Role overview
What you'll be stepping into
The Chief Corporate Planning Officer (CCPO) is accountable for establishing and maintaining an integrated corporate planning system that converts Uganda Airlines' mandate and long-term ambitions into approved strategies, measurable plans, coordinated investments, and accountable performance.
The role leads corporate strategy, enterprise performance evaluation, industry and government affairs, long-term manpower planning, and facilities and fleet planning.
The CCPO provides independent enterprise insight to the Chief Executive Officer and Board, ensures that departmental plans are aligned and affordable, tests major strategic choices against credible evidence and scenarios, and maintains a clear line of sight from corporate objectives to delivery, benefits, and corrective action.
The CCPO also conducts market intelligence, competitive analysis, and strategic analysis.
2. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
(a) Corporate Strategy and Strategic Direction
Lead the development, periodic review, and execution of the Company's long-term strategy, corporate plan, and annual planning framework.
Translate the Company's mandate, shareholder expectations, and national aviation priorities into clear strategic objectives, outcomes, initiatives, and measures.
Coordinate environmental scanning, market and industry analysis, scenario planning, and strategic risk assessment to inform executive and Board decisions.
Ensure departmental strategies and plans are coherent, mutually supporting, and aligned with approved corporate priorities.
Advise the Chief Executive Officer and Board on strategic choices, trade-offs, sequencing, affordability, and organizational implications.
(b) Enterprise Planning and Performance Evaluation
Establish an enterprise performance management framework linking corporate objectives, departmental plans, budgets, projects, and individual accountability.
Define corporate indicators, baselines, targets, data ownership, and reporting standards in consultation with accountable executives and Finance.
Produce timely monthly, quarterly, and annual performance reports that explain results, variances, emerging risks, root causes, and recommended corrective action.
Lead structured performance reviews, track executive commitments, and verify that corrective actions and strategic initiatives deliver intended results.
Maintain a reliable corporate performance scorecard and ensure that reported achievements are supported by traceable evidence and consistent definitions.
(c) Strategic Programmes and Benefits Realization
Maintain an enterprise portfolio of strategic initiatives, major investments, and transformation programmes, with clear sponsorship, milestones, dependencies, costs, benefits, and risks.
Evaluate strategic business cases before approval, testing need, options, affordability, delivery capacity, risk, and expected economic or commercial benefit.
Monitor delivery and benefits realization after approval, identify slippage or scope drift, and recommend intervention, resequencing, suspension, or closure where justified.
Ensure lessons from completed, delayed, or unsuccessful initiatives are captured and applied to future planning.
(d) Industry and Government Affairs
Lead structured engagement with shareholder ministries, government agencies, regulators, diplomatic missions, regional bodies, industry associations, and other strategic public stakeholders.
Coordinate accurate and consistent corporate submissions, briefings, policy positions, and responses on matters affecting the airline's mandate, growth, and operating environment.
Monitor aviation policy, bilateral and multilateral developments, public investment priorities, and government decisions, assessing implications for Uganda Airlines.
Coordinate strategic input and follow-up on BASA matters, airline alliances, and codeshare opportunities, ensuring alignment with Uganda Airlines' corporate strategy, network priorities, and government engagement positions.
Support executive participation in strategic industry and government forums and ensure commitments are recorded, assigned, and followed through.
Maintain appropriate boundaries between corporate planning and regulatory compliance responsibilities owned by operational post holders, Legal, and other accountable functions.
(e) Corporate Manpower Planning
Lead long-term workforce demand planning based on fleet, network, operating model, productivity assumptions, regulatory requirements, and approved growth scenarios.
Develop integrated manpower forecasts by function, location, skill, grade, and timing, in close coordination with People and Culture, Finance, and departmental executives.
Identify critical capability gaps, scarce skills, succession exposure, recruitment lead times, and training pipelines that may constrain strategy execution.
Evaluate establishment changes and manpower requests against approved structure, workload, productivity, affordability, and future operating requirements.
Track workforce-plan implementation and recommend corrective action where staffing, competency, or productivity assumptions are not being achieved.
(f) Fleet Planning
Lead long-term fleet strategy and capacity planning, translating network and corporate scenarios into aircraft quantity, type, configuration, induction, and retirement requirements.
Coordinate rigorous fleet evaluations covering mission capability, demand, utilisation, maintenance, crew, airport, infrastructure, financing, residual-value, environmental, and transition considerations.
Prepare and maintain an approved fleet plan with realistic decision gates, acquisition lead times, induction dependencies, and contingency options.
Work with Commercial, Operations, Maintenance and Engineering, Finance, Legal, and Procurement to ensure fleet decisions are executable and supported by credible whole-life analysis.
Monitor fleet-plan assumptions and recommend adjustment when market, operational, technical, financial, or regulatory conditions materially change.
