Partnerships Associate

London

Full or part-time

Permanent employee

30,000 - 35,000 £ per year

About the Role

We're looking for an ambitious Partnerships Associate to play a central role in that sits at the heart of our ambition – stewarding partnerships with organisations and leaders who have the power to shape a better future.

This is a relationships-focused role. Working within the Institute’s Practice, you'll be the day-to-day point of contact for partners across business, government, and civil society. You'll help keep momentum around their leadership agenda, identify new opportunities, support the delivery of high-quality partner experiences, and keep relationships close, well-run, and genuinely meaningful.

This is role with real exposure, offering the chance to work closely with senior leaders, steward impactful relationships and see first-hand how our work creates impact.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

1.Steward and grow our most important partnerships

•Manage a portfolio of the Forward Institute’s partnerships, ensuring stakeholders are thoughtfully maintained and developed

•Support the preparation of briefings, updates and materials that keep partners close to out work and mission

•Coordinate partner onboarding, working with our Engine and Practice to ensure smooth handovers and a high quality first experience

2. Build momentum around new opportunities

•Help identify and track new partnership opportunities, maintaining a clear picture of where conversations are and what needs to happen next

•Coordinate meetings, prepare proposal materials and drive timely follow up to keep new business conversations moving

•Develop a strong understanding of partner context and needs, helping to connect their priorities with the Forward Institute’s content and ideas

3. Deliver high quality partnership activity

•Coordinate and deliver partnership activity, including leadership offsites, events and roundtables – working across the Institute to bring these to life

•Act as a reliable, organised point of contact for partners on day-to-day activity, ensuring a consistently high standard of experience

•Maintain accurate CRM data, and reporting to support partnership strategies and insights

4. Contribute to our external presence and learning

•Attend events and help champion the Forward Institute’s mission and community externally

About You

We're looking for someone with strong relational instincts, commercial curiosity and a genuine interest in how responsible leadership creates impact. You'll be early in your career but ready to work with senior people, take ownership of relationships, and help convert opportunity into momentum.

Mindset

•You’re ambitious and entrepreneurial– you spot opportunities, take initiative, and find creative routes through challenge.

•You’re deeply curious, interested in ideas about leadership and responsibility and value learning from the perspectives of others

•You’re collaborative and thrive in a dynamic environment where no two days look the same

•You’re aligned with our mission and have conviction in the change we want to make in the world.

Capabilities

•You’re a highly organised executor, with the ability to juggle competing priorities and keep systems running smoothly

•You can hold and steward multiple relationships simultaneously, keeping things moving with care and precision

•You communicate complex ideas clearly and can tailor your approach depending on who’s in the room

•You’re comfortable using, or open to learning, CRMs and AI tools to work smarter and with greater pace

Experience

•Up to 3 years experience in an externally facing role

About us

Shaping a better future through responsible leadership.

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 important organisations.

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 the organisations that 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 most organisations still run on - built for stability, focused on optimisation, 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, leadership programmes and a growing community of more than 1,500 senior leaders, we help organisations close 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 commercial rigour with the relational depth that comes from a decade of working at the most senior levels.

Benefits

We are a small, ambitious team working at one of the most important intersections of our time - between leadership, responsibility, and the future we're trying to collectively build. This is the place for people who bring genuine conviction to their work, who hold themselves and others to a high standard, and for people who are motivated by the belief that better is possible.

Our culture

•We are pragmatic idealists. Our work is built around a single conviction – that responsible leadership is the most important lever in shaping the future. Purpose without rigour is just aspiration - so we pair moral ambition with the discipline to follow through, and we measure ourselves by outcomes, not intentions.

•We care. True responsibility requires care, for the work, for the people we work with, and for the leaders we support. Care without courage is just comfort. We take the work seriously, but in a way that is deeply human.

•We build from multiple perspectives. We work with leaders from across business, government, and civil society, and from a range of backgrounds, because difference drives better thinking.

•We challenge assumptions. We ask the questions other's don't. Clarity starts with curiosity, and courage means acting on it. We don't settle for the status quo or received wisdom, We would rather ask the hard questions.

Benefits include:

We're a trust-first team. We believe work should enrich your life, so we aim to have real conversations, treat people as whole humans, and create the conditions for everyone to do their best work.

The benefits below are part of that, but so is how we show up for each other every day.

•Hybrid working (2-3 days in our London office)

•Private health insurance

•A generous learning & development budget, and regular team training and annual retreat to support development

•Pension contributions

How to Apply

To apply, please send your CV and a covering video (maximum 90 seconds) answering the following question:

What do you think responsible leadership looks like, and why does it matter?

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.

We want to make this process as inclusive and accessible as possible. If you have any access needs or specific requirements, please get in touch with fran.carver@forward.institute

Applications for this role are closing on Friday 29th May. To apply, please follow this link.

•First round interviews will be, where possible, on Wednesday 3rd May.

•Second round interviews will be in our office, and where possible on Wednesday 10th June.

You must have the right to work in the UK.

About us

Shaping a better future through responsible leadership.

We believe a better future is possible, and how we get there begins with leaders. The choices they make will determine the years to come.

Responsible leadership is is the courageous and creative use of power to shape a better future. It is a choice, and wehelp leaders choose it.

Through breakthrough leadership programmes, advisory interventions and our 1,500+ strong leader community we equip leaders with the mindsets, capabilities, insight and tools to transform their organisations.