Head of Partnerships, Africa at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change supports political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies in a globalised world. We do this through developing policy and advising governments.

About Job

The Head of Partnerships, 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 Africa region which will enable TBI to be the ‘go to’ organisation for progressive leaders and governments for whom we deliver: Policy, Strategy and 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 at least one of the following priority areas: technology and innovation, digitisation, life sciences and digital health, and/or climate tech.  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 Africa Advisory structure and work closely with the five Regional Directors for Africa.   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: We will be screening and interviewing candidates from the 13^th March  2023 onwards so please do submit your application as soon as possible.

Key Responsibilities

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

• With a focus on TBI’s Tomorrow Partnership platform, develop an Africa-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 African partners who are able to scale and work with our Government clients in other regions


• Set and deliver annual OKRs for African partnerships in line with and contributing to Partnership and Initiative (PI) Team’s OKRs


• Work closely with Advisory Teams to understand the needs, opportunity impact, and delivery models.  This will include frequent travel and interaction, particularly with Regional Directors and Country Directors


• Work closely with Global PI 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 Africa accounts


• Support Advisory Country Teams with scoping and match making of offers from TBI’s Landmark partners with our client governments and work closely with the African Regional Tech Advisors (Global Client Solutions Team) to support delivery of these landmark partnerships


• Serve as a connector between the wider Strategy & Partners Division and TBI Africa 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; PI leadership and department; Regional Directors and Country Directors, Global Advisory; key country teams; Community Engagement Team; Global Client Solutions, particularly the Regional Tech Advisors; 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


• Extensive experience within African tech ecosystem


• 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; life sciences and health innovation; climate; and/or government delivery


• Excellent written and oral communication skills


• 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


• French language is desirable, but not necessary

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