The Prime Minister created the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in 2010 to apply behavioural science to public policy in the UK. In February 2014 we became a social purpose company, owned by the Cabinet Office, Nesta (an innovation charity) and our employees.
BIT works with governments and organisations around the world in almost every area of government policy. Whilst the subject and output of our projects varies considerably, there are common threads: we try to understand the contexts in which their people make decisions; we notice small details; we find out what has and hasn’t worked before; and we measure everything we do as robustly as we can. We are looking for a
Director of Strategy and Implementation
based in London
Full-Time
As well as displaying professional excellence, BIT selects staff on the basis of cultural fit. All our staff believe passionately in our company values: always prioritising social impact; empiricism and humility; fresh thinking, collaboration; and public service.
Since its original formation in 2010, BIT has roughly doubled every two years, and this pace of growth has shown little sign of slowing. We now have offices in London (Head Office), Manchester, Sydney, New Zealand, Singapore and New York. We work with clients both in the public sector and much more widely to provide core consultancy and evaluation services. We also have a developing ventures business which is led by the Managing Director and Chief Executive of BI Ventures. We plan to diversify more widely over the coming 18 months to develop a suite of products and services as well as to scale our existing programmes.
The Role
We are now looking to appoint a Director of Strategy and Implementation, reporting to the Chief Executive of BIT, Dr David Halpern. You will be responsible for implementing BIT’s overall business strategy, and in particular for leading cross-cutting work and coordinating our UK programme of work.
This is a key appointment in a uniquely vibrant and rapidly growing organisation, with highly talented and dedicated people at every level. You will work closely with UK Directors, who manage clusters of our work programme, and the overseas office Directors, who manage the subsidiary companies. You will drive forward the delivery of the 2020 Strategy through the Directors and their teams.
You will also take responsibility for coordinating and contract-managing several cross-cutting pieces of work. This is a fast paced role: you will need to help shape and develop a strong executive team, provide leadership across a wide range of programme areas and support the management of the business day to day.
You must be a skilled people manager and have a proven track record of delivery to succeed in this role. A key objective will be to deliver a robust and more diverse business as the company matures.
Responsibilities
You will have a wide range of responsibilities. These will include (and will flex dependent on the successful applicant):
- Oversight and delivery of the 2020 Strategy: you will co-ordinate and support the delivery of the ten themes through the relevant Director leads. You will be responsible for reporting back on progress every quarter and developing a set of KPI’s to support the business through the strategy;
- Developing future strategy: as the business develops and becomes more diverse you will shape this, working with the Executive Team. You will focus on managing risks to ensure that there is a sufficient spread and diversification of income to ensure that the business is sustainable in the long term;
- Developing culture: working with the Director responsible for brand and communications and the HR Director - you will work to develop a clear proposition to our clients and our people as BIT matures;
- Managing cross-cutting UK programmes: such as the core contract with the UK government. You will work with the expert Cluster Directors to ensure that resources are effectively deployed and larger projects are taken outside of these programmes when needed;
- Line management of the Executive Team: together with the Chief Executive you will manage the top team. You will set clear objectives and KPIs as well as plan development and succession arrangements with the HR Director;
- Supporting a healthy global business: working with the FD, HRD and General Counsel to manage and improve systems across the company as a whole; and
- Special projects: you will take forward key projects in line with the strategy and Board priorities. Current projects include: development of executive education programmes and ambition to scale our successful programmes to have wider social impact.
- Depending on the seniority and ability of the person, this role maybe flexed from a cross-cutting Director of Strategy and Implementation through to a full Managing Director role over time.
Professional Experience
- You will probably have a track record of either running a business or an aspect of business operations in a larger organisation. You may come from a consultancy/professional services or a public sector background.
- Crucially you will need to be able to respond to the very particular and broad range of challenges presented in this boutique consultancy/advisory business. You will take a primary day to day lead for the UK advisory side of the business, but also work closely with and provide oversight to overseas subsidiaries to ensure the Group business is joined-up.
- To succeed in this role you will need to be financially and commercially competent and also have a flexible and pragmatic approach in order to respond quickly as the business grows.
Ideally you will have a combination of:
- a more commercial or consulting background;
- direct or indirect experience of the public sector at senior level; and
- ideally some knowledge of and certainly empathy with behavioural science and methods.
This will equip you to lead some of our most sensitive and cross-cutting projects and to spend some time on client, or partner, centred work – this will be a smaller but important aspect of the role.
At the same time, you will be able to play a role across the whole organisation, identifying cutting edge insights or interventions that have the potential to have wider impacts. You’ll have the nous and skill to make sure these impacts are realised at scale and will ensure that our resources and efforts are aligned to ensure maximum impact.
Personal Characteristics
Essential
- Ability to identify strategic needs of the organisation and develop these into clear plans, motivating and leading others in their delivery;
- Successful track record of working in a commercial organisation providing strategic and commercial leadership;
- Understanding of how government and public policy development works, in particular in the UK context;
- Strong leadership and management skills with experience of managing and inspiring people and demonstrating the ability to mentor and develop individuals;
- Strong team player - proven ability to form good working relationships and work collaboratively across a diverse and engaged workforce at all levels of seniority;
- Prior experience of working in a company experiencing rapid growth and diversification with the ability to manage and implement multiple business initiatives;
- Strong commercial and financial skills. Ideally with profit and loss accountability or as a minimum, revenue targets;
- Strong negotiation and influencing skills, ability to manage and engage with a wide variety of clients and focus on understanding their needs; and
- Excellent project management.
Desirable
- Experience of working with the Public Sector and comfortable working at Perm Sec/Minister level; or
- Previous experience gained in a high value professional services organisation; and
- Working knowledge of behavioural science and methods.
- Qualifications
- First Degree (at least 2:i)
- Ideally a background in either management (MBA/MPA or relevant degree) or a background in Economics / Psychology / Public Policy.
Remuneration
- Remuneration will be generous but in line with quasi-public sector organisations. It may be flexible according to skills and experience and will also include other benefits: there is a flexible benefits scheme of £1,100 p.a. and company pension scheme 7% paid by the employer and 4% by the employee. Additionally there will be a profit-share bonus.
How to apply:
To apply please send your CV together with a cover letter of no more than 2 sides of A4 outlining how you meet the essential criteria for the role to mia.samaha@bi.team
Close of Applications: 9th October 2017 at 9am BST
Interviews and assessment tasks: From mid-October 2017
Please note:
If you do not already hold the right to work in the UK and/or require sponsorship in order to continue working here, you should think carefully before applying. This is because we will be unable to sponsor you unless there is no other suitably qualified settled worker available to fill the role or your current immigration status means that the resident labour market test will not apply in your case.
The Behavioural Insights Team is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and is determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
Social InnovationPolicy & Advocacy Behavioural Insights Team (BIT): Director of Strategy The Prime Minister created the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in 2010 to apply behavioural science to public policy in the UK. English The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/
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