Policy and Partnerships Director (What Works Hub for Global Education)

INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About the Blavatnik School of Government

Our vision is of a world better led, a world better served and a world better governed. We are a global school committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide, through three routes: teaching current and future leaders; generating research with impact; and engaging with governments and practitioners.

What we offer

The School is a collaborative, friendly, and dynamic department based in an award-winning building in Oxford. We host regular events and talks with well-known guest speakers – all of which are open to staff. On the social side, we have regular coffee/cake mornings for staff, a family-friendly Halloween event, and Christmas and summer parties.

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days’ annual leave
• Family leave schemes and a comprehensive range of childcare services
• Cycle loan scheme and discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs
• Opportunities for hybrid working (typically 60% of working hours on-site and 40% remotely)

More information about working at the School can be found on our jobs page.

About the role

You will co-lead the strategic partner engagement to bring wider collaboration, cohesion and impact to the What Works Hub for Global Education, working closely with the FCDO implementation roles. You will catalyse political leadership and bring a vision for how change can happen via the Hub. You will identify political opportunities and secure new partnerships at the global and country level, and deliver and communicate to different political audiences. You will also be highly collaborative – the Hub works in a flexible and matrixed way with people working across pillars, requiring substantial collaboration. You will play a senior leadership role, alongside the Academic Director, Director of Evidence Translation, and Programme Director in continuing to develop the hub as a great place to work and an impactful and efficient delivery partner

This post is fixed term until 30 April 2026, in the first instance.

About you

You will have strong technical policy leadership – with the skills, experience and networks to identify talent, inspire collaboration and build strong relationships including with the strategic partners. You will have first-class stakeholder engagement skills, with extensive experience of working at all levels (senior and mid-range) and with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives, and the ability to initiate, develop and sustain trusting relationships with key partners. You will bring experience of strategic engagement with and convening of a broad array of strategic partners, including leading academics, policymakers, and civil society leaders, and organisations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, and the Gates Foundation.

How to apply

Please upload a supporting statement that outlines how you meet the selection criteria in your own words, along with your CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application.

The closing date for applications is at 12 noon (UK time) on 28 April 2025. Interviews are scheduled for 1 May.

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