Team Leader – Economic Development Programme

Role: Team Leader – Economic Development Programme

Location: London, United Kingdom – hybrid, with frequent travel to London required. Regular international travel also required.

We welcome applications from candidates based both within and outside the UK. Visa sponsorship may be considered for suitably qualified candidates.

Start Date: TBC

The role

We are seeking an exceptional Team Leader with a proven track record managing large-scale, complex economic transformation programmes across emerging economies. The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership for the programme, ensuring high-quality delivery, adaptive management and achievement of sustainable development outcomes across diverse country contexts.

The ideal candidate will possess:

Programme Leadership & Delivery

• Extensive experience leading large-scale, multi-year and multi-country technical assistance facilities, advisory portfolios or economic development programmes funded by major institutional donors, with responsibility for performance, governance, risk management, quality assurance and delivery excellence.
• Demonstrated ability to translate programme objectives into a coherent strategic vision and delivery approach, aligning stakeholder priorities with measurable development outcomes.
• Experience managing programmes spanning diverse geographies, sectors and intervention types.
• Experience overseeing in-country service delivery by local partners and developing partnership and capacity-strengthening approaches at scale.
• Experience leading adaptive, politically informed programmes in complex and evolving political, economic and development contexts.
• Proven ability to drive innovation, continuous improvement and learning across large multidisciplinary teams and delivery partners.
• Strong command of financial management principles, with demonstrated experience managing substantial programme budgets and ensuring value for money.

Technical Expertise

Economic Transformation, Trade and Growth

• Extensive experience designing and delivering programmes that promote economic transformation, private sector development, productivity growth, trade competitiveness, investment mobilisation and the creation of productive, inclusive and sustainable jobs at scale.
• Demonstrated experience supporting structural economic transformation through firm-level, sector-level and system-level interventions.
• Strong understanding of growth diagnostics, political economy analysis, market systems approaches and the constraints to firm productivity, trade and investment.
• Deep understanding of the drivers of employment growth, labour market outcomes and the role of private sector investment in generating quality jobs, particularly for women, youth and underserved groups.
• Proven experience supporting governments, regulators and market actors to improve the enabling environment for business growth, trade and investment.
• Proven ability to align economic growth, investment and trade interventions with measurable employment outcomes and broader inclusive growth objectives.
• Experience supporting export competitiveness, trade facilitation, value chain development, industrial policy and economic reform initiatives.
• Experience in manufacturing, high-value services, infrastructure, critical minerals, agribusiness and other export-oriented industries.

Investment Mobilisation, FDI & Transaction Advisory

• Proven experience identifying, developing and supporting commercially viable investments, transactions and partnerships that unlock employment opportunities and strengthen local economies.
• Demonstrated track record of engaging investors, development finance institutions, government agencies and private sector stakeholders to attract foreign direct investment, mobilise private capital and accelerate sustainable economic growth and job creation.
• Strong understanding of investment ecosystems, pipeline development, investment readiness, investment promotion and capital mobilisation into strategic sectors in emerging and developing markets.
• Experience supporting governments to strengthen investment ecosystems, improve competitiveness and attract domestic and international investment into priority sectors.
• Experience overseeing downstream transaction advisory teams working to facilitate transaction closure between firms and investors.
• Experience attracting diverse capital flows through financing structures including debt, equity, venture capital, funds, blended finance and climate finance.

Climate-Compatible and Inclusive Growth

• Demonstrated experience integrating climate-compatible growth, economic inclusion and women's economic empowerment into economic development programmes.
• Strong understanding of how climate resilience, adaptation, green competitiveness and inclusive growth contribute to long-term economic transformation.
• Experience embedding gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) considerations into programme design, delivery, monitoring and adaptive management.
• Proven ability to balance economic growth, investment, climate and inclusion objectives within large programme portfolios.

Stakeholder Management

• Proven experience working at senior levels with FCDO and other major bilateral and multilateral donors, including management of strategic client relationships.
• Experience building and managing partnerships across governments, private sector organisations, development finance institutions, INGOs and local stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to bridge political, economic and development perspectives, foster collaboration and influence decision-makers to achieve programme objectives.
• Strong external representation skills, including engagement at senior government, donor and private sector forums.
• International portfolio and supplier management experience, including oversight of programme delivery across multiple geographies.
• Experience leading consortia and multidisciplinary teams across multiple organisations and countries.

Country Experience

• Substantial experience operating in politically complex environments, including fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS).
• Experience working in Africa and South Asia.