Country Director at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Role Summary

• The Country Director has accountability and oversight across all in-country projects and will lead work on public sector reform, foreign policy advisory, digital transformation, and health-sector reforms, among others.
• The Country Director will work closely with government counterparts in senior leader offices and related ministries and agencies as required by the workstreams.
• More broadly, the Country Director leads client-facing engagements, engages in business development activities, and develops the next generation of advisory leaders for TBI.
• This is an exciting senior leadership opportunity requiring exceptional candidates with relevant experiences and competencies.

Directors possess the following accountabilities and responsibilities:
Client relationship

• Through the delivery of quality and relevant insights, build and maintain a relationship of trust with the President
• Be able to suggest and convince your counterpart on key development priorities that TBI could be supporting, which place sustainable social and economic development at their core.
• Hold operational accountability for the effective management of client relationships with co-development (with Regional Director) of account prospects expected.

Team management and internal coordination

• Provide strategic direction to the team on various workstreams, ensuring efficient project planning, effective task allocation and follow-through.
• Provide direct support to your team when needed, including through sharing content knowledge, supporting in analysis or in development of client deliverables
• Be receptive to team’s professional and personal concerns, ensuring their well-being and acting as a coach to improve their professional skills and on the job satisfaction.
• Ensure projects bring the very best of TBI to clients by harnessing the skills, knowledge, and capacity of political, policy and research functions across TBI, including the Global Client Solutions team.
• Hold final accountability for the quality, timeliness, and scope alignment of client-facing deliverables.

Administration

• Hold final accountability for the efficacy and efficiency of project teaming, including management of performance reviews for the project team.
• Keep the Regional Director thoroughly updated on workstream progress and potential bottlenecks.
• Lead the development of internal TBI policies for the country, risk register and emergency security package, and ensure TBI staff follow country protocols.
• Contribute to regional recruiting effort.

Person Specification

• At least 10 years of professional experience of which at least 6 years holding an advisory function to senior public sector clients.
• A graduate degree in Public Policy, Economics, International Relations or Political Sciences; under-graduate degrees and graduate degrees in other areas can be considered with relevant equivalent experience.
• Strong experience working in strategy development, particularly experience in management consulting, is highly advantageous.
• Proven ability to lead engagement with public sector clients, with experience in Africa a distinct advantage.
• Expertise in a topic and/or function salient to public sector advisory (i.e. public policy, international relations, education and social policy, digital transformation etc).
• Ability to effectively manage small-to-mid sized teams comprising a variety of skill-sets, nationalities and cultural backgrounds with an ethos focused on team success and genuine motivation for colleagues’ performance, growth and well-being.
• An ability to work independently, think strategically and produce well-structured client-ready deliverables, including PowerPoint.
• Excellent interpersonal and presentational skills; able to quickly establish his or her credibility with the client.
• Ability to operate within sometimes sensitive political contexts and be attuned to potential areas of conflict or tension. Apply sound judgement in all external engagements on behalf of TBI.
• An awareness of international relations trends, particularly related to Africa.
• A high level of comfort working in a fast-paced environment and handling multiple diverse workstreams at once while maintaining the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong written communication and executive reporting skills.
• Business fluency in English required.