Principal Planning Officer at Universities Fund (UF)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in any the following fields Economics and Mathematics, Statistics, Law, Strategic Management, Business Development, Development Studies, and Business Administration or equivalent qualifications from a recognized institution

Professional Qualifications / Membership to professional bodies

• Member of a relevant professional body in good standing where applicable;
• A supervisory course lasting not less than two (2) weeks from a recognized institution will be an added advantage

Previous relevant work experience required.

• A minimum of four (4) years’ experience in a comparable organization.

Functional Skills:

1. Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook)
2. Analytical skills
3. Report writing skills
4. Planning skills
5. Data Analysis 
6. Communication

Behavioral Competencies/ Attributes:

1. Team player
2. Attention to detail
3. Dependability
4. Fulfill the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010

Responsibilities:

• The job holder is responsible for participating in supporting the corporate planning activities and research activities in accordance with the institutional policies.

Operational Responsibilities / Tasks

1. Participating in the development of the strategic plan in line with the institution and relevant government policies;
2. Participating in undertaking strategy review in line with operating business environment and needs;
3. Contributing to the organizational budget planning cycle through aligning of the budget and the strategic plan;
4. Carrying out periodic environmental analysis on emerging issues including periodic market surveys;
5. Carrying out periodic data analysis and prepare reports to inform decisions on core functions of the Board;
6. Preparing and pretesting data collection tools for planning;
7. Collecting, collating and processing planning data;
8. Entering and analyzing data 
9. Reviewing collected data for accuracy, analyzing and preparing corporate plans;
10. Contributing to discussions about study design and document all study decisions;
11. Undertaking cleaning and processing of strategy and research data collected from stakeholders; 
12. Participating in preparation of research project completion reports; 
13. Preparing, editing and publishing research results; 
14. Collating the strategy implementation log frame;
15. Creating and editing informational documents and presentations;
16. Taking, typing, and distributing notes from strategy, research and other brainstorming meetings; and
17. Maintaining the departmental risk register as the departmental risk champion.

Financial Responsibility:

• Development of section budget
• Approval of section expenditures

Responsibility for physical assets around the area of work:

• Responsible for physical departmental assets assigned by the institution
• Provide oversight for all the sectional institutional physical assets

Problem Solving; 

The job holder will be required to solve the following type of problems

1. Problems within the department which are related to the core business of the department.

Communication

The job holder will need to understand the following information to discharge his/her mandate:

1. Detailed verbal and written instructions or requests from universities, students, the Ministry of Education on matters of university education financing;
2. In depth technical reports, proposals or project briefs affecting the universities, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Planning and National Treasury.
3. Drafting of internal or external newsletters, general articles or content for newspapers, journals, magazines or internet sites
4. Drawing up and amending contracts/drafting of legal documents
5. Detailed verbal or written instructions or requests to contractors/service providers

Decision Making/ Job Influence:

1. Allocation of work to staff;
2. The individual holder will regularly negotiate and persuade with internal and external stakeholders;