Oxford Policy Management

Country Director, OPM Europe

Oxford Policy Management

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: Berlin • Germany

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Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Working closely with the Director of Strategy and Growth to develop and implement European sales and business development strategies that align with overall business objectives.
  • Developing strong and effective working relationships with Practice Leads, Senior Technical Leads, and Country Directors to achieve shared strategic goals.
  • Designing and implementing our business development strategy, as relates to European funders.
  • Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the European office; providing regular and ad-hoc reports to the Director of Strategy and Growth and the wider Senior Management Team (SMT) on the progress of strategic initiatives and performance against targets.
  • Embedding a systematic understanding of European client priorities throughout business development strategy.
  • Cultivating and building networks with client targets, furthering OPM Europe’s standing as a supplier of choice.
  • Leading major bidding activities.
  • Applying and improving industry best practices in business development and bidding, including standardised processes, gates, and tools.
  • Taking responsibility for the priority pipeline of opportunities, driving strategic bid decision-making, and managing overall business development processes, in line with the OPM Europe strategy and budget.
  • Sustaining market intelligence and insights by collating information on European industry trends, innovations, relationships, and partnerships, and preparing regular and ad-hoc reports.
  • Establishing and nurturing strategic partnerships to drive long-term business growth.
  • Acting as OPM’s primary external representative with European clients and partners.
  • Implementing corporate pricing strategies and managing contract negotiations to optimize profitability and ensure that commercial agreements align with the company's long-term objectives.
  • Ensuring OPM Europe remains compliant with all relevant laws, regulations, and the company's statutes; monitoring compliance on an ongoing basis.
  • Acting as the company’s legal representative and Managing Director ( (Geschäftsführung) for the Berlin office, including as signatory authority for the office and through management of commercial register filings.
  • Supervising risk identification, mitigation and management for all in-country and client operations, including as regards tax and legal compliance.
  • Ensuring the office is run in a cost efficient and sustainable manner; strengthening financial sustainability of the office through effective budget administration.
  • Providing oversight with regards to human resource management and ensuring that we meet our duty of care towards OPM Europe employees and external partners.
  • Leading and mentoring the business development team to achieve revenue targets, foster client relationships, and support broader management objectives.
  • Providing effective stewardship to colleagues based in Berlin, who report to other offices.
  • Creating an equitable, effective, and enjoyable working environment.
  • Disseminating OPM Europe’s achievements at client meetings and key conferences.
  • Working closely with the Marketing and Communications team to maintain a proactive presence on social media and co-developing social media marketing campaigns targeting European clients.
  • Ensuring that all bids submitted to clients are compelling, visually appealing, and well-written, while recognizing that each bid—whether won or lost—represents OPM's brand.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree with an Advanced Degree (e.g., Masters or PhD), or alternative, relevant professional experience.
  • Strong leadership skills with proven experience in building, developing, and leading business development teams.
  • A strategic thinker with the ability to align operational activities with broader business objectives, particularly OPM’s mission to positively impact public policy.
  • Established networks within BMZ, with a seasoned understanding of its modalities of working and key priorities.
  • Extensive experience in project and bid management, including project recruitment for EU, GIZ, and/or KfW-funded initiatives.
  • In-depth knowledge of market dynamics and trends within the international development sector.
  • A demonstrated track record of achieving revenue targets and identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities within technical consulting or professional services organisations.
  • Excellent negotiation and contract management skills.
  • Experience working with project management teams, technical advisors, and establishing networks and partnerships to support teaming strategies and key personnel recruitment.
  • Expertise in articulating theories of change, developing results frameworks, and designing program strategies and activities.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, adept at addressing challenging issues and communicating fluently in both English and German with a diverse range of audiences.
  • Able to explain complex business and technical concepts in an approachable manner to influence and drive adoption.
  • Proficient in managing or supervising external suppliers, including payroll companies, legal advisors, financial service providers, and pension administrators.
  • Familiarity with corporate risk management practices.
  • Diligent and transparent in the stewardship of company assets and resources.
  • Experience serving as Managing Director (Geschäftsführung) an asset.
Benefits
  • We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work cross functionally, and space to engage with a range of internal and external industry events.
  • Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.
  • We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.
  • Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.
  • Competitive salary and contributory pension scheme.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
project managementbid managementcontract managementnegotiationKPI developmentfinancial sustainabilityrisk managementstrategic planningbusiness development strategyprogram strategy design
Soft Skills
leadershipinterpersonal skillsstrategic thinkingcommunicationnetworkingmentoringteam buildingproblem-solvinginfluencingstewardship
Certifications
Bachelor’s degreeAdvanced Degree (Masters or PhD)