Lead the research and development of Innovations/Initiatives throughout URA in line with URA strategy in order to improve cost effectiveness, service quality, and drive organisational growth.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES 
1.    Lead the development and implementation of the Corporate Innovation Strategy for URA to ensure improved service delivery.
•    Develop and Implement URA Innovation Management framework and Strategy
•    Develop and/or mobilise the generation of innovative ideas throughout the organization.
•    Analyse and evaluate the ideas to align them to URA mandate and strategies
•    Manage the process of critical thinking including pilot testing, infusion and diffusion of innovations for revenue enhancement and organisational growth
•    Continuously study trends and changes in the environment to determine their impact on the URA business.
•    Develop a log/database of all URA innovations and track their progress

2.    Plan and define research agenda and oversee research and policy analysis functions to guide policy formulation and business development
•    Oversee and guide the URA research function.
•    Link URA to other external Research Bodies to enhance organizational research capacity
•    Coordinate peer reviews and publication of research outputs across the organization
•    Continuously analyse data on transactions to infer policy and practical applications on revenue measures and outcomes.

3.    Identify opportunities for the appropriate and cost-effective investment of financial resources in IT systems and resources, to ensure maximum return of investment.
•    Conduct research on trends and emerging technologies and innovations and advise management on the same
•    Continuously study trends and changes in the national, regional and global environments to determine their impact on the URA business and make recommendations which inform policy.
•    Review URA products and systems and make recommendations that will improve product performance
•    Conduct proactive research into URA’s technological future and develop a roadmap for implementation of the same

4.    Manage all stakeholders at the strategic level to ensure the Research and Innovation Division provides satisfactory services to support URA business.
•    Liaise with all other business areas to establish emerging innovations and needs
•    Identify, build and foster relations with URA Development Partners and Research/Academia institutions in support of the URA knowledge base.
•    Engage stakeholders and obtain feedback from the URA innovations in place and advise management on areas for improvement

5.    Oversee the sourcing, maintenance and availing of Data in line with the organization’s needs to support data driven decision making
•    Develop strategies, operating models (i.e. organisations & processes), roadmaps and business cases for Analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions
•    Design and manage underlying data sources to allow quick and efficient data extracts to support analysis
•    Design and account for all corporate data governance assets such as the data owners list, the data dictionary, the data backlog and the provision of templates and advice for data owners.
•    Determine how the organisation sources, gathers, maintains and deploys corporate data and insight across the organisation.
•    Prioritise and track all data quality, reporting or analysis requests raised by the organisation and ensure these are resolved to meet business expectations.
•    Develop mechanisms to monitor usage of and relevance of the URA statistical data tables so as to facilitate information exchange
•    Guide the development of revenue seasonality reports, tax head models and revenue forecasts for revenue performance monitoring
•    Provide guidance in the identification of red alerts in the respective databases that could cause revenue hemorrhage and communicate them

6. Oversee the Research and Innovation Division, monitoring and implementation of programs to improve the capacity, motivation, performance and productivity of staff in the Research and Innovation Division
•    Develop and communicate the strategy and work plan for the Research and Innovation Division
•    Lead, guide and support the department in performance planning, monitoring and evaluation processes and account to management, the performance of the Research and Innovation Division.
•    Develop and guide the implementation of staff motivation programs
•    Lead the identification of capacity gaps in the Research and Innovation Division, approve suitable development programs and establish strategies to monitor their implementation
•    Create and continually enhance an enabling environment to enable all staff to maximize their performance, innovation and creativity potential
•    Lead the development of a culture of client orientation in the Research and Innovation Division
•    Provide coaching for staff as well as set up frameworks for their coaching and succession planning
 

 PERSON SPECIFICATIONS
Essential Requirements 
•    An honor’s bachelors’ degree from a recognized academic Institution.
•    Post Graduate Qualification in Information Technology, Statistics, Economics or Business related field from a recognized academic institution
•    At least seven (7) years of work experience in Research, Information Technology, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Business Development or Innovations related work, five (05) of which should have been attained at Middle Management level from a reputable Organization

Desirable Requirements  
•    Project Management Certification
•    Leadership training from a recognized Institution
•    Strategic Planning Qualification
•    Training in Research & Research methodologies
•    Experience in Strategic Technology planning, execution, and Policy development.
•    Experience in Big Data Analysis
•    Excellent understanding of agile project management principles and work methods

KNOWLEDGE 
•    Knowledge of National Information Technology strategy and related policies
•    Knowledge of data analysis methodologies
•    Knowledge of financial reporting frameworks
•    Knowledge of research methodologies and models

SPECIFIC SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES
•    S/he should have an impeccable record of integrity
•    S/he should have a high level of intuition and emotional intelligence
•    S/he should have demonstrated a good creativity and innovation capability
•    S/he should have strong problem diagnosis and solving skills
•    S/he should have Strong conceptual and analytical skills
•    S/he should have excellent leadership skills
•    S/he should have excellent interpersonal and networking skills
•    S/he should have the ability to develop, communicate the vision, motivate and influence a team of professionals towards the realization of a strategy
•    S/he should have the ability to coach, mentor and guide the professional growth of staff under supervision
•    S/he should have excellent oral, written communication and presentation skills
•    S/he should be agile and results oriented