position
description
Position:
Manager Strategy and Performance
Children’s Worker:
No
Location:
National Office
Business Unit:
Strategy and Governance
Group:
Insights and Investment
Reporting to:
General Manager, Strategy & Governance
Issue Date:
June 2017
Delegated Authority:
Human Resources
Staff Responsibility:
Yes
Our Role
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is the lead agency for the social sector. We
help the Government to set priorities across the sector, co-ordinate the actions of other
social sector agencies and track changes in the social wellbeing of New Zealanders.
The Ministry provides policy advice, and delivers social services and assistance to
children and young people, working age people, older people, and families, whānau and
communities. We work directly with New Zealanders of all ages to improve their social
wellbeing.
We serve over a million people, working out of more than 250 centres around the
country. It is likely that every New Zealander will come into contact with the Ministry at
some point in their life.
Our work, together with our social sector partners, is essential to achieving a sustainable
and prosperous future, where all New Zealanders are able to take responsibility for
themselves, be successful in their lives and participate in their communities.
Our Purpose
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent.
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake.
Our Principles
MSD people: All own what we all do | Take responsibility for what we do | Understand
our role in the big picture, who can help us and who we can help | Navigate through
ambiguity and the opportunity it brings to create better ways of doing things | Act with
integrity, courage and transparency | Celebrate our achievements and those of our
clients
Position Description Approved By:
_____________________________________________
Deputy Chief Executive, Insights and Investment
Date: ……/……/……
Group:
The Insights and Investment group combines the Ministry’s insights and analytics,
strategy, Chief Policy Advisor and actuarial functions. The main role of this group is to
help decide and manage our social investment portfolio to deliver the best value for New
Zealand. We need to focus on the right things, delivered in the right way. We need to
be confident that we are generating results and using learning to make adjustments in
what we do.
The Insights and Investment group supports better decisions by driving strong insights
and analytics. More specifically it:
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curates the Ministry’s data, so that MSD and others in the system have relevant,
accurate, accessible data
produces high value insights and tools to support a range of strategic and
operational decisions and focus areas, so that decision-making on strategy,
investment, policy, service design and operations is informed by relevant and robust
evidence and analysis
advises on what mix of interventions is likely to work best for whom and where the
priorities lie, so that investments across the system are aligned, targeted and
designed in a way that will make the biggest difference
leads and advises on the Ministry’s strategies, priorities, investment portfolio and
overall performance, so that the Ministry’s work is aligned with its strategy and
integrated well across groups
analyses and models liability across the Ministry’s services and clients, so that
services for clients are effectively targeted to minimise vulnerability and liability.
Business Unit:
Strategy and Governance provides important services to the Chief Executive, the
Leadership Team and the Ministers in relation to organisational strategic planning and
decision making, governance and budget processes. This includes accountability and
planning processes that relate to the Ministry as an organisation, and performance
advice and monitoring undertaken on behalf of the Minister. We also provide leadership,
facilitate and manage the Ministry’s integrated business planning processes.
Key functions of the Strategy and Governance group include to:
 Support the Leadership Team to develop an organisational strategy and play a
leadership role in the implementation of the strategy
 Understand organisational priorities, and support the decision making process to
allocate resources aligned with these priorities Provide leadership and manage the
development of the Ministry’s main accountability documents and processes
 Provide leadership, develop and coordinate the Ministry’s performance reporting
processes
 Provide advice on performance measures and outcomes, and monitor and
measure organisational performance and impact
 Provide leadership and manage the Ministry’s Governance framework and build
Ministry governance capability
 Carry out monitoring of crown entities and provide advice on appointments that are
the responsibility of the Ministry
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Our key clients are our Ministers, the Ministry’s Leadership Team, the Ministry’s
Governance Committees and the Deputy Chief Executive of Insights and Investment.
