Planning Officer - Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division

Reference: 130600473
Location: London, UK | Salary: £56,621 per annum gross
Closing Date: 18 Jul 2013

Job Summary

The Planning Officer plays a key role in assisting the strategic and operational planning work, and in monitoring wider developments relevant to the Commonwealth. The post-holder also contributes actively to internal strategic thinking and planning, and should be able to interact with officers at all technical levels within the Secretariat and member countries. Duties include coordinating meetings of governing bodies, preparing meeting papers, reports and logistical arrangements. Duties also include overseeing Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division's (SPED) and strategic programme budgets (direct costs) of the Secretariat.

The post-holder will support three areas of the Planning Section’s work:

Strategic Planning
- Support and contribute to the review and development of the Secretariat’s 4-year Strategic Plan; including assisting with the coordination of the midterm review of the Strategic Plan;
- Assist with the compilation and circulation of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) mandates (post CHOGM) including providing updates on these mandates for the Secretary-General’s, Deputy Secretaries General and the Assistant Secretary General’s briefs.
- Co-ordinate and contribute to the preparation of the Secretariat’s six-monthly reports and the Annual Performance Report for presentation to the Secretariat’s governing bodies’ meetings.
- Co-ordinate and contribute to internal strategy (pre-ministerial meetings) and debriefing meetings (post-ministerial meetings); including logistical arrangements for the meetings and chairing these meetings, preparing summaries and circulating them to participants and relevant Divisions.
- Undertake research, where and when necessary, on issues of strategic importance and relevance to the implementation of the Secretariat’s Strategic Plan.
Governance
- Assist in the preparations for meetings of the Secretariat’s Board of Governors and its Executive Committee; including drafting briefs for the Secretary-General and the respective Chairpersons of the Board and the Executive Committee.
- Co-ordinate and where necessary contribute to the drafting of meeting papers and follow-up on other Divisions’ contributions as per agenda items of the meetings and, through the Head of Planning, submit all meeting papers for internal management approval.
- Co-ordinate and contribute to the preparation of the Secretariat’s six-monthly reports.
- Prepare the record of these meetings seeking internal management approval and circulating these meeting records to the membership of the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors whichever is applicable.
- Co-ordinate post-governing bodies’ meeting on specific issues arising for SPED’s attention based on the draft of the Chair’s Summary of Decisions (Executive Committee and the Board respectively).
- Co-ordinate the programme for the Diplomat’s Induction Programme jointly with the Commonwealth Foundation.
General Planning
- Assist with the co-ordination and preparation of the annual divisional workplans; including follow-up work to ensure timeliness of inputs from technical divisions and working closely with the Head of Planning to co-ordinate SPED’s annual divisional workplan.
- Work closely with the Results-based Management and Planning Officer to ensure timely inputs into the Secretariat’s Project Management Information System (ARTEMIS) and to contribute to the development of systems and tools to assist Secretariat staff with the production of biennial Programme workplans and budgets.
- Draft, edit and proof read letters, briefs, speeches, memoranda and other documents related to the Planning Section’s work.
- Co-ordinate the preparation of programme budgets (direct cost) by Divisions, in close consultation with the Finance Section; including providing guidance and feedback to Divisions through the Head of Planning.
- Assist with the preparation of the Planning Section’s budget and the Division’s budget; including preparing project authorisation forms (PAF); coordinating internal Divisional budget meetings and follow up on PAF approvals, where appropriate.
- Designing of manuals, glossaries and other guidance/resource material to document best practice and to promote a culture of strategic planning across the Secretariat.
Perform other duties as required.

Qualifications and Work Experience

A postgraduate degree in development studies, international relations, economics, public administration or related field.
At least 5 years working experience in development programmes and projects, in a planning agency or an international/inter-governmental organization.
Desirable:Preparation of major strategic, policy and sectoral planning documents, and preparation of budgets.

About the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division

The Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division (SPED) is responsible for the Secretariat’s strategic planning, organising and providing the secretariat for meetings of governing bodies, performance monitoring and evaluation. Working closely with all divisions of the Secretariat, SPED has responsibility for, inter alia: the preparation of the Secretariat’s 4-year Strategic Plan; facilitating strategic thinking and planning; acting as the secretariat to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s governing bodies (the Board of Governors and Executive Committee); managing the Secretariat’s programme of evaluation studies; promoting results-based management by monitoring, evaluating and reporting on programme quality, progress and performance; promoting the adoption of good practices identified in evaluation studies; and managing the Secretariat’s relationships with civil society and civil society organisations.

The Planning Section has three staff: the Head of Planning, Results-Based Management and Planning Adviser and Planning Officer. The Section has responsibility key areas of work: Strategic Planning, including the development and review of the Strategic Plan; managing the Secretariat’s planning and budgeting processes and systems; supporting the governance of the Secretariat, through the servicing of the Secretariat’s governing bodies (the Board of Governors and its Executive Committee); organising the annual Diplomatic Induction Programme jointly with the Commonwealth Foundation; providing planning support and advice to divisions, including in the planning of Ministerial Meetings; overseeing implementation and the ongoing development of the Secretariat’s project management information system, ARTEMIS; coordinating the ‘Civil Paths to Peace’ mandate and supporting high-level reviews of the Secretariat.