The Centre for Disaster Protection (‘the Centre’) works to prevent disasters devastating lives, by helping people, countries, and organisations change how they plan and pay for disasters. We focus on disaster risk financing to help ensure that money and plans are in place before a disaster strikes, so that the poorest and most vulnerable people are better protected. We are committed to work in partnerships across sectors and geographies to drive more impactful and more equitable disaster risk finance that leaves no one behind.
We are seeking a Strategy and Implementation Consultant to work directly with the Labs Project Lead and Senior Leadership over a 6-month period during the start-up phase of the Labs program. The consultant will play a central role in shaping and delivering the Labs function – helping to design its core processes, build strategic partnerships, shape an initial project pipeline, and support early implementation.
This is a hands-on, strategic delivery role for someone with deep experience building new functions or initiatives in complex policy, finance, or innovation environments, and delivering impactful projects in multi-stakeholder environments.
Key roles and responsibilities
The consultant will report to the DRF Labs project lead and support the function’s development and delivery across three key areas:
- Establish DRF Labs as a functioning innovation platform
- Support the development of the DRF Labs approach and operating model, including project governance, design processes, and delivery workflows.
- Help shape and communicate the value proposition of DRF Labs for internal and external communication products.
- Stakeholder and partnership engagement
- Support engagement with stakeholders and potential delivery partners (e.g. governments, IFIs, development insurers, research organisations, and service providers).
- Work with problem holders and practitioners to understand technical issues and capabilities in detail, and support the design and facilitation of co-design activities with relevant stakeholders to develop suitable technical solutions.
- Project pipeline development and implementation
- Help to scope and develop an initial portfolio DRF Labs projects in consultation with internal teams and external partners.
- Provide strategic and operational input into the launch of projects, including project design and delivery.
- Support project coordination and delivery across internal teams and external contributors during early project implementation.
Experience and skills expected of the post holder
- Project design – demonstrated ability to scope, design, and operationalise complex projects in dynamic, multi-stakeholder environments.
- Project delivery – proven experience developing and managing project pipelines, building strategic partnerships, and coordinating across teams to deliver high-impact outcomes.
- Creative problem-solving and strategic thinking – ability to analyse complex challenges, identify strategic opportunities, and design innovative, practical solutions in evolving contexts.
- Communication – skilled in translating complex technical concepts into clear, persuasive messages tailored to diverse audiences, enabling alignment and informed decision-making.