Purpose of the Position:
The purpose of the Manager Strategy and Performance is to lead the Strategy and
Performance team and support the Ministry to develop and deliver it’s organisational
strategy and ensure the Ministry’s planning, reporting and accountability processes are
well integrated and in line with best practice.
The Manager Strategy and Performance will have high engagement with external and
internal stakeholders across the Ministry and will provide technical leadership and advice
to ensure business groups have an up-to-date understanding of their obligations for
delivering to strategy, planning, reporting and accountability processes.
The position also provides intellectual input and leadership for Strategy and Governance
and contributes as part of the team to the functioning of the whole group. Establishing
and managing important relationships within the Ministry and with key external agencies,
including Ministers and their offices are an important part of the job. The Manager
Strategy and Performance participates with top level managers within the Ministry and
maintains oversight for delivery of work relating to the team.
This position participates as a member of Strategy and Governance management team
and contributes to the overall functioning and performance of the group.
Working Relationships
Internal
 The Ministry’s Leadership Team
 Chief Executive
 Deputy Chief Executives
 Director, Office of the Chief Executive
 Insights and Investment Deputy Chief Executive, General Managers and staff
 General Managers and other Ministry staff
External
 Ministers’ Offices
 Central agencies
 External agency managers and staff
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Key Accountabilities:
Key Result Area
Leadership
Accountabilities
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Stakeholder
Engagement
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Provides leadership to the Strategy and Performance team
Clarifies roles and responsibilities for delivery of the work
programme and ensures in conjunction with the GM Strategy
and Governance the effective and efficient allocation and use
of resources to achieve the Ministry’s priorities
Promotes and enforces the value provided by the Strategy and
Governance group
Provides strategic leadership and actively participates in the
Strategy and Governance management team to share
knowledge, and develop and maintain a Ministry-wide overview
of activities
Supports the GM Strategy and Governance to plan
programmes and manage effective Leadership Team strategic
retreats/planning days
Leads, coordinates and facilitates a whole of Ministry approach
to planning, monitoring and the delivery of accountability
documents and processes
Supports the GM Strategy and Governance to lead and
strengthen the Ministry’s focus on organisational strategy and
increase efforts to reduce organisational silos through the
promotion of effective integration, coordination and integrated
planning
Leads the provision of best practice advice and support, and
build the capability of business groups in relation to strategic
planning, reporting, monitoring and performance measures and
outcomes
Sets a clear direction for the Strategy and Performance team
and lead all staff in a manner which creates a culture and
environment which is customer focussed, proactive and
consistent with the values of the Ministry, inspiring staff to
deliver high level performance
Provides Ministry-wide leadership, encourage collaboration and
supports strategic and future focused initiatives and projects
Prepares and provide timely and practical advice to the Chief
Executive and Leadership Team as required
Develops and maintains a close working relationship with the
Leadership Team, Senior Management Teams and Minister’s
Offices to understand business requirements, priorities and
programmes of work across the Ministry
Leads the development and implementation of engagement
strategies to promote and enhance the capabilities of
managers across the Ministry, ensuring business groups have
an up-to-date understanding of their obligations for delivering to
strategy, planning and accountability processes and best
practice methodology is effectively embedded within the
business
Establishes, builds and maintains effective working
relationships with key external stakeholders
Ensures effective planning sessions of projects for key
Manager Strategy and Performance
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Relationship
Management
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Strategy and
Planning
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processes and debriefs occur so that roles, responsibilities and
accountability is clear, and organisational learning occurs
Leads the establishment of close working relationship with
other corporate groups and ensure the management of joint
processes and accountability is strengthened
Manages strong working relationships with relevant teams
across the Ministry to enable the provision of strategy, planning
and reporting related advice
Manages strong working relationships with stakeholders to
ensure strategy, planning and accountability processes are
followed
Contributes to building the strong reputation of the Strategy and
Governance group across the Ministry
Manages the implementation of Ministry processes relevant to
strategy and business planning, including environmental
scanning
Ensures Ministry planning and reporting processes are well
aligned with the budget cycle, internal management processes
and meet external reporting expectations
