Head of Reporting

Purpose

Accountable and responsible for designing, leading, implementing and the ongoing delivery of all reporting up to Board and Sponsor level. This includes ongoing management and implementation of change to the reporting strategy that aligns with the evolving priorities of the Programme until final completion of the Programme.

Provision of strategic management and guidance to deliver business critical and meaningful information that gives an accurate representation of programme performance and facilitates an increase in the quality of information and insights across the Organisation.

This is a line management position responsible for several reporting resources at a professional level in addition to providing leadership to the wider reporting community on the Programme.

Principal Accountabilities

Manage and lead the ongoing delivery of all reporting up to Board and Sponsor level, including deciding which reports are produced, their format, method of delivery, how critical information is prioritised and how they align to the organisation’s key messages.

Lead the ongoing design revisions and implement improvements to meet the changing nature of the Programme.

Develop and implement reporting standards, policy and strategy for Programme reporting by establishing or improving processes to enable the timely and regular transfer of accurate and coherent information into the relevant performance reports as required to key internal and external stakeholders.

Review the reporting framework and reporting processes at critical points in the lifecycle of the Programme to address stakeholder reporting requirements, redesigning and cascading changes as required.

Lead a tangible increase in the quality of reporting across the organisation resulting in the improvement of information flow, insight, and escalation of issues through new solutions or improving existing ones. Rapidly assess the cost/benefit of recommendations for improvement and manage expectations for their implementation.

Manage Programme Reporting Resources and lead Sub Programme reporting resources in addition to technical professionals in delivering high quality and relevant information. Make sensible and realistic decisions on how the reporting resources should priorities their work to meet the needs of the Organisation.

Assist in defining inputs and outputs required for visual management deployment to ensure it is used effectively to drive performance.

Represent the reporting team within the wider Programme governance structure and liaise with the Executive, Board, Industry Partners, Sponsors and other key stakeholders to provide strategic planning support and engender confidence in reporting.

Partner with the Heads of Cost & Change, Risk Management and Planning to establish a collaborative process to provide accurate and integrated information to allow effective Performance Controls including the provision of easily accessible reports to advise on performance, progress and mitigating actions.

Maintain contact with key senior stakeholders, including Delivery and Industry Partners so that reporting is in line with their expectations and requirements, following up around critical issues as required.

Provide strategic direction to, and oversight of, all period and semi-annual reporting so that information is appropriately prioritised for its audience, is accurate, appropriately detailed, submitted timely to enable key decision making, aligned to the requirements of key stakeholders, and utilises the guidance in the Programme Development Agreement.

Provide quality assurance around the reporting framework, key messaging, and report content.

Support external assurance processes as required.

Maintain and raise profile with external parties, interfacing with external initiatives to bring leading practice and learning into the Programme.

Take reasonable care of your own and others’ health and safety and of those who may be affected in the day-to-day delivery of this role by taking personal responsibility for working to Target Zero principles.

Co-operate in all matters relating to health and safety, including following safe working procedures at all times.

Act as a role model for vision and values, behaving in ways that are in alignment with Ways of Working. Encourage and support others to do so too.

Promote equality in the workplace and adopt appropriate behaviour when interacting with colleagues.

Take necessary care to properly protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of corporate information from unauthorised disclosure, modification or destruction. Never knowingly put information or information systems at risk.

Main challenges of the job

Supporting the Employer to:

Manage the demands and expectations of Senior Leadership in an unstructured and constantly evolving environment due to the changing nature of the Programme (build, test commission, trials etc) using professional judgement and compromise.

Establish the role as the figurehead of good quality and professional reporting as demonstrated by being the first port of call for reporting queries, guidance, or instruction.

Develop a reporting framework and processes that are robust so that reporting provides trusted data that is timely and of a high quality, as well as being focused at the appropriate level to support key decision-making in the Programme.

Negotiate with report or data contributors and receivers on deadlines, processes and improvements in how the performance is being communicated.

Maintain contact with both internal and external key stakeholders so that the reporting framework addresses their expectations and is responsive to their requirements, and the changing needs of the Programme.

Provide appropriate direction and guidance to reporting resources throughout the Programme so that they are adequately coached in their role, aligned in their work and motivated in the delivery of high quality and insightful information through the reporting processes.

Person Specification

The person will need to have a broad set of skills and experience. They must be a bright, structured thinker, with strong data analysis skills. Experience of major project delivery and the ability to report and communicate well verbally and in writing.

The role will cover a wide variety of work and, as such, will suit someone with experience in either consulting (programme management, financial and performance), or project controls roles.

Skills Required

• Strong skills in performance data analysis and synthesis (including analysis of financial and operational data)
• Strong process management skills and the ability to ensure adherence to a defined process effectively whilst combining efforts from a multi disciplinary team.
• Strong inter-personal and stakeholder management skills.
• Well-developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills (e.g. project planning, problem definition, options analysis, solution definition, change / journey management, embedding and measuring change)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with an ability to make complex information intelligible for audiences of all types
• Strong presentation skills, including data visualisation and the effective use of PowerPoint and Excel

Experience Required

Substantial hands on experience in production of project and/or Programme reporting in a multi-million pound infrastructure project.

• Substantial experience of managing and motivating reporting teams on major infrastructure programmes.
• Experience of working in a complex, changing, high calibre environment, for example in professional services or major programmes
• Extensive knowledge of large engineering construction projects.
• Extensive knowledge of the use of Project and Programme control tools, processes and techniques and the ability to use then to improve efficiencies and performance communication.

Attitude and approach

• Resilient, curious, creative, insightful, confident and pragmatic
• The ability to handle ambiguity and adapt quickly to changes in processes and manage conflicting requests from senior staff
• Able to work independently, to prioritise effectively and to hit deadlines
• Natural attention to detail and a personal pride in and commitment to delivering work of the highest quality to tight deadlines and with changing requirements
• A self-starter, motivated to improve performance
• Effective as part of a network, working across departments and hierarchies within a matrix organisation
• Able to listen and respond to other points of view

Qualifications

• Good academic record
• A relevant professional qualification (e.g. MBA, ACA, CIMA or RICS)