Role purpose

The Lead Systems Change, Industrial Policy, and Trade is a senior, cross-cutting leadership role responsible for shaping how energy systems, economic systems, policy frameworks, trade rules, and institutional arrangements enable and accelerate global industrial decarbonization.

This role goes beyond traditional policy analysis and sectoral reform. It is about systems transformation: how societies organize production, how markets allocate capital, how energy flows, how supply chains coordinate, and how industrial value is created in a net-zero world and philanthropy’s role to induce change.

It integrates:

• systems-change strategy, including whole-economy and energy-system transformations
• industrial policy and competitiveness design
• trade architecture and global market rules
• market-shaping and incentives design
• supply-chain and value-chain restructuring
• institutional, governance, and business-model innovation

You will define strategic pathways that realign incentives, policy regimes, energy infrastructure, and trade relationships with industrial transformation goals. This includes embedding climate considerations into national development models, market design, investment climates, and cross-border value chains. You will help philanthropic partners understand how policy signals, market rules, infrastructure systems, and institutional behaviors shape technology adoption, capital allocation, cluster development, and system-wide industrial outcomes. You will also advise on how to shift these systems to enable deep decarbonization and long-term competitiveness.

As both strategist and practitioner, you will manage a portfolio of systems-change and policy grants, convene cross-sector dialogues, collaborate with governments and multilaterals, and guide the Hub’s engagement at the intersection of industrial policy, trade, economic transformation, and energy-system transition.

The position requires deep analytical insight,  whole-system intuition, political sensitivity, and diplomatic leadership allowing to recast fragmented  policy environments, legacy economic structures, and traditional business models into coherent, investable, future-ready industrial pathways.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Systems Change and Industrial Policy Leadership

• Lead the development of the Hub’s systems-change strategy, addressing transformations in energy systems, economic systems, market incentives, and institutional structures.
• Shape national and regional approaches to industrial policy, competitiveness, and economic model shifts needed for deep industrial decarbonization.
• Analyze how energy systems, infrastructure decisions, financial incentives, trade rules, and business models interact to shape industrial pathways.
• Provide partners with strategic guidance on net-zero development models, industrial modernization, cluster development, and systemic reforms.
• Translate complex policy landscapes into integrated, investable, and future-proof strategies for industrial transformation.

Trade, Competitiveness, and Market Architecture

• Assess and design trade-aligned decarbonization pathways including CBAM, tariffs, standards, and procurement rules.
• Support the development of green markets and demand-side mechanisms that unlock investment.
• Advise partners on managing competitiveness, leakage risks, and cross-border supply-chain dynamics.

Grant Strategy, Policy Pilots and Institutional Strengthening

• Design catalytic grants that support policy experimentation, governance innovation, and institutional capacity development.
• Manage a policy-focused portfolio and support institutions in regulatory readiness.
• Partner with across the philanthropic ecosystem, CSOs, think tanks, and regional institutions to deliver high-impact policy and systems-change outcomes.

Collaboration Across the Hub and the Philanthropic Ecosystem

• Serve as a connector across all Hub workstreams on finance, technology, sectoral approaches, innovation, communications, and country engagement to ensure shared strategy, aligned priorities, and coherent implementation.
• Facilitate structured collaboration across the philanthropic ecosystem, including funders, re-granters, networks, and strategic initiatives, enabling collective intelligence, shared learning, and joint action on industrial policy and systems change.
• Build bridges between organizations working on industrial transitions incl. e.g. RMI, ITA, UNIDO, WEF, OECD, think tanks, and regional partners to amplify impact and reduce duplication.
• Lead or co-lead cross-Hub systems-integration efforts, translating insights from policy, trade, finance, and sectoral transformation into coherent whole-of-system strategies.
• Convene cross-hub working groups and cross-funder dialogues to strengthen coordination, expand the field’s capacity, and accelerate aligned interventions.
• Act as an internal champion of systems coherence, ensuring that policy, trade, market, and institutional levers reinforce each other across regions and sectors.

Partnerships, Ecosystem Engagement, and Convening

• Cultivate high-trust partnerships across philanthropy with governments, multilaterals, trade bodies, and CSOs.
• Represent the Hub in high-level forums on industrial policy, systems change, and trade.
• Produce high-quality insights, case studies, and strategic guidance papers.
• Provide systems intelligence, including system mapping, feedback loops, leverage points, and scenario modeling.
• Align industrial, energy, and economic strategies to create integrated national and regional transition pathways.
• Support foresight and risk assessment across global value chains and regional economies.

Program Operations and Organizational Building

• Support KPI development, internal learning loops, program reporting, and knowledge management.
• Contribute to Annual Meetings, strategy retreats, and cross-team coordination.
• Strengthen internal workflows and systems as the Hub scales.

Profile

• Master’s degree in public policy, sciences, political economy, international trade, industrial engineering, or related fields.
• 10–15 years of experience in industrial policy, trade, economic transformation, systems change, or industrial competitiveness strategies.
• Strong understanding of how industrial policy interacts with energy, finance, technology, and trade instruments.
• Experience engaging with philanthropy, governments, multilaterals, industry associations, trade bodies, DFIs, and CSOs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead policy dialogues and translate complex issues into actionable strategies.
• Experience managing policy-focused grants or partnerships.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and diplomacy skills.
• Fluency in English; additional languages an asset.
• Ability to operate autonomously across geographies, time zones, and institutional cultures.

Core Competencies

• Systems Thinking: Understands industrial, financial, and policy systems as interconnected structures and can design interventions that shift incentives across them.
• Strategic Foresight: Anticipates long-term disruptions, evolving policy signals, and global market shifts to inform future-proof strategies.
• Industrial Policy Expertise: Shapes forward-looking industrial strategies aligned with decarbonization, competitiveness, and regional development goals.
• Trade and Market Architecture: Interprets global trade instruments and market rules and translates them into actionable strategies for emerging and developed economies.
• Partnership Building: Builds trusted relationships with governments, multilaterals, industry, trade bodies, CSOs, and philanthropic partners.
• Communication and Diplomacy: Navigates politically sensitive environments with clarity, nuance, and influence.
• Learning and Adaptation: Creates learning loops that refine policy strategies, institutional approaches, and cross-sector integration.
• Integrity and Accountability: Acts with transparency, fairness, and alignment with the Hub’s mission.

Terms of Appointment

The remuneration package is competitive and commensurate with experience. The contract will be a fixed-term appointment, subject to local hiring conditions, and will be renewable.

Role Location

Flexible global location, with preference for candidates based in Asia, Europe, or North America.

Role is Global Hybrid, requiring periodic in-person collaboration and country missions.

Invenias How to Apply

To apply for this position, please ensure you complete the Application Form provided below by 09 February 2025 (23:59 hrs, GMT +1). It is essential that you submit your CV in English, specifically in Microsoft Word format (.doc/.docx), not exceeding 10MB.

Applications in other languages or formats will not be considered.

Rest assured, all information will be handled with the utmost confidentiality.

SRI Executive is exclusively retained by Global Industry Hub (GIH) to undertake this assignment.