Director of Strategic Planning and Performance
Closing date: Monday 16 November 2026
Interviews: Tuesday 8 December 2026
Salary: Competitive
Full/Part time: Full-time / Permanent
Hours per week: 37
Birmingham Newman University is entering an exciting period of growth and transformation through our ambitious new Strategy, BE MORE: Our Future, Our Birmingham Newman.
Building on excellent student satisfaction and our unwavering commitment to social mobility and values-driven, high-quality, inclusive education, we are now seeking our first Director of Strategic Planning and Performance to support the governing body and executive leadership in our strategic ambitions.
This is a newly created leadership role on our University Management Team and a rare opportunity to shape both a new Directorate and how a small, ambitious and growing University turns strategy into action.
About the role
Reporting to the University Secretary and Chief Strategy Officer and working closely with the University’s Leadership and Management Teams as well as colleagues across the University, you will establish and lead our new Strategic Planning and Performance Directorate, building on the strong foundations of our existing Planning and Systems Development (PSD) team.
Your portfolio will bring together strategic and integrated annual planning, institutional performance and analytics, statutory returns, student number planning, student systems development and strategic programme delivery. You will also play a leading role in maturing our approach to data and business intelligence, and will act as Programme Director for our multi-year Student Records Systems and Processes Transformation Programme.
We are looking for a leader able to see the bigger picture while being equally comfortable getting into the operational detail, solving problems and working alongside and enabling colleagues to turn ideas into practical, sustainable solutions and in building a culture of continuous improvement.
About you
You will bring substantial experience and expert knowledge of strategic and operational planning, process improvement and business intelligence, together with an in-depth knowledge of higher education and a successful track record of leading complex change programmes and developing high-performing teams. Ideally, you will have understanding and experience of student records systems change, leading student processes redesign, and building and embedding robust data governance, literacy and quality assurance systems.
You will combine intellectual curiosity and strong analytical judgement with empathy through change, resilience and a highly credible and collaborative leadership style. You will be confident engaging with senior decision-makers, but equally enthusiastic about co-creating with colleagues, developing people and building the systems, processes and capabilities needed for the future.
Above all, you will have strategic vision, but you will also be a builder and a doer – someone energised by the opportunity to create something new and make a tangible difference.
Join Birmingham Newman University and help shape the infrastructure, insight and ways of working that will enable our University, our people and our students to BE MORE.
Candidates are encouraged to contact Yvonne Salter Wright, University Secretary and Chief Strategy Officer at y.salter.wright@staff.newman.ac.uk, with queries or to discuss the role further.
