Manager

Forward Institute; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward Institute is seeking an ambitious team member to steward partnerships with senior leaders across business, government, and civil society. You will own a partner portfolio, design bespoke leadership interventions, and drive growth through proposals and pitches.

The role focuses on translating trusted relationships into strategic opportunities, shaping interventions, and expanding our network with ambition and impact in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in a client-facing, partnerships, or consulting role.
• Comfortable working with senior leaders and complex stakeholder environments.
• Familiarity with CRM tools and a willingness to use AI tools to work with greater pace and insight.

Responsibilities

• Own and develop a partner portfolio and manage partnership health.
• Design and deliver leadership interventions with principals and directors.
• Drive organisational growth by writing proposals and expanding networks.

Skills

Relationship building

Clear communication

Problem structuring

Organised & dependable

Executive coordination

Tools

CRM tools

AI tools

Job description

About the Role

We'relooking for an ambitious team member to play a central role in that sits at the heart of ourambition:stewardingpartnerships withorganisationsand leaders who have the power to shape a better future.Thisis agenuineopportunity toauthor the role as you grow into it, at a moment of real growth and momentum for us as an organisation, with the exposure andopportunitythatcomes with it.

It is a relationships-focused role, workingwithin the Institute’sPractice.You'llbe the point of contact for partners across business, government, and civilsociety. You will build on and translate trusted relationships into new opportunity as our thinking becomes real interventions for the leaders who need them most.
Three core responsibilities

1. Owning and developing a partner portfolio

   Build the deep contextual understanding to keep our work aligned to what each partner is really navigating: their pressures, their strategic focus, the leadership challenges that matter most.

   You’ll be the champion for your partners inside FI, and actively managepartnershiphealth, owning opportunities, spotting risk, and growing relationships in impact and value over time.

2. Designing and delivering leadership interventions

   Coordinate the delivery of ourbespokeofferings alongside Principals, Directors and expert contributors, supporting critical moments with executive teams, and learning how we shape the advice we give the country's most powerful leaders.

   Over time, take on increasing ownership of design, developing how our ideas become tangible leadership interventions that help leaders think differently and shape theirorganisation’sfuture.

3. Drive organisational growth

   Build and manage a pipeline of new opportunities across your partners, writing proposals, preparing pitches, and expanding our network with ambitionand impact.

   Workingclosely with Directors, you'll convert trust into opportunity in a way that feels natural, not transactional, and help growthe impact ofthe Practice with the commercial discipline that lets us do more of the work that matters.

We are looking for someone with strong relational instincts, an emerging consulting foundation, and a real belief in responsible leadership. You'll be comfortable in the room with senior leaders,energisedby ambiguity, and ready to work at the intersection of ideas, relationships and impact. These are the core responsibilities, but this isn't a fixed job spec: we'll shape it with you, building your mastery and impact as you go.

About You

Mindset

• Ambitiousand entrepreneurial,youspot opportunities, take initiative, and find creative routes through challenge
• Motivatedbypurpose and drawn toorganisationswhere impact and commerciality go hand in hand
• Deeplycurious aboutideasofleadership andresponsibility,andvalue learning from the perspectives of others
• Collaborative,andyou thrivein a dynamic environment

Capabilities

• You build relationships with confidence and care, canadapt how you communicate
• Youcan structure problems clearly, communicate with precision, andorganisecomplex work without losing sight of what matters
• A strong executor who brings quality and attention to detail, taking ownership of how work is shaped, not just delivered
• Organisedand dependable, comfortable working across multiple priorities at pace

Experience

• Experiencein a client-facing, partnerships, or consulting role
• Comfortable working with or around senior leaders and complex stakeholder environments
• Familiarity with CRM tools and a willingness to use AI tools to work with greater pace and insight.

About us

We are a leadership organisation with a single founding conviction: the future will be shaped by the quality of leadership at the top of our most importantorganisations.

We work with senior leaders across society - from FTSE boards and global companies to central government, the military and national institutions. Our partners are the people whose decisions shape markets, allocate capital, set policy, and determine the direction of theorganisationsthat millions of people depend on.

The world is at an inflection point. The decisions being made right now - about AI, about climate, about the shape of our institutions and economies - will set the direction for a generation. Yet the leadership model that mostorganisationsstill run on - built for stability, focused onoptimisation, designed to manage rather than to direct - is not fit for a world where the future is genuinely up for grabs.

We call what's needed responsible leadership:

The creative and courageous use of power to shape a better future

Through our advisory practice, leadershipprogrammesand a growing community of more than 1,500 senior leaders, we helporganisationsclose the gap between the leadership they have and the leadership this moment demands.

Founded in 2015 and non-profit by design, we combine intellectual and commercialrigourwith the relational depth that comes from a decade of working at the most senior levels.

Benefits

Work alongside genuinely impressive people. Get exposure most roles won't give you this early. Development we take as seriously as our partners' impact. And a team thatcares, andknows how to enjoy the work too.

Wework with real autonomy, help people build mastery,and believework should enrich yourlife.

We are pragmatic idealists

Responsibleleadershipis the most important lever in shaping the future.Wepair moral ambition with the discipline to follow through, andmeasureourselves by outcomes, not intentions.

We Care

Forthe work,thepeople we work with, andtheleaders we support. Care without courage is justcomfort,sowetake the work seriously,ina way that is deeply human.

We build from multiple perspectives

Wework with leaders from across business, government, and civil society, and from a range of backgrounds, because difference drives better thinking.

We challenge assumptions

Weask the questionsother'sdon't. Clarity starts with curiosity, and courage means acting onit;wewould rather ask the hardquestions than settle for received wisdom.

We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment practices. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences.

Role closes

You must have the right to work in the UK.