Forward Institute

Managing Director - Advisory

Do you want to use your creativity and experience to build the UK’s leading advisory business focused on purpose, responsible business and system change?

Do you want to use your creativity and experience to build the UK’s leading advisory business focused on purpose, responsible business and system change?​

At the Forward Institute we’re all about responsible leadership – helping senior leaders in influential organisations to become a force for good. We’re growing our advisory team so we can provide more hands-on support to organisations serious about embedding responsibility and purpose at the heart of how they operate. ​

This bespoke advisory work with organisations is central to our mission to build a movement for responsible leadership. So we’re looking for a Managing Director excited about the potential to grow a world-class advisory business – operating with influence, credibility, and impact at the most senior levels in major organisations – and doing this in a different way to current consulting norms. We’re 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.​

Our focus is on leadership, purpose, culture, and system change. So we need an authentic and principled individual with deep experience of leading change in major organisations, and who can serve as a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior leaders across the private and public sector. You will also need to be a strong people leader, as vital to our approach is growing a diverse community of the top thought leaders and practitioners on purpose, systems change and responsible business. ​

We think this is a rare opportunity to grow and scale an advisory business – shaping it to do things differently but with the benefit of being part of an established organisation with a growing reputation, strong network and significant existing base of influential partner organisations.​

Areas of Responsibility:​

Strategic leadership: Develop the strategy to scale the impact of our advisory business, responsibility for the successful delivery of all our advisory work, help to build our reputation, brand and network of senior relationships​

Facilitation and project execution: Lead and facilitate our most impactful pieces of advisory work - bringing insight, wisdom and creativity to complex problems. Co-design and support senior leadership experiences which imbue leadership communities with a commitment, energy and momentum to lead responsibly​

Commercial and relationship management: Shape a commercially responsible, accessible and competitive operating model, and drive the growth of a healthy and meaningful portfolio of work that sets us up to achieve our mission​

Team development: Nurture and grow our talented team of dedicated, bright colleagues and associate Directors to deliver on our mission, strategy and objectives​

For the full job description, person specification and information on how to apply please find here. ​

Additionally, we are currently recruiting for a Commercial and Strategy Director, and some other full time, and Associate roles within the Advisory team - details of these roles can be found on our job page here.