M2–Senior Director

Competitive Advantage–Do better than or different from the competition.

A Senior Director understands and supports the business and group strategies and revises operational plans to support strategy changes.

One of the key differences between a Director and a Senior Director is the latter's superior communication skills. Senior Directors must also employ holistic thinking since they deal with other managers from multiple departments.

Competency is measured by team-oriented work and the ability to compete for finite resources while meeting operational needs successfully. The Senior Director must also devise strategies that help the organization gain a long-term competitive advantage.

Typical Role Capabilities

  • Longer-term thinking (3-5 years)

    • Creating a functional strategic program that supports the next level's long-range strategy

  • State-of-the-art awareness

    • Knowing what's possible technically, operationally, and professionally

  • Complete understanding of the business model in detail and long-term strategic direction and goals

    • What is the business trying to accomplish?

    • How does the business want to position itself in the market?

    • Has the strategy changed recently, or is it likely to change soon?

    • How does my function contribute to our competitive advantage?

    • What must each function contribute to that strategy?

    • How does my function's effort impact the strategy?

    • How does my function impact the other functions' ability to contribute?

    • How is the money made in this business?

  • Factoring all aspects of the function into strategic thinking

  • Ability to make tradeoffs within the function that support business strategy, profitability, and competitive advantage

    • Rather than solely supporting the functional success

Senior Director Core Skills

Attribute

Responsibility/Accountability

Attribute

Responsibility/Accountability

Business/Financial Results

  • Functional risk taking and risk management

  • Understanding of financial impact of decisions

  • Function planning; deep knowledge of the contribution of the function

  • Ability to think tactically and strategically

  • Able to think in terms of functional sustainabilitv rather than functional short-term wins

  • Must know how to read and interpret market data and competitive response

  • Cross-functional thinking

People Development

  • Identification and selection of talent

  • Coaching skills

  • Ability to create a learning environment

  • Teaching company's culture requirements

  • Feedback skills

Management

  • Experience managing through other leaders

  • Ability to architect a functional organisation to support business strategy

  • Contingency planning expertise/experience

  • Ability to anticipate and avoid functional problems

  • Ability to problem solve at the root cause level

  • Ability to make and communicate hard decisions and courage to stay the course

  • Ability to perform risk assessment

  • Delegation skills

Leadership

  • Ability to translate business strategy into function's

  • Ability to lead and manage change

  • Setting standards for function's performance

  • Confident in a leadership role

  • High integrity

  • Respectful of others, accepting/ adapting to local culture

  • Articulate communicator and effective listener at all lavers

  • Cross-functional team building

Growth & Innovation

  • Intellectual curiosity

  • Open-minded and tolerant of difference

  • Willingness to experiment and try new things

  • Willingness to take risks and to learn from mistakes

  • Experience in implementing innovation

  • Process improvement skills

  • Benchmarking of best practices

Social Responsibility

  • Ability to disseminate and enforce health, safety & environment policy

  • Full knowledge of company's policies

Scope of Revenue

> $2M ≤ $5M

Behavior Model Expectations Level 5

Attribute

Responsibility/Accountability

Attribute

Responsibility/Accountability

Autonomy

Works under broad direction. Work is often self-initiated. Is fully responsible for meeting allocated technical and/or group objectives. Analyses, designs, plans, executes and evaluates work to time, cost and quality targets. Establishes milestones and has a significant role in the assignment of tasks and/or responsibilities.

Influence

Influences organisation, customers, suppliers, partners and peers on the contribution of own specialism. Makes decisions which impact the success of assigned work, i.e. results, deadlines and budget. Has significant influence over the allocation and management of resources appropriate to given assignments. Leads on user/ customer and group collaboration throughout all stages of work. Ensures users' needs are met consistently through each work stage. Builds appropriate and effective business relationships across the organisation and with customers, suppliers and partners. Creates and supports collaborative ways of working across group/area of responsibility. Facilitates collaboration between stakeholders who have diverse objectives.

Complexity

Implements and executes policies aligned to strategic plans. Performs an extensive range and variety of complex technical and/or professional work activities. Undertakes work which requires the application of fundamental principles in a wide and often unpredictable range of contexts. Engages and coordinates with subject matter experts to resolve complex issues as they relate to customer/organisational requirements. Understands the relationships between own specialism and customer/organisational requirements.

Business skills

  • Demonstrates leadership in operational management.

  • Analyses requirements and advises on scope and options for continual operational improvement.

  • Assesses and evaluates risk.

  • Takes all requirements into account when making proposals.

  • Shares own knowledge and experience and encourages learning and growth.

  • Advises on available standards, methods, tools, applications and processes relevant to group specialism(s) and can make appropriate choices from alternatives.

  • Understands and evaluates the organisational impact of new technologies and digital services.

  • Creatively applies innovative thinking and design practices in identifying solutions that will deliver value for the benefit of the customer/stakeholder.

  • Clearly demonstrates impactful communication skills (oral, written and presentation) in both formal and informal settings, articulating complex ideas to broad audiences.

  • Learning and professional development — takes initiative to advance own skills and identify and manage development opportunities in area of responsibility.

  • Security, privacy and ethics — proactively contributes to the implementation of appropriate working practices and culture.

Knowledge

Is fully familiar with recognised industry bodies of knowledge both generic and specific, and knowledge of the business, suppliers, partners, competitors and clients. Develops a wider breadth of knowledge across the industry or business. Applies knowledge to help to define the standards which others will apply.

Sample Outcomes of a Senior Director

Reference