Oxford Policy Management (OPM) is a significant international development consulting firm with c.450 staff across the globe, two-thirds of whom are based in Asia and Africa. Our aim is to support growth, while reducing poverty and disadvantage, through public policy reform.
OPM works closely with governments, donors, research institutions, and civil society organisations. Our six consulting Practice Areas encompass governance, health, education, social protection, natural resources, climate change and the environment, and research and evaluation. We work in partnership with national decision makers to deliver diagnoses of policy problems and reform opportunities, to develop public policy, to support its implementation, and to evaluate its impact. We bring our global expertise together with local engagement to support governments in low-and-middle income countries implement impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help create positive impact at scale.
The Role
Reporting to OPM’s CEO, as part of the business’ Senior Management Team (SMT), the Director of Consulting plays a pivotal role in shaping, leading, and delivering our strategic priorities at a time of significant shifts in the international development environment. In a conflict prone, post-COVID 19 world, with governments balancing economic uncertainty in fluctuating political landscapes, OPM has sustained our well-founded reputation for applying exceptional analytical rigour in support of policy solutions and reform to address some of the world’s most complex problems. Our business is on a trajectory of growth – we have increased project acquisition, diversified funders, and entered new markets, with ambition for further growth in coming years.
The Director of Consulting is responsible for delivering a wide range of excellent consultancy projects, engaging effectively with other client- and country-facing colleagues, and so ensuring that OPM remains the international development consulting firm of choice for our existing clients and partners, and that new income streams are identified and acquired effectively.
Our consultant community are experts in their fields. The Director of Consulting takes overall leadership for winning and delivering projects across our practice areas to ensure that our commitment to excellence is embodied in all we do. The Director of Consulting leads on leveraging our technical excellence to develop new products and services for a diverse client mix. The Director of Consulting works closely with senior country-facing and client-facing colleagues to ensure that opportunities which can deliver impact and add value to the business are seized , and to support successful integration of our processes across Operations, HR, and Finance in support of project acquisition and delivery.
Whilst maintaining and developing our capability and reputation for technical rigour, we are strengthening the way we do business. The development of our global footprint – with OPM entities operating in 13 countries and most staff based in Africa and Asia – means we have amplified our ability to leverage expertise, insight, and engagement at the local level. We have strengthened our ability to deliver a consistently high level of service working as a matrix organisation operating interconnectedly between practice areas and multiple jurisdictions.
As we continue to transform the way we work – in particular, with new enterprise-wide systems that empower colleagues to do their best work – the incumbent of this position plays an outsized role in ensuring that staff feel empowered and motivated by our change journey.
As Director of Consulting at OPM you will:
•Contribute to the development of OPM’s corporate strategy, and delivery of our strategic priorities, as part of the Senior Management Team (SMT).
•Lead, steer, and be accountable, for the performance of OPM’s global consulting teams, currently approximately 250 staff, with a primary focus on the delivery of OPM’s project portfolio and, in close collaboration with client- and country-facing colleagues, on winning more new work.
•Ensure the technical rigour of our projects remains consistently high, enable agility in ways of working that are consistently useful and purposeful for our clients’ needs.
•Drive innovation in our Practice teams to ensure they are continuously developing insights and capabilities to support our clients as their development challenges evolve.
•Facilitate the efficient resourcing of consultancy practices to ensure high quality work is delivered across short-, mid- and long-term project cycles as the business continues to grow.
•In conjunction with colleagues on the SMT, develop and apply commercial metrics against which the businesses’ performance can be assessed; promote a culture, and instill drivers, that enable commercial success and growth.
•Act as an external ambassador for the business, engage as a thought leader with OPM’s clients, the field, and other stakeholders.
•Facilitate effective collaboration across OPM’s corporate and consulting functions.
•Champion the adoption of frameworks, systems and processes that optimize business efficiency and growth.
•Foster the technical and professional capabilities of OPM’s consultants.
•Lead with empathy, accountability, and humility; bring understanding to managing the needs of colleagues operating within a research-minded environment.
•Ensure that colleagues working within our consultancy practices and across the business continue to feel valued and proud to be part of OPM’s mission.
•Remain respectful of cultural differences and norms within a global organisational context; as a member of the SMT, drive a culture of inclusivity amongst OPM’s diverse staff population.
Our ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications/experience:
•Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience.
•Senior leadership experience in an environment with significant exposure to international development actors – including international aid agencies, private donors, governments and civil society.
•Significant familiarity and experience with the consultancy business model.
•High-level understanding of the public policy cycle.
•Proven experience in the development and implementation of commercial metrics that optimize effectiveness and enable organisational growth.
•Demonstrable experience of improving commercial outcomes through the adoption of business enablers; proven ability to effectively identify and acquire opportunities for commercial growth.
•Excellent project/programme management skills and a track record of successfully managing project finances and risks.
•Proven and effective change management experience, ability to identify systems and process improvements at a strategic level coupled with the ability to inspire and encourage coherence across departments.
•Demonstrable experience of leadership within a global, matrixed organisation.
•Leadership style that blends clarity with empathy; ability to nurture and foster a high-performing culture through empowerment and appreciation of colleagues’ work.
Desirable qualifications/experience
•Relevant Masters degree.
•Experience of having lived and worked within geographies in which OPM operates.
•Understanding of the interrelation between the policy cycle and government within low -and- middle income economies.
•Blended experience of having worked within corporate, public and/or non-profit institutions.
•Experience of working with OPM’s major clients
•Crisis management (security, health and safety, systems issues) experience.
Application
If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we’d love to hear from you. Application is by way of CV and cover letter through our careers portal. Please submit your application as one document.
Candidates will need to have the pre-existing right to work in one of the locations in which this position is advertised.
Diversity and inclusion in all forms is central to the success of OPM’s work and our ability to fulfil our purpose to improve lives through sustainable policy change. We are strengthened by the diversity of our staff across the business.
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