Position Summary
The Strategic Initiatives at KAUST is established to drive high-impact, cross-functional projects and programs that align with the university's mission and strategic priorities. This new function aligns with KAUST's strategic vision, which prioritizes innovation, agility, and impactful outcomes in higher education. The creation of Strategic Initiatives underscores a commitment to enhancing KAUST's standing in both global and KSA higher education through transformative academic programming, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategic partnerships. The Strategic Initiatives team plays a key role in supporting KAUST departments and the Leadership team with key projects and priorities, ensuring alignment with institutional goals, and driving the successful execution of initiatives that embody the university's broader strategic vision. The Impact Manager works closely with the VP to define priorities, align stakeholders, and drive high-impact projects that support the university's strategic goals. This role liaises across departments, fosters key relationships, and ensures effective execution of initiatives. Responsibilities include project planning, performance tracking, risk mitigation, and stakeholder engagement to enhance institutional impact and efficiency.
Major Responsibilities
- Collaborate with the VP to identify the department's key objectives, priorities and areas of focus.
- Collaborate with the VP to identify short- and long-term goals for the department's strategic initiatives.
- Collaborate with the VP to prioritize initiatives/projects based on institutional impact, feasibility, and alignment with strategic goals.
- Meet with key departments (e.g., Research, NTI, Academic divisions) to understand their objectives and how the Strategic Initiatives department can support them.
- Establish a process for initiative selection, prioritization, and execution.
- Identify internal and external stakeholders who can guide the department's focus and provide feedback (e.g., researchers, partners, senior leaders).
- Act as a liaison between different university departments (academics, research, education, administration, etc) to coordinate efforts for strategic initiatives.
- Monitor progress, prepare detailed reports, and present updates to senior leadership on strategic initiatives and suggest areas for improvement.
- Build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including faculty, administrative leaders, government entities, and industry partners.
- Build a stakeholder matrix to identify roles, responsibilities, and input needed from internal and external partners, such as researchers, faculty, government entities, and industry partners.
- Collaborate with the Strategic Management Office (SMO) team to align initiatives with the university's strategic plan/KPIs.
- Support the development of new strategic initiatives by providing insights, feasibility studies, and data analysis.
- Design and implement detailed project plans, outlining timelines, milestones, deliverables, and performance indicators for each initiative.
- Assess risks associated with strategic initiatives and develop mitigation strategies.
- Organize and facilitate workshops and engagement sessions to gather feedback, refine strategies, and ensure collaboration.
- Assist with drafting decision-making framework for selecting, prioritizing, and approving strategic initiatives.
- Act as a champion for the Strategic Initiatives function, promoting its value to the university and external partners.
- Assist in the development of a detailed implementation plan when launching strategic initiatives.
- Create standardized templates, workflows, and tools for initiative management to ensure consistency and efficiency.
- Develop a reporting structure to track progress and demonstrate impact.
- Assist in drafting strategic communication materials and presentations for leadership discussions and external engagements.
- Provide leadership, guidance, and mentorship to team members, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
- Facilitate regular team meetings and performance check-ins to ensure alignment with strategic goals and address any challenges.
Personal Requirements
Competencies
- Strong organizational skills to effectively plan, execute, and deliver projects on time, within scope, and budget, while managing multiple priorities.
- Strong influencing skills to guide decision-making, build consensus, and inspire others toward achieving shared objectives.
- Advanced abilities to analyze complex data, identify trends, and develop innovative solutions to challenges.
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to effectively engage and build relationships with diverse stakeholders.
- Strong knowledge of higher education, research and innovation trends and challenges.
- Familiar with and applies strategic planning methodologies to align organizational goals with actionable initiatives.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Public Administration, or a related field. A Master's degree (e.g., MBA, or a related discipline) is preferred.
- Certifications in project/program management (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2, Agile) are highly desirable.
Experience
- 8-10+ years of experience in program or project management, strategy development, or operations management, with a demonstrated track record of delivering high-impact initiatives.
- Experience in stakeholder engagement, cross-departmental collaboration, and leading complex, multi-faceted projects in a university or research institution.
- Proven experience working with senior leadership teams to develop and execute strategic plans.
