Main role and responsibilities

The overall purpose of the role is to support the Chief Executive, the Executive Team and the Chair and Trustees to develop and to deliver ShelterBox’s mission, strategy, and plan.

ShelterBox will be undergoing a strategy review in 2021. The role of Strategy & Planning Officer will play a key role in helping the CEO and the organisation to reflect and refresh the organisational mission and goals. It will be the key liaison between functional departments who deliver and the CEO who coordinates and sets direction.

The role will work closely with the CEO to support ShelterBox in achieving both the goals of the Operating Plan 2021 as well as ensuring the new strategy is relevant and an effective tool for the organisation.

The position holder will be involved in a wide range of roles from supporting the management of ShelterBox Board, Executive, & Senior Leadership Team meetings (in a company secretary capacity), to budget management/coordination and developing working briefs on a wide range of topics.

The role will also be expected to represent the CEO at key internal discussions and exercise superb judgment, interpersonal skills, and absorb information quickly.

Reporting directly to the CEO, the role will work very closely with the Executive team and the Board on a range of strategic initiatives that impact the wider organisation as well as be an effective partner to senior leaders. The role will also support the Chair of the ShelterBox Board in various duties.

Working with the CEO, the role will:

• Coordinate and integrate the work of the CEO’s office with the rest of the organisation, ensuring effective engagement with all departments.
• Use sound judgment to advise the CEO on complex and sensitive policy issues and questions.
• Assist the CEO and leadership to deliver on the ShelterBox strategy (post 2021).

Who are we looking for?

ShelterBox is seeking an accomplished and highly competent Strategic Planner/Executive Assistant to provide excellent support to the Chief Executive, the Executive Team, and the Board.

You must have proven EA experience at Director/CEO level or have held a role where a high degree of autonomy and highly developed planning and organisational skills are required.

We are looking for candidates with a relevant degree (or equivalent experience) in a field relevant to policy making, strategy, international development/humanitarian affairs, public administration. Ideally, you will also have knowledge or experience of working for the voluntary sector or a charity.

The position holder will need to flex between areas of work on humanitarian thought leadership and response, funding diversification and growth strategies, and partnership building between ShelterBox, its affiliates, strategic donors, and other key organizations.

This is a varied and busy role and to be successful you must have strong prioritisation and time management skills, excellent verbal, and written communication skills along with the ability to develop effective and positive working relationships internally and externally.

You will be a strong team player, who can also work autonomously to clear deadlines. You must also be politically astute with the ability to analyse and summarize large amounts of information quickly.

Strong interpersonal, relationship management and influencing skills are also important, as is the ability to work with a variety of stakeholders with different agendas

The role requires a rigorous and critical thinker, able to ask probing clear questions and drive toward solutions quickly. You must have the ability to anticipate and assess situations accurately and recommend/implement effective courses of action, with a predisposition toward simple and practical solutions, through consensus building.

Duties will include but not be limited to:

Policy and Influence:

• Coordinates and/or oversees the development of policies, procedures, speeches, and strategies relating to complex policy issues for the CEO’s office.
• Conducts research and analysis to support the strategic aims of ShelterBox.
• Drafts strategy documents, reports, speeches, briefing notes, and talking points at the request of the CEO.

Strategy and Planning:

• Lead on the review and consensus building around the process to develop the ShelterBox Strategy 2021.
• Through coordination with Exec team, keep an active overview of the work of departments to ensure effective and coordinated support to and response from the CEO.
• Works with the CEO to set short- and medium-term priorities for strategic engagement with internal and external stakeholders.
• Identifies challenges in the short and longer term, to successfully implementing the ShelterBox strategy and workplans and works with relevant stakeholders to develop proposed solutions.
• Manages strategic projects from inception to completion as assigned by the CEO.

Planning and Coordination

• Provides timely and effective communication of instructions and decisions of the CEO to stakeholders at all levels.
• Ensure Executive Team meeting agendas are developed, and key matters are tabled for discussion.
• Support the CEO and Finance Director in the ongoing strategic oversight of the organisational budget and financial management.
• Ensure minutes are taken at key meetings and for ShelterBox board meetings, including action items and follow up.
• Tracks and documents key strategic internal and external meetings, ensuring that key action points are communicated and follow up occurs.
• Works with internal and external stakeholders to commission and/or develop briefings.
• Works with internal stakeholders to commission and/or develop itineraries and agendas to ensure the CEO engagements are effective in promoting ShelterBox and its mission.
• Fosters teamwork and communications among the Exec Team, Senior Leadership Team, and other key staff.
• Represents the views of the CEO at key internal meetings such as with the Senior Leadership Team.
• Maintains sensitivity and diplomacy with senior colleagues.

Communications

• Represent ShelterBox and CEO at relevant senior meetings and conferences and present the work of the organisation where necessary.
• Be an effective communicator on behalf of and in support of the CEO to the global ShelterBox audience, with a particular emphasis on maintaining effective partnerships and collaboration between ShelterBox and its supporters, as well as the network of partners and affiliates.
• Ensure good working relationships and support the integration of activities across ShelterBx departments.

For the Board of Trustees:

• Distribute high quality papers, taking and producing minutes of board and subcommittee meetings and monitoring implementation of agreed actions.
• Organise, maintain and when necessary, re-organise the meeting schedule for the Board meetings and subcommittees, ensuring the timing of subcommittees leads into quarterly board meetings.
• Organise trustee board away days, organising the venue, papers, and any other resources, including booking travel and accommodation.
• Provide administrative support to the Chair and other trustees as required to enable them to fulfil their duties for ShelterBox
• Maintain a record of board level policies, updating as necessary