Business Planning and Performance Director

About the role

Connect Plus Services is looking for an accomplished strategic leader to join its Senior Leadership Team as Business Planning and Performance Director.

Connect Plus Services is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, AtkinsRéalis and Egis Road Operations UK. The business operates and maintains the M25 motorway network on behalf of Connect Plus and National Highways, supporting a nationally significant infrastructure network with more than 140,000 assets. The 30-year concession runs until 2039.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you will act as a trusted strategic partner, helping to shape organisational direction and ensuring that the Senior Leadership Team remains focused on the strategic, contractual, commercial and operational issues that matter most.

You will lead and integrate business planning, organisational performance, governance, enterprise risk, transformation and continuous improvement across CPS. This is a broad and influential leadership role that connects strategy with operational delivery, strengthens executive decision making and drives measurable improvements across the organisation.

You will also play an important role in ensuring that CPS is positioned to meet its long-term contractual and handback obligations, balancing customer outcomes, operational performance, commercial interests and financial priorities.

Success will require someone who can build trusted relationships while providing constructive challenge. You will have the confidence to influence senior leaders, hold the line on important strategic and commercial matters, and create alignment across a complex joint venture and stakeholder environment.

What you'll be doing

• Acting as a trusted strategic adviser to the Managing Director and supporting the development, communication and delivery of the CPS vision, strategy and long-term priorities.


• Ensuring the Senior Leadership Team remains focused on the most important strategic, contractual, commercial and operational priorities.


• Leading the development of CPS business strategies, annual plans and performance frameworks, translating organisational objectives into clear and measurable outcomes.


• Providing independent thinking, strategic insight and constructive challenge to support effective executive and board-level decision making.


• Leading the CPS governance framework, including executive governance, board reporting, organisational controls, assurance and performance oversight.


• Embedding enterprise risk management and risk-based decision making across the organisation, ensuring emerging risks and opportunities are understood, escalated and addressed.


• Understanding where contractual obligations create business risk and ensuring that CPS's long-term concession and handback responsibilities are reflected in organisational planning and decision making.


• Holding business leaders accountable for delivery against strategic objectives, business plans, customer outcomes, contractual commitments and agreed risk appetite.


• Leading transformation and continuous improvement initiatives that deliver measurable improvements in productivity, efficiency, cost, customer outcomes and overall business performance.


• Setting the strategic direction for CPS's data and digital capability, supporting the delivery of business objectives and long-term contractual obligations.


• Acting as an organisational integrator, aligning multiple functions and translating strategic priorities into coordinated action across the business.


• Building and maintaining trusted relationships with Connect Plus, National Highways, joint venture partners, shareholders and other senior stakeholders, while protecting CPS's contractual and commercial interests.


• Leading and developing the Business Planning and Performance function, creating a high-performing team focused on professional excellence and measurable outcomes.


• Championing a culture of safety, wellbeing, accountability, openness, continuous learning and constructive challenge.

Who we're looking for

• Significant senior leadership or executive-level experience, with a track record of influencing organisational direction and improving business performance.


• Proven experience developing and executing business strategy, organisational plans and enterprise-wide priorities.


• Strong experience of executive governance, board reporting, performance management and organisational assurance.


• A successful track record in enterprise risk management, business continuity and risk-based decision making, including an understanding of how contractual obligations translate into organisational and commercial risk.


• Evidence of leading transformation, productivity, efficiency, cost reduction, process improvement or strategic change programmes that have delivered measurable results.


• Experience of digital transformation or improving data and digital capability, ideally within an infrastructure, asset management or operational environment.


• The ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, align multiple business areas and connect strategic priorities with operational delivery.


• Strong commercial judgement, with the ability to balance business performance, contractual commitments, customer outcomes and financial priorities.


• Experience working within a complex contractual, concession, joint venture, alliance or partnership environment.


• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the credibility to influence senior leaders, clients, shareholders, partners and governance bodies.


• A relevant professional qualification, ideally supported by Chartered or Incorporated status with a recognised UK institution.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK's most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn't rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You'll have the freedom to shape the package that's right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

- Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
- 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
- Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
- Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more...

About us

Connect Plus Services (CPS) brings together the collective strength of our parent companies - Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis Road Operation UK. With around 600 people, based at eight locations across the M25 network, we work on behalf of Connect Plus and National Highways to manage the operation of the M25 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from routine maintenance to managing the whole-life requirement of thousands of assets across the network.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty, we want everyone to be able to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. We're making great progress through our Value Everyone DEI Action Plan, but we know we've got more to do. Find out more about our values and DEI initiatives.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

We are committed to our processes being barrier-free and will support adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please let the recruiter for this role know if you require any adjustments.

We're looking to continually improve our recruitment process, so if you have any feedback, please share this with us via candidaterecruitmentenquiries@balfourbeatty.com