Job Description

This role is for a results-driven strategic leader who will lead with vision, plan with purpose, and drive growth that inspires; our Business Planning Director turns bold ideas into reality.

The Business Planning and Performance (BP&P) directorate is responsible for leading the definition and management of the CPS strategy and priorities, ensuring effective risk management and setting the budget, commercial plans and considering the relationship with stakeholders while understanding the complexities of our long term hand-back responsibilities.

This position will lead the BP&P team to drive high performance and continuous improvement across the business aligned to the business strategy and plans.

You will act as the Managing Director's strategic partner, driving organisational performance, governance, strategy execution and business improvement across CPS.

You will provide leadership and integration across planning, performance, governance and risk, transformation and continuous improvement activities; ensuring the SLT remains focused on the issues that matter most to delivering CPS objectives

Strategic Leadership & Strategy Execution

• Act as the strategic partner to the Managing Director, supporting the development, communication and delivery of the CPS vision, strategy and long-term priorities
• Maintain the relevance of the Customer and Business Strategies to address the evolving demands of the network, our clients (National Highways and Connect Plus), JV Parent Companies and our road users.
• Prepare and review strategy and annual plan to manage Handback and contractual obligations
• Ensure the Senior Leadership Team remains focused on the strategic, contractual, commercial and operational issues that matter most to successful business performance and contract delivery.
• Provide strategic insight, independent thinking and constructive challenge to support effective executive decision making and organisational performance.
• Foster, empower and sustain a high-performing team dedicated to exceeding contract performance expectations.
• Define and regularly review CPS business plans considering current challenges, future opportunities, and evolving stakeholder requirements.

Governance, Performance & Risk Management

• Lead the CPS governance framework, ensuring effective executive and board reporting, decision making, assurance activities and organisational controls
• Ensure enterprise risk management is embedded across CPS, promoting a culture of risk-based decision making, business resilience and proactive management of opportunities and threats to ensure business continuity is assured and opportunity is embraced.
• Develop business performance management and risk reporting, tracking business performance trend analysis against plans and address issues promptly and efficiently.
• Ensure Enterprise Risk is appropriately managed and communicated to the executive level within CPS (Senior Leadership Team and CPS Board) while educating and influencing on the risk-based decision culture in CPS.
• Hold business leaders accountable for delivery against strategic objectives, business plans, customer outcomes, contractual commitments and agreed risk appetite.
• Monitor performance and risk trends, ensuring emerging issues are understood, escalated and addressed appropriately.
• Provide clear governance, performance and risk insight to the Managing Director, Senior Leadership Team and CPS Board to enable informed decision making.

Business Transformation & Continuous Improvement

• Lead and champion business transformation, continuous improvement and organisational change initiatives that improve efficiency, productivity and overall business performance.
• Guide the Performance Quality & Improvement team to effectively achieve designated business objectives.
• Set the overarching direction for CPS and drive digital capability improvements to ensure successful deliver of CPS contract handback obligations.
• Lead the enhancement, delivery and adoption of data and digital capability for CPS
• Lead the Business Planning & Performance function to deliver high performance, professional excellence and measurable business outcomes.
• Build change capability across CPS and support the delivery of major change programmes

Organisational Integration & Stakeholder Management

• Manage all Stakeholder and Customer relationships, including NH, CP and road users.
• Act as a key integrator across CPS, ensuring strategic priorities are translated into coordinated action and successful delivery across all business functions.
• Facilitate alignment where competing priorities exist, ensuring decisions support enterprise-wide outcomes and long-term contractual obligations.
• Represent CPS at executive, client, shareholder, governance and industry forums as required, balancing positive stakeholder relationships with the protection of commercial and contractual interests.
• Prioritise client management and relationships, aiming to extract maximum value and alignment with the Parent Companies within the JV Partnership.
• Ensure strategic decision making balances customer outcomes, operational performance, contractual commitments and financial objectives.

Leadership & Culture

• Champion CPS values, leadership behaviours and a culture of constructive challenge, openness and continuous learning.
• Promote an environment where risks, opportunities and performance issues are surfaced and addressed proactively.
• Champion CPS's commitment to safety, wellbeing and responsible leadership, ensuring these principles underpin strategic decision making and organisational culture.
• Act as a visible role model for integrity, professionalism, accountability and leadership excellence across the organisation.
• Building strong working relationships with fellow senior managers to enhance collaboration across teams.
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of safety and wellbeing standards and able to communicate with enthusiasm and credibility to inspire and energise the team towards achieving our goals.

Qualifications

• A relevant professional qualification and ideally Chartered / Incorporated status with a recognised and relevant UK institution.
• Demonstrable experience operating at senior leadership or executive level within a complex, regulated, operational or infrastructure environment, influencing organisational direction and business performance.
• Proven experience developing and delivering business strategy, annual business plans and organisation-wide priorities, translating strategic objectives into measurable outcomes
• Strong experience of executive governance, board reporting, performance management and organisational assurance, with the ability to turn complex information into meaningful insight that supports decision making.
• Demonstrable experience of enterprise risk management, risk-based decision making and business continuity planning, with the ability to influence leaders to proactively manage risk and opportunity.
• Proven track record of leading business transformation, continuous improvement and organisational change programmes that deliver measurable improvements in performance, productivity, efficiency or customer outcomes.
• Proven capability to deliver digital change leadership with detailed knowledge of Digital Information techniques in an infrastructure asset management environment.
• Experience of leading cross-functional initiatives and aligning diverse business functions behind common strategic objectives in a complex stakeholder environment.
• Commercially astute, with experience of balancing business performance, contractual obligations, customer outcomes and financial priorities to support sustainable organisational success.
• Experience of operating within complex contractual, concession, alliance, Joint Venture or partnership environments, with the ability to understand contractual risk and protect organisational interests through effective governance and decision making
• Strong stakeholder management experience, with a proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence senior leaders, clients, shareholders, regulators, partners and governance bodies.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and engage audiences at all levels of the organisation and represent CPS with credibility externally.

Personal Attributes

• An inspirational and visible leader who sees the bigger picture, creates clarity of purpose and motivates others to achieve ambitious goals.
• Strategic thinker with strong analytical, planning and problem-solving capabilities, able to navigate complexity and make sound, informed decisions.
• Able to provide constructive challenge, influence outcomes and hold the line on strategic, contractual and commercial matters while maintaining trusted relationships.
• Skilled at building collaboration, connecting people and initiatives across organisational boundaries, and creating alignment where priorities compete.
• Commercially and politically astute, with strong judgement and the confidence to operate effectively at executive and board level.
• Demonstrates integrity, resilience and accountability, remaining effective under pressure and through periods of change and ambiguity.
• Passionate about continuous improvement and creating a culture where innovation, learning and high performance can thrive.
• Champions safety, wellbeing and inclusion, ensuring these principles remain central to decision making and leadership behaviours.