Chief Strategy Officer

ROLE PURPOSE:

Reporting to the Group Chief Executive, the incumbent will lead and manage the Strategy Office (comprising Strategic Development, Corporate Finance, Product Portfolio Management, New Business Development Product transactions, Investor Relations and Risk & Sustainability). The Chief Strategy Officer works closely with the Group Chief Executive to assist in the development of short and medium term strategies and goals as well as to conceptualize and formulate strategic initiatives ensuring the delivery of the Group’s strategic objectives.The Chief Strategy Officer role is a member of the Group Executive Committee.

LOCATION: Flexible

SPECIFIC OUTCOMES / ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Strategic development of Aspen Group through assessment of Acquisitions/Mergers/Collaborations/Disposals
• Support to the Group Chief Executive in setting the strategic plan for the Group
• Active leadership role in transactional activities
• Active leadership in investor and key stakeholder relations
• Leadership of strategic business development projects
• Global strategic positioning & market analysis
• Directing sustainable business initiatives

Detailed Responsibilities

• Leadership of senior management to devise effective short and long term plans
  • Creates actionable goals that make it possible for teams to meet objectives
  • Assesses and manages multiple concurrent projects, ensuring each remains aligned to its objectives and is appropriately directed, guided and resourced
  • Analyzes the success of products, projects and activities in an independent and equitable manner, drawing conclusions and identifying improvement opportunities
  • Contributes to economic and financial viability of the company by election of appropriate strategies, application of business and financial acumen, harnessing of progressive thinking and technologies
  • Communicates the company’s official stance on its mission, vision and strategic direction to external sources and internally to all stakeholders
  • Discovers ways to increase revenue by eliminating wasteful practices and expediting product delivery
  • Advises and supports Group Chief Executive in the application and implementation of new policies and procedures.
  • Represents the company in official functions
  • Develops new business opportunities by leveraging contacts, pursuing new product development and improving project efficiency

Development of Aspen Group through assessment of Acquisitions/Mergers/Collaborations/Disposals

• Actively lead the development and evolution of Aspen’s global offering
• Optimizes return on invested funds by identifying value-enhancing investment opportunities; maintaining relationships with an active network in the M&A community
• Influence structure and lead the execution of the divestment of non-core assets

Active leadership role in transaction activities

• Leadership of transactional activities through directing and guiding Senior Management in multi-disciplinary teams
• Leads M&A negotiation, structuring and execution (legal and tax; due diligence management; financing arrangements; financial modeling; documentation and portfolio monitoring)
• Leads due diligence exercises
• Supervises preparation of requisite internal communication and reports (e.g. due diligence reports, Board reports and approvals, employee communications, Investor communications)
• Ensures compliance with regulatory framework (Aspen approvals framework, Stock Exchange, Competition Authorities, SA Reserve Bank, etc.)
• Leads post-transaction business transition integration and re-shaping activities
• Conducts post transaction assessments and tracks achievement of transaction targets and objectives

Investor & Key Stakeholders Relations

• Ensures further development and expansion of Aspen’s investor relations activities
• Guides development of the investor relations strategy
• Leads engagements with investors aligned to the investor relations strategy
• Ensures the development of superior corporate messaging to ensure Aspen is appropriately positioned with the analyst and investor community and all other key stakeholders
• Actively involved in investor, analyst and media outreach, including management of rating agency, funder relationships, as applicable

Leadership of strategic business development projects

• Assembles the necessary skills within the team to undertake key strategic business development projects
• Identifies value creating opportunities to support business strategies
• Liaises with Executive Committee and Senior Management to obtain commitment and support for agreed projects
• Ensures sustainable post-project structures are established to allow long-term positive outcomes

Finance, sustainability & risk management contribution

• Direct the development and guide the implementation of a medium term ESG strategy for the Group
• Direct and guide the preparation of the Integrated Report
• Ensure that there is a robust and effective risk management and reporting process in place
• Actively participate on the Executive Risk Forum and other forums as identified by the Group Chief Executive
• Provide inputs on internal financial forecasts and financial planning processes

