Associates and Advisors, Middle East

Focus of the Role

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) advises reforming political leaders and governments on strategy, policy and delivery, with technology as an enabler across all three functions.  In so doing we make a significant and positive impact for citizens around the world. 

The Associates and Advisors will support our growing project portfolio (both  in-country or supporting from our UAE hub), business development activities and horizontal offerings of expertise to our clients.

These are exciting roles requiring exceptional candidates with relevant experiences and competencies.

Job Introduction

Associates and Advisors represent the bulk of our teams around the world.  They are generalist problem-solvers able to support political leaders across all the dimensions at which we offer advice. 

Successful applicants will have an amazing career ahead of them.  Whether they are at TBI for a few years, or a large share of their career as they grow and progress within the Institute – their experience as a TBI Associate will position them to have a huge global impact.  This role is ideal for the candidate who is passionate about politics and the ability to create change by working in and with governments.

Associates and Advisors must have the ability to operate with clients and across TBI with professionalism, confidentiality, integrity and diplomacy. 

These are not entry level roles but require some experience (Associate roles) and a graduate or professional degree (Advisor roles), though it is expected that successful applicants will still be early-to-mid-career professionals possessing  a  high degree of learning and development potential.

Key Responsibilities

• Support projects in-country and/or regional client or development opportunities as TBI advises political leaders on strategy, policy and delivery with technology as the enabler across all three dimensions
• Develop research, analysis, written insights and other deliverables for clients and senior leadership within TBI
• Engage with client counterparts to understand client requirements, articulate ideas and participate in presentations of deliverables
• Innovate and develop tools that enable efficient management and delivery of programmes (including project dashboards, frameworks and trackers)
• Support delivery of high levels of project impact, facilitating nimble performance tracking and coordination where required
• Play a hands-on role in opportunity scoping and relationship building to enable the expansion of TBI to new geographies, including developing presentations for new country clients and senior government officials
• Support new projects in their inception phase and support implementation as in-country teams are put in place
• Apply and learn from new and innovative approaches to supporting change and deliver impact

Person Specification

We are looking for experienced policy, strategy, and delivery consultants and/or experienced professionals with relevant backgrounds:

• Between 2-7 years’ experience as a political staffer, public servant, or in consulting, economics, finance, multilateral institutions, high impact civil society organisations, and many other previous roles are all considered relevant at TBI.  Technology experience is not required but is an asset.
• Previous experience in strategy consulting and/or management consulting is advantageous
• A work ethos focused on team success with genuine motivation for colleagues’ performance, growth and well-being
• Ability to perform in-depth analysis across various topics, generate original insights and produce high-quality deliverables which are fit for delivery to senior government clients, perform challenging analysis and structured problem solving
• Insatiable curiosity for data, with a proven ability to process it with attention to detail
• Strong time management skills and a demonstrable strength in project management
• Demonstrable experience of being an entrepreneurial self-starter
• Skilled at communicating, from executive office level through to technical level, adept at speaking to senior leadership, knowing how to navigate ambiguous environments and comfortable at managing up and beyond hierarchy
• Demonstrating a proactive and hands-on attitude, not afraid to roll-up their sleeves to get the job done and take ownership of their workstream
• Passion for tech and an interest in using new software beyond the traditional MS Office Suite

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 has 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.

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