DEPUTY DIRECTOR

ABOUT US

The world is changing fast and organisations must adapt to rapidly shifting contexts. To survive, they need to find new ways to stay relevant, generate new value, increase productivity, and innovate more quickly than they ever have before. To thrive, they need to do all of this in a way that creates a better future for all people and planet.

Leaders of such organisations will be those who are able to not only navigate complexity but to catalyse that better future. They will have the skills, courage and wisdom to look beyond their own organisational boundaries, seek new perspectives, adapt and learn quickly, and act despite ambiguity.

We have a bold mission: to help leaders build organisations which accelerate the transition to a future in which people and planet thrive.

DEVELOP LEADERS

We run world-class leadership programmes – building a movement of hundreds of senior leaders committed to mobilising their organisations to tackle the most important challenges faced by society.

SUPPORT CHANGE

We partner with major organisations to help them place responsibility and purpose at the heart of their culture, leadership and decision making.

BUILD THE MOVEMENT

We recognise that we are one part of the solution and work tirelessly with others to drive the change we want to see in the world.

THE ROLE

We are excited to launch our search for an exceptional individual to join our Advisory Practice as a Deputy Director, to help us scale up and mature this growing part of the Institute.

Our bespoke advisory work is central to our mission. We partner with organisations from the public, private and social sectors that are committed to building the companies of tomorrow. In the Advisory Practice we build leadership capability in three main ways:

1.Cultivating high performance in Executive level leadership teams

2.Designing in-house leadership programmes / experiences to build capability for top leaders 3.Working across purpose, strategy and culture, we help grow leadership that unlocks organisations to

fulfil their true potential.

So, we’re looking for someone excited about the potential to grow a world-class advisory business – operating with influence, credibility, and impact at senior levels in major organisations – and doing this in a different way to current consulting norms. We are trying to build a business model that allows us to be truly purposeful and to have impact at scale, without falling into the traps of too many consultancies that end up chasing revenue targets, needing to sell in projects at all costs, and burning through the lives of their people in the process.

YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR Project Initiation & Delivery

Drive business development opportunities - craft thoughtful, considered proposals at pace in response to a brief from a partner organisation and be confident in closing opportunities

Lead complex projects – bringing insight, wisdom and creativity to problems, ensuring we remain focused on impact and deliver meaningful, high-quality outcomes that will drive enduring change

Build and lead dedicated project teams that draw on the best talent in our associate network and from across the Institute and nurture a collaborative and trusted relationship with the partners we work with

Ensure the commercial robustness of our work with effective budget setting and financial tracking of projects

Commercial and Relationship Management

Foster trusted and collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders in partner organisations to drive meaningful and strategic work

Deliver to income and margin targets

Create compelling proposals for our partners that will help drive meaningful change Contribute to building a commercially responsible, accessible and competitive operating model

Strategic thinking and leadership

Manage and guide junior members of the team and work effectively with across the Institute Support on the development of the strategy to grow our Advisory Practice in line with the wider organisation strategy

Opportunity to join internal EDI team and help deliver our EDI commitments

ABOUT YOU

We don’t expect the person we hire to have ALL the following but hopefully this gives you a sense of what would enable you to thrive in this role and in our team:

APPLY IF YOU...

You are passionate about creating meaningful change for society - you care deeply about building a better world, and helping large organisations better live their values and ‘walk the talk’

You want to redefine consultancy - taking all the best bits and merging it with a blend of responsible leadership that makes it sing, paving the way for a new way for consultants to do business

Have an understanding and passion around EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) - you may have played a key role in contributing to and supporting EDI initiatives, and approach work through an inclusive and equity focused lens

You have experience of doing the work of organisational change – a track record either because you’ve led it from within or because you’ve walked alongside organisations on the journey as a consultant You have facilitated groups of senior leaders and leadership teams - working with senior leaders on strategy, leadership development, culture change and/or purpose

You have delivered and executed strong proposals - are able to turn high level concepts and unstructured briefs into compelling proposals, and help bring people on the journey with you

Have delivered projects as part of a collaborative team - you understand the importance of having an effective team around you, you’re able to work with dispersed networks and know how to motivate, influence and keep projects moving

Have built and maintained long term partnerships - able to grow trust and influence, you understand the power of networks and can build deep relationships

You’ve got commercial and sales acumen - you’re able to listen for meaningful opportunities to advance the mission, ready to shape a commercially sound model and have an eye on accessibility across all sectors

YOU’LL LOVE IT HERE IF YOU...

You are optimistic and realistic about building a better world through responsible leadership

Are passionate about building and scaling a quality operation, holding impact and people at its core You want to forge real collaboration, bringing positive intent to every situation

You are curious and always open to the insights and perspectives of others

Thrive working in a fast-paced environment, are happy to work without a big support structure around you, and would like to grow with a small but ambitious organisation

BENEFITS

CORE DETAILS

We are serious about building a world-class team and view this role as vital to our future success. We are a non-profit, mission driven organisation so whilst we cannot offer remuneration levels at top private sector advisory levels we are open to discussing what a competitive package for the right person could look like (based on experience and impact). The salary band is £70k-90k.

Start date: To start as soon as possible from November 2024

OTHER BENEFITS

Private health insurance with Vitality (which also provides discounted gym membership) Pension allowance (5% employer contribution)

Generous holiday allowance (30 days paid holiday + volunteer days + bank holidays) Hybrid working, with an allowance for setting up your home working environment

An intense but fun working environment. We’re a growing and ambitious team who love our work and making a big impact

Working for an organisation where we take our values and purpose seriously, and work hard to practice what we ‘preach’

An opportunity to observe systemic change as it happens and be part of the team working out how big business can have a positive impact on the world

We invest in our people: not just through benefits but through training and development and promoting our team

All our team have access to world-class development opportunities and an amazing range of speakers – from senior leaders like Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller (former Director General of MI5) to entrepreneurs like Sir Tim Smit (Founder of the Eden Project) to thought leaders like June Sarpong (Head of Creative Diversity at the BBC)

You can find our full benefits including our family policy here.

LOCATION

Our office is near Holborn, within easy walking distance of several over- and underground stations. We expect the team to split their work between the office and home.

TO APPLY

Diversity and Inclusion is important to us. Growing, maintaining, and promoting greater diversity across all areas of our work is a key priority for us in the next phase of our development. We are committed to increasing the diversity of perspectives and lived experience that inform our work and elevate those perspectives in the conversation about responsible leadership. We welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with lived experience and background of marginalised communities.

TO APPLY: Please send your CV and answers to the following questions, in written or video format this link explaining;

1.What most excites you most about the Forward Institute’s mission

2.Our group of Deputy Directors bring a variety of skills and areas of expertise, what are yours and

how might you bring these to the role

Applications without an answer to the cover letter questions will not be considered. The deadline for submissions is 21st October. You will need to hold any relevant Visas/Work permits.

We will be interviewing on a rolling basis with interviews starting the week beginning 21st October. If you have any questions please get in touch with [email removed - click apply for more details].

We want to make this recruitment process as inclusive and accessible as possible. Please get in touch with [email removed - click apply for more details] to discuss any specific requirements or queries you have that relate to inclusion. This might be related to a protected characteristic, accessibility requirement or communication preference. We offer reasonable adjustments for the interview process and on the job. Please get in touch if you have any other questions.