(g) Facilities and Infrastructure Planning
Develop the long-term corporate facilities and infrastructure plan for offices, operational facilities, training spaces, lounges, maintenance support, and other strategic premises.
Assess capacity, location, functionality, safety, security, accessibility, technology, lifecycle cost, and business continuity requirements before recommending investments.
Coordinate feasibility studies, option analysis, prioritization, and benefits definition for major facilities projects, without displacing the delivery accountabilities of Procurement, Finance, or user departments.
Maintain an integrated roadmap of facility needs, dependencies, approvals, and implementation timing aligned with fleet, manpower, and network growth.
(h) Integrated Business Planning and Decision Support
Coordinate the annual corporate planning calendar and ensure strategy, budget, workforce, fleet, facilities, network, and departmental plans use consistent assumptions and timelines.
Work with Finance to translate strategic priorities into affordable financial plans while preserving Finance's ownership of budgeting, accounting, and financial control.
Work with Commercial to align long-term corporate and fleet scenarios with route and network plans while preserving Commercial's ownership of network planning and scheduling.
Develop executive decision papers, scenario analyses, and recommendations that clearly state evidence, assumptions, risks, options, and consequences.
Maintain a controlled repository of approved strategies, plans, performance definitions, assumptions, and decision records.
(i) Corporate Risk, Sustainability and Resilience
Integrate strategic risk, resilience, environmental, and sustainability considerations into corporate plans and investment choices.
Identify external threats and opportunities, including economic, geopolitical, regulatory, technological, climate, and industry developments, and coordinate appropriate strategic responses.
Support business continuity and crisis preparedness by ensuring critical strategic dependencies, capacity constraints, and recovery priorities are understood.
Ensure material planning assumptions are stress-tested and contingency options are maintained for plausible adverse scenarios.
(j) Governance and Reporting
Ensure corporate plans and performance reports follow approved governance, shareholder, Board, and statutory reporting requirements.
Coordinate Board and Executive Committee planning submissions, maintaining accuracy, consistency, version control, and timely clearance by accountable functions.
Track resolutions and strategic commitments arising from Board, shareholder, and executive reviews, and escalate overdue or blocked actions.
Ensure planning and evaluation processes are transparent, evidence-based, and protected from unsupported performance claims or arbitrary target changes.
(k) People Leadership and Stakeholder Management
Build a capable, ethical, and analytical Corporate Planning team; set objectives, review performance, develop successors, and address capability gaps.
Promote enterprise thinking and constructive challenge, ensuring planning serves the whole Company rather than individual departmental interests.
Maintain effective collaboration with Commercial, Operations, Customer Services, Finance, People and Culture, Legal, Information Technology, Safety, Quality, Security, and Internal Audit, Risk and Compliance.
Represent Uganda Airlines in strategic planning, government, investment, and industry engagements as authorized by the Chief Executive Officer.
3. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Bachelor's degree in Strategic Management, Economics, Quantitative Economics, Development Economics, Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, Aviation Management, Planning, Public Policy, or another relevant discipline from a recognized institution.
A Master's degree is strongly preferred in Strategic Management, Economics, Quantitative Economics, Development Economics, Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, Aviation Management, Planning, Public Policy, or another relevant discipline from a recognized institution, or its equivalent in Airline Strategic Planning working experience of ten (10) years.
Professional certification or advanced training in strategy, corporate performance, project or programme management, economics, investment appraisal, aviation planning, or related fields is an added advantage. Professional qualifications in finance, project management, or aviation management will be an added advantage.
At least twelve (12) years of progressively responsible experience in corporate strategy, planning, performance management, aviation, transport, infrastructure, or a comparable complex organization, including at least ten (10) years in a senior leadership role.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing corporate strategy, evaluating major investments, coordinating enterprise plans, and presenting evidence-based recommendations to executive leadership or a Board.
Strong knowledge of airline economics and the interfaces among fleet, network, operations, workforce, facilities, finance, and regulation.
Experience engaging government, regulators, shareholders, industry bodies, and cross-functional executive stakeholders.
Proven ability to build credible scenarios and business cases, manage competing assumptions, and convert strategy into measurable delivery.
Must be 45 years and above.
4. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
Corporate strategy and enterprise planning
Airline economics and integrated business planning
Enterprise performance management and evaluation
Scenario planning, forecasting, and strategic risk analysis
Fleet strategy and whole-life option appraisal
Corporate manpower and capability planning
Facilities and infrastructure planning
Government, industry, and shareholder relations
Business-case development and investment appraisal
Programme portfolio and benefits-realization governance
Data interpretation and executive decision support
Clear Board-level writing, presentation, and influence
Independent judgement, constructive challenge, and integrity
People leadership, coaching, and succession development
How to apply