Head of Strategy & Planning

It’s an exciting time to join The Group’s Strategy function as we have a unique opportunity to play a key role in bringing together organisations to collaborate on high-impact initiatives.

The Strategy function will play a vital role in shaping the future direction of the combined organisation, working closely with the Group Executive and the wider senior management teams.

We’re hiring a Head of Strategy & Planning. This role will lead the development, communication, and execution of our strategic agenda and long-term goals. The ideal candidate will bring a deep knowledge of the financial services sector, experience of developing and executing strategies in complex environments, and possess exceptional influencing skills to drive a cohesive and actionable plan.

Areas of responsibility:

• Strategic Planning & Development: Lead the development of the Group’s strategy
• Project Leadership: Lead and execute strategic projects end-to-end
• Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, ensuring effective communication
• Team Contribution: Foster a collaborative and high-performing team environment.
• Strategic Initiatives: Support in driving specific strategic initiatives. Identifying opportunities for business growth, mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, or market expansion.
• Financial Planning & Budgeting: Collaborating with the Finance Team to develop financial forecasts, budgets, and resource allocation plans that support strategic initiatives.

Why Join the Strategy Team?

• A unique opportunity to help shape the future as we bring circa 300 years of combined history together and to develop your career to the next level
• You and your ideas will help influence the transformation of a circa £90 billion member-centric and ethical organisations.

Location: Coventry/Manchester. Team-led hybrid working arrangements apply - at least once a week based in the Coventry offices

To be successful in this role, you’ll need to be a highly experienced leader, along with these essential requirements:

• A highly experienced leader with proven ability to translate your leaderships skills to a breadth of different functions within a Financial Services environment.
• You will be highly credible in front of a senior audience including the Board, Executives, third party suppliers and regulators, having the ability to engage and manage a wide range of stakeholders
• You’ll be highly effective at both written and verbal communication with substantial experience of writing Board and Executive papers.
• Ability to inspire and lead a team of talented enterprise leaders to deliver outstanding results for the business.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and influence.
• Good knowledge and experience of leading and delivering shared services

We’re one of the largest building societies in the UK and we share a mutual goal across our branches and our offices to improve the lives of others.

We’re officially recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ and our benefits go beyond basic pay, with a discretionary bonus scheme, a culture of reward and recognition and comprehensive support for wellbeing.

At the beginning of the year, The Co-operative Bank officially became part of our Group. Together, we have shared values and an ethical approach towards our members, customers, and colleagues.

We’re serious about equality, of race, age, faith, disability, and sexual orientation and we celebrate diversity. By working together, we know you’ll build more than just a career with us.

All together, better.

Flexibility and why it matters

We understand the need for flexibility, so wherever possible, we’ll consider alternative working patterns. Have a chat with us before you apply to see what the possibilities are for this role. 

Proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer

We’re proud to offer an interview or assessment to every disabled applicant who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies. As part of the application process, disabled applicants can opt in for the Disability Confident Interview Scheme. If there are ever occasions where it is not practicable to interview all candidates that meet the essential criteria, such as when we receive a high number of applications, we commit to interviewing disabled candidates who best meet the minimum essential and desirable criteria.

If you would like to opt in to the scheme, please contact our recruitment team when you apply via Get in touch - Coventry Building Society (coventrycareers.co.uk)