Senior Advisor

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. 

We are looking for a Senior Advisor to integrate a small team of consultants and subject matter experts working from our Eastern Europe hub in Athens, Greece. The successful candidate will play an instrumental role in supporting the Regional Director in business development, providing ad-hoc support to in-country teams, coordinating and mentoring the hub’s staff.

This is an exciting opportunity requiring exceptional senior candidates who can demonstrate government experience, a can-do attitude and versatility.

Please note, it is essential you have an existing right to work in Greece/EU to apply for this role.

Key Responsibilities

1. The Senior Advisor will work closely with the Regional Director to identify expansion opportunities in South-East Europe, conduct rigorous analyses of short-listed nations and own preparation of materials for and delivery of pitch meetings. The successful candidate will be expected to collaborate and manage junior colleagues in this function.
2. With the help of other consultants, the Senior Advisor will kick-off and initiate new projects in existing or new countries, until permanent staffing has been identified and onboarded. This will entail managing teams of 3 or 4 junior consultants, leading research, engaging with senior government stakeholders and overseeing the production of client-ready presentations. This would assume a presence of up to 50% in-county, for a period of maximum 3 months.
3. The Senior Advisor will also provide surge support across the region when the regional staffing capacity requires buttressing. The Senior Advisor is expected to cover senior delivery roles across TBI’s core strategy, policy and delivery work programs. This may require the need to travel and spend short amounts of time in-country.
4. When not deployed, the Senior Advisor will work with associates and subject matter experts in the Athens Hub to conduct research and analysis on a variety of topics, and document it in Word or PowerPoint reports. This will be part of her / his engagement and co-leadership of business/practice building activities targeted at making TBI a more efficient, effective and attractive place to work for all staff members.

The Senior Advisor will report to the Regional Director.

Person Specification

• At least 5-7 years’ experience, including at least 3 years in management consulting in an equivalent position serving public sector clients, with demonstrated high-quality delivery.
• Demonstrated ownership of the full business development life-cycle from lead generation through to pitch meeting delivery and commercial scoping.
• Demonstrated experience leading small to mid-sized teams of professionals with diverse educational, geographical and cultural backgrounds.
• Experience working in multiple countries, ideally in Eastern Europe.
• 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 Eastern Europe.
• Strong written communication and executive reporting skills including concise written PPT decks and reports are an advantage
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in an Eastern European language will be considered a plus.

Due to labour-law restrictions, we currently only accept nationals from EU countries.

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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 South 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 Changemaker: you’ll be focused on results 

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you\'re successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.