Head of Partnerships, Middle East and North Africa

Focus of the Role

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) is a not-for-profit organisation which supports governments on strategy, policy and delivery through its advisory practice and policy work. As the Institute grows, partnerships are a strategic path to deliver greater impact at greater scale by bringing expertise, resources and technologies that will accelerate economic and social development and secure lasting change for countries. 

The Head of Partnerships, Middle East and North Africa is critical to delivering TBI’s ambition.  The role will be responsible for building and executing a portfolio of impactful, scalable partnerships in the MENA region which will enable TBI to be the ‘go to’ organisation for progressive leaders and governments for whom we deliver: Policy, Strategy Delivery, with Tech as a horizontal.   

The priority for the portfolio will be accelerating impact in the region through our landmark partnership platform, The Tomorrow Partnership.   Through The Tomorrow Partnership we partner with governments, experts and innovators to bring about transformative change by supporting leaders, countries and communities to harness the power of technology for good.

TBI is looking to hire an experienced Head of Partnerships who brings specialised skills, networks and interests in: technology and innovation/digitisation.  The post holder should be a natural convener and networker able to creatively find synergies and pathways for partnerships.  The Head of Partnerships will work in highly matrixed organisation and the ability to collaborate and deliver with colleagues across structures will be crucial.

This role reports to the Director, Global Partnerships and sits within the Strategy & Partnerships (S&P) Department of TBI.   The role will matrix report into the Middle East Advisory structure.  S&P is one of 3 external facing business critical departments – the other two being  Policy & Politics and Global Government Advisory. The S&P department leads and oversees the Institute’s strategic direction and growth, with specific responsibility for futureproofing growth, developing scalable partnerships, innovating in tech and securing financial resources to measurably advance the Institute’s operational goals and drive sustainable impact. The post-holder can expect to work closely with senior colleagues across the whole of the Institute.

Relocation assistance will be provided for the successful candidate if required. 

Please note that due to the very high volume of applications received, we will now be closing this role on Sunday 5^th February 2023. 

This role will be based in Morocco or UAE.  If the UAE, though the office is based in Abu Dhabi, you can reside in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to and working closely with the Director, Global Partnerships,  as well as matrix reporting into the Middle East and Eastern Europe Advisory structure, responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• With a focus on TBI’s Tomorrow Partnership platform, develop an MENA-specific partnerships strategy for a dedicated portfolio of partnerships that meets TBI’s  ambition for the region and for global scale
• In line with strategy, develop and enhance our network, relationships, and partnerships with leading innovators, technology and life science companies, implementation partners, and thought leaders which enhance our understanding of emerging innovation and improve our offer to governments.  This should include targeting MENA partners who are able to scale and work with our Government clients in other regions
• Set and deliver annual OKRs for MENA partnerships in line with and contributing to StratPI’s OKRs
• Work closely with Advisory Teams to understand the needs, opportunity impact, and delivery models.  This will include frequent travel and interaction
• Work closely with Global StratPI Team to understand and shape the global portfolio, share lessons, and identify additional opportunity for cross collaboration
• Lead prospecting, solicitation, partnership development and stewardship for key MENA accounts
• Support Advisory Country Teams with scoping and match making of offers from TBI’s Landmark partners with our client governments and serve as MENA focal points for these landmark partnerships
• Serve as a connector between the wider Strategy & Partners Division and TBI Middle East Advisory (including S&P’s Business Development and Income, Global Innovation Unit, and Representative Offices)
• Work closely with TBI teams and partners to troubleshoot implementation challenges and lead teams toward solutions to deliver greater impact, escalating to leadership as appropriate
• Working with TBI’s CRM and related tools, maintain a clear, organised means for tracking partnership pipeline and engagement
• Pay special attention to what the portfolio offers as a platform for TBI and our participating partners
• Lead partner impact reporting for your portfolio and manage to key performance indicators for portfolio
• Represent TBI at external events
• Serve as a strong leader for TBI’s culture and values

Key internal relationships: S&P department leaders and their teams; StratPI leadership and department; Regional Directors and Country Directors, Global Advisory; key country teams; Community Engagement Team; Global Client Solutions; Legal department.

Person Specification

This is a senior leadership role requiring an exceptional candidate who is looking to expand their experience across a growing portfolio:

• Extensive experience as a lead for partnerships and/or high level relationship management, and working with contracts
• Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree or equivalent practical experience
• Strategic thinker who can challenge the status-quo and develop plans for successful delivery of challenging objectives
• The ability to operate in rapidly changing and growth business environment
• Proven ability to oversee numerous projects and initiatives, delegating and performance managing the details
• A track record of cultivating and maintaining partnerships and alliances across diverse organisations
• A natural networker and convener and can manage a multitude of external relationships navigating a matrixed internal organisation
• Brings experience in the mechanics of partnerships, related financial models and can ensure the partnerships cultivated operationally function across portfolio need
• Proven leadership capacity -- able to set strategic direction, inspire teams to collaboratively achieve exceptional objectives, and not afraid to be hands-on to achieve results
• Skilled communicator and influencer, from executive office level through to technical level, is adept at speaking to senior leadership
• Impact focused, you will have a background of delivering operationally with a positive impact
• Demonstrated ability in problem analysis and problem resolution at both strategic and functional level
• Proven experience of providing creative and innovative approaches in developing new initiatives/systems that contribute towards set goals
• With experience and a strong network of actors in at least one of the following prioritised areas for TBI’s partnership portfolios: tech & digitisation and/or government delivery
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in both Arabic and English
• A proven self-starter and is entrepreneurial in spirit
• Open to travel and curious to learn from colleagues across our global team
• Keenly interested in the work of TBI and share in our mission and values
• Arabic or French language required
• Experience in the Middle East or/and North Africa is a requirement

#Hybrid

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.