Head of Partnerships, Digital Skills and Inclusion

Focus of the Role

We don’t just talk, we do. Lead the change with us.

At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, we work with political leaders around the world to drive change. We help governments turn bold ideas into reality so they can deliver for their people. We do it by advising on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three. And by sharing what we learn on the ground, so everyone can benefit. We do it to build more open, inclusive and prosperous countries for people everywhere. 

We are a global team of nearly 800 changemakers, operating in more than 30 countries, across five continents. We are political strategists, policy experts, delivery practitioners, technology specialists and more. We speak more than 45 languages. We are working on over 100 projects, tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. We’re all here at TBI to make a difference. 

In a world of ever more complex challenges, we believe diversity of background and perspective is a strength. We pride ourselves on a culture that values and nurtures difference. We are dedicated to unlocking potential, not only for the countries we work in but also for each of our team members. No matter where you’re from or who you are, if you’re passionate about the transformative power of progressive politics, we invite you to build a better future with us.

We encourage early application as we reserve the right, if required, to close this role ahead of the date advertised.

Job Introduction

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.

An area of focus within the Partnership and Initiatives portfolio is Digital Skills and Inclusion, both for public servants and citizens. Our TBI Digital Academy serves as proof of concept of our wider ambitions. We are actively working with partners to upskill public servants in tech literacy in pilot geographies and content verticals with ambitions to build this initiative and platform.

TBI`s goal is to be the ‘go to’ organisation for progressive leaders and governments for whom we deliver: Policy, Strategy, and Delivery, with Tech as an enabler across all three. The Head of Partnerships, Digital Skills and Inclusion role will build and deliver an offering that is critical to meeting TBI’s ambition. The role will be responsible for building out our Digital Skills and Inclusion initiative globally and expanding the partnership platform to cover both public servants and citizens capacity building.

The priority for the Partnerships and Initiatives team, where this role will sit, is accelerating impact in the region through our landmark partnership platform, The Tomorrow Partnership. Through The Tomorrow Partnership we partner with governments, tech companies, experts, and innovators to bring about transformative change by supporting leaders, countries, and communities to harness the power of technology for good.

The candidate for Head of Partnerships, Digital Skills and Inclusion will bring specialised skills, networks, and interests across the following areas: education/skills development, capacity building, technology and innovation, digitisation, public policy, government delivery. The post holder should be a natural convener and networker able to creatively find synergies and pathways for advancing our Digital Skills and Inclusion agenda. The Head of Partnerships, Digital Skills and Inclusion will work in highly matrixed organisation and the ability to collaborate and deliver with colleagues across structures will be crucial.

TBI has three core business departments: Strategy and Partnerships, Policy and Politics, and Global Government Advisory. This role reports to the Director, Global Tech Partnerships and sits within the Strategy and Partnerships Department of TBI, under Partnerships and Initiatives. The Strategy and Partnerships department leads and oversees the Institute’s strategic direction and growth, with specific responsibility for futureproofing growth, developing scalable partnerships, innovating in technology, 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.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to and working closely with the Director, Global Tech Partnerships responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Develop a global strategy to expand TBI’s Digital Academy into a dedicated portfolio of partnerships for Digital Skills and Inclusion that meets government client needs in line with TBI’s ambitions. The strategy should target with a mix of big technology companies and like-minded organisations with international presence and build an ecosystem of various regional delivery and/or content partners
• In line with your proposed strategy, grow our network and relationships with international organisations, training and content providers, technology companies, implementation partners, and thought leaders to enhance our understanding of Digital Skills and Inclusion needs and capabilities in TBI priority regions. You will then convert the most relevant of these connections to TBI partners and hold the stakeholder relationship
• Set and deliver annual OKRs for Digital Skills partnerships in line with and contributing to Department OKRs
• Manage TBI Digital Academy in pilot geographies and
  • Refine and set new strategy as part of our wider Digital Skills and Inclusion agenda
  • Identify geographic and content vertical expansion priorities and bring in partners accordingly
  • Pull together matrixed TBI resources to build a delivery team
  • Decide impact metrics for the Academy both for TBI, client governments, and partners
  • Support our comms team in amplifying the Academy`s impact externally
  • Work closely with TBI teams and partners to troubleshoot implementation challenges and lead teams toward solutions to deliver greater impact
• Set strategy, identify opportunities, and expand the partnerships platform to deliver on citizen digital literacy – the post holder will define how to prioritise different facets of skills building (eg related to benefiting from government services versus digital literacy, etc)
• Work closely with our Global Innovation Unit and Global Client Solutions teams to
  • Conduct tech due diligence on partners where necessary
  • Propose and support roll out and/or creation of in-house assets that are/would be key to the delivery of the wider Digital Skills and Inclusion agenda
  • Work closely with GCS to ensure TBI’s digital skills support for governments is embedded within the Institute’s broader Digital and Tech Transformation strategy
  • Find synergies between existing partnerships managed by either team to see if they could support the Digital Skills and Inclusion platform
• Work closely with Country Advisory Teams to
  • understand the needs, opportunity impact, and delivery models. This will include frequent travel and interaction
  • Serve as a connector between them and the wider Strategy and Partnerships Division, act as match-maker between their needs and our partners/portfolio
  • Find best working practices with country Heads of Technology and other key team members to ensure efficient implementation
• Working with our Business Development and Income team, develop a sustainable revenue model for our Digital Skills and Inclusion portfolio
• Identify opportunities/crossovers in our Digital Skills and Inclusion offer to our other landmark and strategic partnerships
• Lead impact reporting for Digital Skills and Inclusion portfolio and manage to key performance indicators
• Represent TBI at external events
• Serve as a strong leader for TBI’s culture and values

Key internal relationships: Strategy and Partnerships department leaders and their teams; Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives leadership and department; Regional Directors and Country Directors, Global Advisory; key country teams; Community Engagement Team; Global Client Solutions; Global Innovation Unit; 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:

• Keenly interested in the work of TBI and share in our mission and values
• Extensive experience with big tech organisations as a lead for partnerships and/or high level relationship management, and working with contracts
• With experience and a strong network of actors in tech and digitisation, government delivery experience and an understanding of public policy are desired
• A track record of cultivating and maintaining partnerships and alliances across diverse organisations
• 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
• Strategic thinker who can challenge the status-quo and develop plans for successful delivery of challenging objectives
• Skilled communicator and influencer, from executive office level through to technical level, is adept at speaking to senior leadership with excellent written and oral communication skills
• A natural networker and convener and can manage a multitude of external relationships navigating a matrixed internal organisation
• A proven self-starter and is entrepreneurial in spirit, able to operate in rapidly changing and growth business environment
• Proven ability to oversee numerous projects and initiatives, delegating and performance managing the details
• 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
• Impact focused, you will have a background of delivering operationally with a positive impact
• Open to travel and curious to learn from colleagues across our global team

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