Leads development of relationships and collaboration work with
strategic advisors across the Ministry providing technical
leadership and specialist advice/peer review, which supports
business groups to effectively develop strategy
Manages and oversees the development of the Ministry’s main
accountability documents and processes (including the Four
Year Plan, Strategic Intentions (SI), Estimates of
Appropriations, and any periodic reports to the Leadership
Team, Ministers, Select Committee or other agencies)
Manages the integrated business planning process
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Performance
Reporting
Promotes effective integration, coordination and planning
across the Ministry to enable effective organisational
performance
 Leads the implementation of improvements to Strategy and
Governance systems and business processes, which meets
the needs of both internal and external stakeholders
 Manages the process for developing and implementing the
Ministry’s performance monitoring framework to better support
accountability requirements (including Quarterly and Annual
Reports, and any periodic reports to the Leadership Team,
Ministers, Select Committee and other agencies) and enable
organisational performance and impact to be monitored and
measured
 Leads the implementation of best practice non-financial
performance measurement and reporting that promotes
effective decision-making, evidence-based reporting and
organisational learning
 Manages the provision of information to Parliamentary Select
Committees for the Estimates and Financial Review
Ensures that the team:
 Produces performance reports for the LT aligned with the
Strategic Intentions, Business group performance expectations
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Staff
Management
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Work
Programme
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Team Work
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and external reporting expectations
Collates, analyses, interprets and advises on non-financial
performance data to assist in the effective management of the
organisation
Produces non-financial performance measures and evaluation
work that meets both internal and external reporting
requirements, particularly in relation to the Public Finance Act,
the State Sector Act and Audit NZ
Manages the process for preparing and monitoring CE and
DCE performance agreements, and feeding into their annual
performance reviews
Develops a plan to build the capability of staff to meet current
and future goals, and to deliver on the immediate and on-going
requirements of the Unit’s work programme.
Maintains adherence to constraints of budget, time and other
resources.
Oversees personal development of direct reports, setting
performance objectives and regularly appraising performance
Implements performance management and assessment for
staff within the required timeframes.
Ensures that the role of the unit is clear in respect of its
contribution to the overall work programme of the group
Completes all duties and responsibilities in accordance with
their Performance and Development Agreement and as
outlined in the Group Work Programme
Participation as a full member of the Strategy and Governance
management team and contributes to the overall functioning of
the group
Guides and coaches staff within Strategy and Governance
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Technical/Professional Knowledge and Experience
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Relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent operational experience
Proven management experience (particularly in the public sector environment)
Experience in leading organisational strategic and business planning processes
Experience in and knowledge of Government accountability processes
Strong background in policy, budget and performance reporting processes
Proven experience in Public Sector performance measurement (outcomes, impacts and
output performance measures)
Able to understand top level management strategic issues
Proven ability to manage key relationships at a senior level both internally and externally
Proven analytical and writing skills
Strong project management skills
Attributes/Success Factors
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Able to demonstrate strong analytical, conceptual and strategic thinking skills, including
social service business and policy analysis
Highly effective communication skills – able to communicate concisely and clearly in all
medium, able to adapt style to meet the needs of the audience
Strong partnership builder, able to establish, build and maintain effective working
relationships at all levels of an organisation
Exercises sound judgement and political sensitivity (high degree of political nous)
Strong leadership skills – able to lead, encourage and motivate others, in both a formal
and informal context
Self-starter with initiative – is energetic, determined and highly motivated, committed to
excellence
Able to keep on top of developments within the field and implement changes
Able to work under pressure - organises and schedules own work to meet competing
demands/deadlines without compromising quality
Proven credibility, integrity and professionalism – demonstrates these characteristics at
all times
Flexible, adaptable and pragmatic
Other Requirements
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Willing to travel to fulfil job requirements
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