Advisor, Eastern Europe

Focus of the Role

Are you excited by the prospect of supporting government to deliver on its promises to citizens by improving service delivery? Do you have experience in consulting and/or working in the public sector to drive systemic change? If so, we would like to hear from you.  

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is scaling up its support to multiple governments in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia to accelerate reforms and progress through better delivery support, technology, and private sector engagement. With programmes growing across Eastern Europe, TBI is combining strategy, policy and delivery expertise to help progressive governments formulate and implement their reform agenda.   

The Institute is looking to hire an exceptional Advisor to work with the country team on driving forward an ambitious transformation agenda set out by the client. The Advisor will provide support to the client on public sector reform, by working across public and foreign policy areas. The Advisor will work closely with the government counterpart and related ministries and agencies as required by the workstreams.

Key Responsibilities

In close collaboration with the Centre of Government (CoG) country team, Tomorrow Partnership staff, and other teams in the Eastern Europe region, the Advisor will:

1. Support TBI’s role in delivering strategic direction and advice to government counterparts on centre of government topics, which span a broad range and fluctuate over time. Examples of potential areas of focus include education, healthcare, infrastructure financing, digitalization, EU accession, demographic policy, international affairs, and other public policy areas , etc...

1. Conduct in-depth analyses and advise on key policy topics and international developments as needed to support the client’s policymaking and decision-making on priority projects and enhance the government’s ability to respond and adapt to global and regional trends.

1. Compose comprehensive and well-structured written briefings on topics of interest to the client, including the Prime Minister and Head of State, which may be either longer-term in scope or in response to very short deadlines.

1. Provide support in the preparation, organization, and implementation of government retreats which aim to support the client in focusing government priorities, planning around priority projects, and managing overall workflows.

1. Provide support to government leadership in coordinating, prioritizing and reporting on projects. In particular, the Advisor would be expected to at times engage with government stakeholders to gather and synthesize progress in preparation for high-level coordination meetings

1. Advise on improving organizational management within the government, project management methods, reporting procedures, communications and PR methods to promote project successes to the public, etc.

1. Support TBI internal processes, such as knowledge management, and reporting. Additionally, staff are expected to participate in and contribute to company-wide initiatives, best practice knowledge exchange, learning and development opportunities, and other efforts.

1. Engage with the client frequently face-to-face and participate in meetings and discussions regarding workstreams to ensure client’s needs are being met as accurately as possible.

Person Specification

• At least 3 years of experience in management consulting or government administration, with a track record of effective project delivery
• 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.  
• An ability to work independently, think strategically and produce deliverables, with attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and presentational skills; able to quickly establish his or her credibility with the client
• A proven ability to collaborate with others, including people from different backgrounds and cultures
• 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 in the transatlantic space and, ideally, in Eastern Europe.
• A proactive, self-motivated individual with a passion for achieving social impact
• 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 including concise written PPT decks and reports are an advantage.
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in Bosnian / Croatian / Montenegrin / Serbian highly preferred.

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a mission-driven not for profit organisation. We exist to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies. We work hard, every day, to make a difference. When governments work well, they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We work relentlessly to support leader and governments with the challenges they face. Giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people.

We do this within two connected divisions:

Government Advisory

Our Government Advisory teams work directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It works with a variety of partners and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. We serve governments at the political level with Policy, Strategy, and Delivery support, working hand-in-hand to execute priority initiatives at scale.

Policy Futures

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas:

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics;
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world.

As an organisation the core beliefs we all embrace are:

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity
• Optimistic Changemakers: you’ll be focused on results