Centre of Government and Delivery Technology Advisor at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a purpose-driven, not-for-profit organisation, with a mission to equip leaders to build open, prosperous and inclusive societies. We believe that politics done well has the power to transform lives. When governments work well, they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We are optimists, and we work relentlessly to support leaders 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 Advisory Practice works directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia. We are currently in a rapid expansion phase from c. 18 countries at present, to 30 by December 2022.

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’s Centre of Government and Delivery (CoGD) Team is a central function that provides technical leadership and support around TBI’s CoGD initiatives in Africa. Our mission is to be a global centre of excellence for learning and innovation in Centre of Government effectiveness. The Team complements TBI’s embedded Government Advisory work, and currently spans across 16 centres of government in Africa, through iterative solution curation and implementation, market development and thought leadership services.

Over the past two years, TBI has been developing a delivery dashboard to aid partner governments in planning, monitoring and evaluating their projects. The CoGD’s aim is to professionalise and scale this dashboard in order to help governments achieve ambitious economic and development targets through harnessing technology.
We are seeking an exceptional individual with experience in creating bespoke tech tools and centre of government advisory. The post holder will report to the CoGD Lead and advise and support our governance advisors, partner governments, regional bodies, development partners and other key stakeholders on innovative approaches to strengthen governments’ ability to deliver.

This is a one year fixed term role.

Key Responsibilities

• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Develop, pilot and roll-out tech-based centre of government tools that speak to the objectives of partner governments and merge the latest best practices in centre of government, adaptive management and delivery
• Mainstream the digital dashboard tool and other relevant technology into our CoGD service offerings and implementation approaches
• Professionalise and scale the prototype digital dashboard tool to create a marketable software package
• Develop and maintain a system for knowledge management for the Team in collaboration with CoGD Lead, Governance Advisors and Country Teams
• Serve as a focal point for issues related to technology application in the centre of government and delivery across the Government Advisory practice
• Collaborate with, and be responsive to the TBI country teams in Africa, to support them with their digital delivery tool in a demand led and tailored way, while professionalizing the central product
• Work closely with TBI’s Technology and Public Policy and Tech for Development Country Programs
• Scope appropriate centre of government digital tools and services and maintain intelligence on market needs, competition and gaps with a view to expanding the scope of our digital dashboard package
• Support the CoGD Lead on quality assurance, market development, thought leadership initiatives to effectively deliver on the Team’s mission and strategy

Person Specification

This is a role in a fast-paced team working out of different geographies and in complex policy areas. To be successful in this role you will need to be closely aligned with the Institute’s outlook and mission and be entrepreneurial in your approach to your work.

You will have the following skills, knowledge and experience:

• 5-7 years of experience in applying technology for public sector transformation
• Proven track record and educational background in software engineering, tech-based toolkit development and popularization
• Fluency in Python and Javascript programming languages including Django and React frameworks
• Extensive experience with data analysis using an SQL database
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and negotiation skills
• A strong professional network
• Experience in management consulting or centre of government/delivery work in Africa (preferred)