Senior Delivery Advisor

Focus of the Role

Are you excited by the prospect of designing and implementing high impact transformation programmes from the centre of government? Do you have experience advising senior political leadership on strategy, policy, delivery, and technology? Do you have experience of consulting - or working in - the public sector and of leading teams of consultants or government advisers?

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) has been working with the Government of Zambia since March 2022. Working hand-in-hand with the Office of the President of the Republic of Zambia, the project is led by a Country Director, with a team currently consisting of advisers supporting the government in different ministries. We are hiring a Senior Delivery Adviser to support the Office of the President establish a structure to prioritize, plan and steer implementation of the government’s transformation and digital agenda.

This role entails working in close collaboration with senior government counterparts, as well as engaging broader public and private stakeholders, to lead the scope and discussion with partners, identifying areas of catalytic potential aligned with presidential priorities. 

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience working and delivering in the centre of government in order to join its Zambia team. The role will primarily support partners in Zambia centre government and delivery in the President’s Office, and other key stakeholders on operationalising a delivery mechanism to drive implementation of the President’s priorities.

This is a senior role requiring an exceptional candidate with relevant expertise, as well as a deep network within the government and with active development and technical partners.

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

Key Responsibilities

Key responsibilities for the role include:

Under the direction and guidance of the Country Director, and with input from TBI’s Centre of Government and Delivery central practice, key responsibilities for the role include:

Support Key Counterparts and Country Team in project delivery

• Develop and lead tailored expert advice on how to operate delivery units, including organisational structures, relevant competency requirements, as well as relevant processes, tools and methodologies for tracking and advancing the delivery of specific priority projects.
• Identify and structure delivery initiatives within counterparts’ departments as well as with each TBI team member, agreeing clear deliverables with counterparts.
• Lead diagnosis of center of government capability and key drivers to deliver on governments’ national development priorities.
• Plan, prioritize, manage, and deliver activities under the Delivery workstream from start to finish, in coordination with relevant colleagues, including setting timelines, developing content, and manage deliverables.
• Coordinate capacity building efforts for the counterparts, including implementing institutions and best practices.
• As needed, proactively identify risks, and seek to resolve issues affecting task or workstream delivery, and promptly communicate upward with solution options.
• Facilitate high level discussions with senior government counterparts on TBI’s support areas and jointly define and agree on TBI’s scope of work, and work through the available options to ensure delivery.
• Provide training and facilitate skills transfer to relevant counterparts and TBI colleagues on delivery tools and methodologies (e.g., the ‘4 Ps’, TBI digital delivery dashboard, etc.)   
• Drive the team’s internal knowledge management efforts on delivery and avail it for others

Providing quality assurance and oversight on delivery programming

• Work with Government of Zambia counterparts and project colleagues to plan, sequence and deliver the right interventions at the right time
• Assess progress against project delivery plans, highlighting key risks to delivery, proposing mitigation measures, and escalating to decision-makers where appropriate
• Support M&E processes with detailed analyses, working with counterparts to address findings
• Provide briefings and assessments of progress – whether thematically or on a project and programme basis – for a range of senior audiences.

• Demand-led implementation of delivery and center of government training, delivery labs and other delivery tools
• Assess existing capability gaps and support project teams to build capacity of centers of government to effectively implement their transformation agenda, including technological transformational initiatives 

Relationship Building/Management

• Develop strong collaborative networks and effective communication with main counterparts, and other relevant agencies and organisations within the Government of Zambia
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within implementing agencies to facilitate issue resolution and unblock issues delaying implementation

Support the coordination of project oversight between the Centre of Government, implementing institutions and other stakeholders such as the private sector

• Support government-to-government and government-to-private sector coordination, engage stakeholders and synthesise inputs
• Develop thematic workstreams as directed and in response to requests from counterparts

Other internal TBI responsibilities

• Contribute to wider TBI activities including strategy development, reporting, organisation-wide coordination, and engagement
• Support the TBI Zambia Country Director to participate and collaborate with other TBI projects, sharing knowledge and supporting thought leadership efforts

Person Specification

This is a role in a fast-paced team, working within complex policy areas that are highly scrutinised.  We are looking for enthusiastic and resilient individuals with a “can-do” outlook and the ability to consistently achieve results in a fast-paced environment. We are looking for an experienced leader:

• Extensive experience in a leadership role, cutting across centre of government, governance, delivery and management consulting in Africa;
• With demonstrable expertise in economics, public policy, or international relations;
• Who is strategic, has strong problem-solving ability, can challenge the status-quo and develop plans for successful delivery of challenging objectives
• Ability to work and interact at the highest levels of political decision-making structures in Governments and to support the emergence of trusted relationships
• Strong political acumen and being able to rapidly develop an understanding of the needs of senior officials
• Highly developed analytical and negotiation skills that can be deployed in a range of contexts
• Exceptional communication, drafting and presentational skills
• An ability to work independently, think strategically and translate strategies into concrete and implementable plans; an acute attention to detail with excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Proven strong abilities and experience leading and managing people and teams.
• Experience with project development and project management and experience of identifying and resolving project implementation bottlenecks.
• Who is a skilled communicator and influencer, from executive office level through to technical level
• Who has worked or consulted in developing and emerging economies.

#LI-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.