Leadership

• Commands respect in external and internal engagements
• Strong influencer of sound business and investment decisions
• Clear communicator of Group strategy to business leaders and other management
• Leads the recruitment, development, retention and organisation of all strategy-team employees in accordance with budgetary objectives and HR policies
• Builds a diverse team
• Leads and supports an inclusive culture
• Mentor key employees in the finance departments, ensuring their constant professional growth, and assisting them in the execution of their duties where necessary
• Develop sound finance talent pipeline for key roles in the team and ensure right balance of technical, analytical, and leadership skills within the team
• Coach nonfinancial managers on finance topics to help foster a culture of transparency, self-sufficiency and value creation

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business or Economics. CFA, CA, MBA or other advanced qualification is advantageous.
• 10 years of Executive level experience in a complex organisation with at least 15 years at a management level, industry experience an advantage
• Relevant experience and demonstrated capability to lead the functions within the Strategy Office
• Proven contributor as a Corporate executive
• Expert level of strategy development skills, project leadership and implementation, facilitation and influencing skills
• Advanced level of strategic planning, business process-engineering, performance improvement processes and organisational development
• Cultural awareness of diverse member representation
• Extensive systems implementation, change management and project management experience
• Demonstrated capacity to work in a manner that preserves confidentiality and is aligned to strong governance principles
• Track record as a skilled and tactical negotiator
• Excellent writing skills for crafting scripts, financial presentations, investor messaging, etc.
• Effective and articulate communicator
• Confident and strong presentation skills in deal-making and financial environments
• Developed network of pharma industry persons of influence and demonstrated ability to effectively build and maintain relationships across all organizational levels
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical abilities with attention to detail

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:

• Strategic mind-set:
  
  • Strategic thinker
  • Commercially astute with proven track record of strategic influence
  • Exposure to the commercial and operations functions in business and on a global perspective
  • Entrepreneurial spirit
  • Innovative idea generator
  • Experience in positioning their business area at executive committee level
  • Deep knowledge of business operations, processes, management and financial structuring
  • Extensive exposure to pharma industry
• Judgement/decision making/critical thinking:
  • independent mind-set and willingness to challenge status quo
  • identify internal and external challenges and solve them
  • astute at identifying and assessing opportunities
  • ability to manage complexity
  • Exceptional negotiating skills track record of sound decision making
• Interpersonal skills:
  • confident lead representative for Aspen in external engagements
  • capability to form excellent relationships with external business leaders and other leaders in the organisation
  • establishes a strong internal network of support and gets significant input from the organization so that objectives can be met
  • proven leadership ability reflected in ability to motivate employees to deliver high quality output in line with set priorities
  • active listening skills
  • ability to show empathy and consideration for others in order to engage and motivate
• Analytical skills:
  • exceptional capabilities in business performance analysis, interpretation of analytics and drawing consequential conclusions
  • excellent problem solving skills
  • identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions
  • strong risk assessment capabilities
• Leadership skills:
  • visible leader, confident in being lead representative for Aspen on assignments
  • powerful role model who takes full accountability
  • comfortable in allowing specialist experts to take the lead in their areas
  • must handle the team effectively by aligning the team’s performance with the organization’s goals
  • active cross-functional collaborator
  • diligent coach with real interest in developing skills in others
• Communication skills:
  • an excellent communicator in oral, written and presentation forms
  • adept reader of non-verbal cues
  • strong influencing skills
• Social Perceptiveness:
  • being aware of others reactions and understanding why they react as they do

KNOWLEDGE:

• Excellent at financial modeling and interpretation
• Outstanding financial analysis capabilities
• High levels of experience in transaction and tax structuring
• Strong understanding of business models
• In-depth understanding of pharma market
• Solid understanding of Aspen business
• Highly astute commercially
• Sound knowledge of capital markets
• Deep understanding of changing market dynamics
• Thorough understanding of the importance of ESG strategies and the importance of alignment to business objectives
• Strong corporate governance awareness

ASPEN COMPENTENCIES:

BUSINESS

• Performance Driven
• Accountability / Ownership
• Customer Commitment
• Value generator

PEOPLE

• Communicate effectively
• Deals with ambiguity / embraces change
• Lead and influence a diverse team
• Mature emotional reasoning

SELF

• Continuously grows and develops
• Contributes special expertise
• Takes action with integrity

Aspen is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity. Preference will be given to applicants from designated groups through a fair recruitment and selection process in line with Aspen’s Transformation Agenda.

Internal Applicants must inform their direct line managers of their application. Applications must be completed using an Aspen email address.