Focus of the Role

Are you excited by the prospect of transforming developing and emerging nations in Africa through the application of technology and innovations across public services, agriculture, health and climate? Do you have experience of consulting or working in the tech sector, driving systemic and transformative change in an emerging or developing country? Do you thrive on driving the end to end delivery of transformative projects?

The Tomorrow Partnership is the Tony Blair Institute’s work with political leaders and governments to bring tech and digital solutions to their biggest challenges, because we believe tomorrow will belong to those who responsibly harness the power of technology for the good of all people, and to leave no one behind.

Through The Tomorrow Partnership, we broker strategic partnerships between governments and leading tech organisations and innovators to help foster environments that enable tech to deliver practical change in people’s lives.

As part of TBI’s the Tomorrow Partnership in Zambia, we are looking to hire an exceptional Programme Manager with experience and expertise across technology and government advisory. Joining a fast growing team, the Programme Manager will support efforts to coordinate the implementation of a suite of technology, digitisation and innovation initiatives with the Government of Zambia. Report to our in-country Head of Tech, the role involves supporting the Head of Tech to plan, operationalise, track and measure the impact across the growing Tomorrow Partnership portfolio in Zambia, with an initial focus on digital health and e-government. The Programme Manager will play a key role in engaging with TBI’s internal teams, such as the TBI’s Tech Team, leading on key reporting products, as well as supporting recruitment for Zambia.

This is a key role requiring a candidate with relevant expertise in tech, proven experience in project management and strategy development, with the right skills, temperament and drive to deliver in a complex and sensitive government environment.

Job Introduction

Key outcomes of the role

Successful delivery of the role will include:

In country Tomorrow Partnership portfolio planned against global strategic results framework, staffed with engaged and results oriented people, and effectively managed to deliver expected results with Ministries and key stakeholders;
An operational workplan developed; tools in place and utilised to track and monitor status and impact across implementations;
Contributing to the development of the Tomorrow Partnership Zambia strategy, including supporting the broader Tomorrow Partnership Zambia team to scope new opportunities, in line with the agreed strategy.
Effective and trusted relationships established with key counterparts in government, and the private sector;
Thought leadership recognised in country/regionally/globally and contribution to our tech for development global offer and playbook; and
Expenditure in line with budget.
Deliver on key internal reporting deadlines and providing updates to the Global TBI Tech Team.
Alignment with TBI various internal system, i.e. (Monday.com, Institute Wiki, etc.).

Key Responsibilities

Planning: Workingclosely with Head of Tech, review and maintain project goals, plans, proof points and OKRs. Support the evolution of the Tomorrow Partnership Zambia Strategy. Engage with central TBI Tech Team to drive delivery, troubleshoot and manage roll-out. Where relevant, ensure expenditure is utilised in line with budget with robust management accounts and accountability established. Ensure all necessary risk, legal and financial compliance and processes are followed
Government Relations: Support the Head of Tech to maintain effective and trusted relationships in government in line with the country project strategy and positioning, and in service of the overall TBI mission to support political leaders to achieve results that benefit the people of the country and our tech for development initiative
People: Support the recruitment and management of Tomorrow Partnership Zambia staff, as required. The post holder will be expected to develop strong working relationships with colleagues across the organisation.
External Relations (non-governmental): Support the Head of Tech to engage with relevant external stakeholders such as tech hubs/incubators, investors, donor Partners other not for profit organisations, media, suppliers and agencies as directed. Additionally, the PM will support communications (providing reporting and other comms materials), pitching and presenting, linking up with internal and external stakeholders.
One TBI: The post holder will formally report into Head of Tech Zambia, and work closely with the wider Tomorrow Partnership teams in London and other countries. The Programme Manager will play an important role in connecting Zambia’s Tomorrow Partnership programme to the wider resources in the Tony Blair Institute.
Internal Reporting: The Programme Manager will support the Head of Tech on internal reporting, by leading on key reporting products for the Zambia Tomorrow Partnership team, such as reporting Objectives and Key Results, providing internal updates on tech workstreams and reporting against the Tomorrow Partnership strategic framework.

About The Institute

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 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.