignment.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in MS Office; familiarity with data visualisation, dashboards, and emerging AI tools is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and facilitate the University's strategic planning framework across departments and executive leadership.
• Support strategy formulation through planning, preparation of materials, documentation, and synthesis of insights.
• Implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track progress and inform continuous improvement.
• Coordinate preparation and presentation of evidence-based strategic reports for decision-making.
• Conduct environmental scanning, benchmarking and policy analysis affecting the University's strategy.
• Act as strategic business partner to assigned SOCIs by evaluating proposals and coordinating cross-functional resolution.
• Support performance management frameworks and drive accountability through dashboards and reporting.
• Facilitate performance review sessions and align annual plans with budgets and desired outcomes.
• Prepare, analyse, and report performance data, budgeting information, and business initiatives.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Executive writing

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Postgraduate degree advantageous

Tools

Microsoft Office

Data visualisation

Dashboard analysis

AI tools familiarity

Job description

About Us

Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The 'family-like' atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together - building a strong collegiality and morale within the university.

Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities - all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence.

Job Description

• Strategic Planning and Implementation
  • Facilitate the University's strategic planning framework, including the coordination of both short-term and long-term planning cycles across departments. This involves aligning departmental plans with the University's overarching strategic objectives and priorities.
  • Support senior leadership in strategy formulation, through the planning and facilitation of executive meetings and retreats. This includes agenda development, preparation of materials, documentation of key discussions, and synthesis of insights to inform long-term Strategic goals and frameworks. It also involves coordinating the communication of strategic directions across the University.
  • Implement robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the progress and performance of the University's Strategic Plan and associated initiatives. This includes conducting regular reviews, providing progress updates, and generating insights to inform continuous improvement and future strategy development.
  • Coordinate the preparation and presentation of evidence-based strategic reports with coherent institutional narratives, to support evidence-based decision-making and institutional planning.
  • Undertake environmental scanning, benchmarking and policy analysis to identify developments in higher education and the wider operating environment that may affect the University's strategy, performance or positioning.
  • Serve as a strategic business partner to assigned SOCIs by constructively evaluating proposals, clarifying intended outcomes, strengthening implementation plans and coordinating resolution of cross-functional issues.
• Corporate Planning and Performance Management
  • Support the University's performance management frameworks, such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Dean's Discretionary Fund-BSC performance-based incentive framework, to drive continuous improvement and accountability.
  • Act as a strategic business partner in facilitating performance review sessions between University management and key business units. This includes facilitating the review of BSC targets, engaging stakeholders to understand performance drivers, identifying key achievements, and highlighting opportunities for improvement. Following these reviews, support target confirmation or revision, and ensure alignment of proposed work plans and annual budgets with desired outcomes.
  • Facilitate the compilation, analysis, and reporting of performance data, budgeting information, and business initiatives to support evidence-based decision-making and effective institutional planning.
  • Develop executive dashboards, trend analyses and comparative insights that convert quantitative and qualitative information into findings, recommendations and management actions.
• Other tasks
  • Support the MOE Quality Assurance Framework for Universities external validation exercise.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in any field; a postgraduate degree would be an advantage.
• 8 to 10 years of work experience within at least 5 years in strategic planning, performance management, policy, consulting or a related field; experience in higher education and/or the public service would be advantageous.
• Experienced in strategic/corporate planning and review, secretariat functions for strategic/ corporate planning processes and organisation/leading of strategic/corporate planning events.
• Experienced in leading complex, cross-functional projects and leading projects.
• Demonstrated strong analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving, ability to assess and evaluate issues and data, and present options and their corresponding pros and cons.
• Excellent executive writing, presentation and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convert complex material into concise, audience-appropriate narratives and decision papers.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust, influence without formal authority, facilitate constructive challenge and negotiate alignment with stakeholders.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or equivalent productivity tools; familiarity with data visualisation, dashboard analysis and the responsible use of emerging digital/AI tools would be an advantage.

Other Information

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Candidates who do not possess the stipulated qualifications but have relevant work experience may still apply. Remuneration and appointment terms shall commensurate with qualifications and experience. SMU reserves the right to modify the appointment terms where necessary.