Team Leader - UK-Nigeria Growth Programme at DAI

Job Purpose

• The Team Leader will provide overall leadership for programme delivery, ensuring the intervention delivers credible and measurable results across trade, investment, private sector development and enabling environment reform.
• The role will be responsible for translating programme ambition into a strong pipeline of opportunities, interventions and results. This will include leading delivery across both programme pathways: supporting direct investment and trade opportunities in priority sectors, while also shaping practical reforms that remove barriers affecting firms, investors and market actors.
• The Team Leader will lead a multidisciplinary team, manage senior stakeholder relationships, oversee programme performance and ensure that delivery remains commercially grounded, politically aware and closely aligned with FCDO priorities.
• This role is open to Nigerian and International candidates.

Key responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership, direction and day-to-day management of the programme.
• Lead engagement with FCDO and other senior stakeholders, maintaining trusted, constructive and solutions-oriented relationships throughout implementation.
• Drive delivery across the programme’s two core pathways: unlocking direct private investment and trade opportunities, and supporting reforms that strengthen the business and investment environment in Nigeria.
• Identify, assess and help progress commercially viable opportunities with the potential to generate investment, trade, jobs and wider economic impact.
• Oversee the development of robust commercial diagnostics, opportunity assessments, feasibility work and implementation support.
• Ensure that enabling environment activity is practical and targeted, with reform priorities shaped by live constraints affecting trade, investment and business growth.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across the UK and Nigerian public and private sectors, including businesses, investors, regulators, trade bodies and relevant delivery partners.
• Work closely with institutions such as DBT, UKEF, BII and other relevant actors to strengthen coordination, unlock opportunities and support delivery.
• Oversee programme strategy, workplanning, risk management, performance monitoring, adaptive delivery and value for money.
• Ensure strong integration between political economy analysis, stakeholder engagement, commercial opportunity development and delivery support.
• Lead and motivate a high-performing team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, sound judgement and problem-solving.
• Ensure consistently high-quality technical delivery across programme activities and outputs.
• Represent the programme externally in senior meetings, events and strategic discussions.
• Ensure delivery remains aligned with the programme mandate, FCDO priorities and the wider UK-Nigeria trade and investment relationship.

Person specification
Essential

• Significant senior experience in trade, investment, private sector development, economic growth or related fields.
• Demonstrated track record of helping originate, structure, negotiate or enable significant commercial deals, investments, partnerships or market opportunities.
• Strong understanding of the Nigerian political and economic context, including the practical barriers and opportunities affecting trade, investment and business growth.
• Strong understanding of the UK context and the UK-Nigeria trade and investment relationship.
• Credibility and experience operating at senior levels across both the public and private sectors.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust across government, business, investors and development actors.
• Experience leading complex programmes, portfolios or initiatives with multiple workstreams and senior external stakeholders.
• Strong delivery focus, with the ability to convert strategy into practical actions and results.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams and working through adaptive, problem-solving approaches.
• Strong understanding of how to balance commercial realism, development impact and political economy considerations.

Desirable

• Experience leading or managing large donor-funded programmes, ideally FCDO-funded.
• Experience working in Nigeria and the UK, with established networks across relevant public and private sector institutions.
• Experience in trade facilitation, investment promotion, regulatory reform, enabling environment programming or market systems approaches.
• Familiarity with UK Export Finance, British International Investment or similar institutions relevant to trade and investment mobilisation.
• Knowledge of the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership and its priority areas of co-operation.
• Experience in one or more ETIP-relevant sectors, including financial services, legal services, customs and trade facilitation, clean growth, education, export diversification, environment and sustainability, health and life sciences, investment, creatives, regulatory co-operation, or agriculture, food safety and food security.

Personal attributes

• Commercially minded and opportunity-oriented
• Politically aware and credible
• Strategic, but highly practical
• Delivery-focused and outcomes-oriented
• Strongly collaborative, while able to make decisions and maintain momentum
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and navigating complex stakeholder environments
• Resilient, adaptable and solutions-focused
• Committed to high standards of professionalism, integrity and delivery