Project Lead

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’re looking for an experienced Project Lead to join our Advisory Practice. Our bespoke advisory work is central to our mission to build a movement for responsible leadership. 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 in an

organisation

3.Working across purpose, strategy and culture, we help grow leadership that unlocks organisations to

fulfil their true potential.

We need someone with practical experience and leadership skill, and the passion and behaviours to inspire teams, colleagues and the organisations we work with - our partners. To flourish you’ll need to be creative, thoughtful and curious but also an excellent planner, able to anticipate and roll with the bumps along the way whilst upholding the highest standards of delivery.

YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR Project Delivery

Lead strategic thinking on projects, supporting the team to produce creative and insightful recommendations

Drive the day-to-day delivery of projects with key partners, ensuring we remain focused on impact and deliver meaningful, high-quality outcomes that will drive enduring change

Lead and be responsible for all key deliverables, such as workshops, interviews, insight gathering, presentations and other outputs. Prepare and help deliver workshops and events with senior leaders. This includes playing a confident supporting facilitation role, preparing materials and outputs, and overseeing event coordination and logistics.

Build dedicated project teams that draw on the best talent in our network, nurturing a creative and collaborative team for maximum impact Ensure the commercial robustness of our work with effective budget setting and financial tracking of projects

Relationship Management & Business Development

Help write creative and compelling proposals for our partners, listen for the real questions and identify the need, understand if and how we can best support them

Support strategic relationship management across the Institute to leverage our fullest potential in advancing our mission

Build collaborative, trusted relationships with our partners, understand their challenges and become a trusted point of contact for all projects

Building the Organisation

Manage and guide junior members of the team and work effectively across the Institute

Work collaboratively to help colleagues across different teams, get stuck into cross-Institute projects and help us take our mission to the next level

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 managed multiple projects - able to demonstrate brilliant organisational skills when managing tight deadlines and competing priorities, without losing sight of the longer term

Have communicated confidently with senior leaders - are able to listen deeply, facilitate conversations and build trusted relationships

Have successfully collaborated to deliver projects - 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

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 your work through an inclusive and equity focused lens.

Have strong proposal writing skills - are able to turn high level concepts into coherent and compelling proposals, and help bring people on the journey with you

Can work strategically and deliver on the details - able to adapt your working style; being all over the detail of a project, and thinking strategically about the bigger picture.

Have an understanding of change – either because you’ve led it or experienced it from within, been involved in leadership development or because you’ve walked alongside organisations on the journey You’ve got commercial and sales acumen - you’re listening 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 energised by diverse opportunities, with no day exactly like the next

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

Salary: £50-70k based on experience

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. If the forward institute, or this role has you curious but you want to have a conversation please reach out to us directly.

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

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

2.What are your skills, areas of expertise and interests and how would you bring these to the role of

Project Lead

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.

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 also get in touch if you have any other questions.