Job Title: Business Planning and Prioritization **
Location:** Columbus, Ohio (Hybrid with occasional requirement to be onsite) **
Duration:** 12 weeks (Start date approximately January 15th, 2024) **
Hours/Week:** 40 hours **
Rate: $120 per hour **
Contract Type: 1099

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Scope of Services:**

The Business Planning and Prioritization role entails a 12-week engagement focused on enhancing the company’s strategic decision-making. Responsibilities encompass managing investment requests, reviewing comprehensive business cases, and implementing an unbiased scoring system. The role is responsible for recommending and facilitating discussions with leaders, considering diverse investment profiles and assessing earnings potential. Additionally, it involves establishing a streamlined process, overseeing its execution, collaborating with financial teams, and developing scoring templates. In the absence of the leader, the role assumes ownership, ensuring meticulous documentation of each request. Leading the prioritization process involves assessing all requests, analyzing budgets, and contributing to the deployment of the prioritized investment plan in alignment with organizational goals. The ideal candidate will bring experience in similar processes, financial literacy, and expertise in business strategy and planning.

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Roles, Responsibilities, and Deliverables:

• Supporting Business Strategy and Financial Planning

  • Request Management: Receive and manage investment requests from various departments, ensuring a streamlined process.
  • Business Case Review: Skillfully review multiple business cases based on the received requests, incorporating key strategic elements.
  • Scoring System Implementation: Implement an objective scoring system to evaluate and prioritize business cases, ensuring a fair and systematic approach.
  • Leadership Facilitation: Recommend and facilitate constructive conversations with business leaders to discuss and make informed decisions regarding investments.
  • Investment Analysis: Consider diverse investment profiles, meticulously assessing the earnings power of each project for well-informed decision-making.

• Process Management * Unified Process Establishment: Establish a unified and standardized process for NiSource, enabling all teams to submit investment requests efficiently. * Efficient Process Execution: Run and manage the entire process with efficiency and attention to detail, ensuring a seamless workflow. * Collaboration with Financial Teams: Collaborate closely with financial planning and analysis teams to integrate financial insights into the decision-making process. * Template Development: Develop and maintain templates for scoring and evaluation, ensuring consistency and clarity throughout the process.

• Ownership and Documentation * Process Ownership: Take ownership of the entire process during the absence of the regular leader, ensuring continuity and effectiveness. * Thorough Documentation: Initiate and collaborate with process owners to comprehensively document each investment request, maintaining a clear record.

• Prioritization and Execution * P rioritization Leadership: Lead the prioritization process by assessing all investment requests objectively, aligning decisions with organizational goals. * Budget Analysis: Analyze the available budget, strategically determining the allocation of resources based on organizational priorities. * Deployment Support: Assist in the seamless deployment and execution of the prioritized investment plan, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Proven experience in business strategy, financial planning, and prioritization processes.
• Exceptional financial literacy and analytical skills.
• Ability to facilitate and lead conversations with business leaders.
• Strong organizational and documentation skills.
• Experience in developing and maintaining standardized processes.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to articulate business updates and outcomes to leadership via PowerPoint
• Flexibility to work both remotely and occasionally onsite in Columbus, Ohio.
• Experience managing multiple workstreams and driving results.
• Utilities experience preferred but not required

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Additional Information:** This 12-week contract role requires an individual with a background in running similar processes, financial expertise, and a strategic mindset. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in maintaining business continuity during the absence of the regular leader and contribute to the effective planning and prioritization of organizational investments.