View Vacancy - UK-Brazil Tech Hub Director

This is an exciting opportunity to set up and lead a new, innovative and high-profile Tech Hub in Brazil that will aim to develop the Brazilian tech ecosystem, deliver digital skills programmes, and build links between tech businesses in the UK and Brazil. We are looking for a dynamic, well-networked leader from the Brazilian tech scene for this important role, who will use their significant experience and network to shape and lead this exciting initiative. The hub will be one of four critical pillars of a new Prosperity Fund programme to drive greater digital access in countries like Brazil. New and innovative, the Prosperity Fund (PF) represents a step change in HMG’s approach to promoting economic development and prosperity overseas.

The role will be based in Recife with regular travel across the country which will be required to maximise the success and outputs of the hub across Brazil. There will also be some overseas travel, including to the UK.

The UK-Brazil Tech Hub will be part of the global network of international tech partnerships developed by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to build digital ecosystems that will facilitate sustainable economic growth and development.

The successful candidate will lead a small team of locally-engaged staff (potentially across a number of locations), based within the British Embassy Network, and will be responsible for shaping and delivering the strategy for the Hub. The team will support local digital ecosystems in both the commercial hotspots and across more disadvantaged regions of the partner country. They follow the example of successful hubs elsewhere in the world.

The UK-Brazil Tech Hub will have three main aims:

• deliver tailored interventions to cultivate digital skills responding to the needs and opportunities for inclusion in the local tech sector for example promoting opportunities for youth and women in the local tech sector;

• support tech entrepreneurship through partnerships with local digital ecosystem stakeholders including incubators, accelerators and private sector firms, Brazil government departments and agencies and non-profit organisations

• facilitate partnerships between local tech firms (including tech startups) and international companies (across all sectors) in the form of commercial partnerships or joint ventures

   

  Prosperity Fund

  The Tech Hub Network is funded as part of a cross- UK government, Prosperity-funded programme, so collaboration across UK Government departments will be a critical success factor in this role.

  The PF was established under the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) with the primary aim of supporting growth in recipient countries and thereby reducing poverty. As such, it represents a key component of the prosperity pillar of the UK Aid Strategy. But the Fund uniquely focuses on promoting growth in ODA-eligible middle income countries, which are home to nearly 70% of the world’s poor and where the development challenges remain significant, but at the same time are important business partners and drivers of prosperity. By delivering high impact, strategic multi-year programmes, across high opportunity countries, regions and sectors, the Fund will help create opportunities for international business, including UK companies. As the UK leaves the EU, an even more outward-looking global Britain investing and trading with the fastest growing markets will become increasingly important.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?: 

The successful applicant will design the strategy for, and establish the Brazil Tech Hub and will work with colleagues at DCMS and other departments working in digital access to set the Hub’s overall direction and objectives. The applicant will be responsible for the Hub’s operations across Brazil, leading on cross departmental projects and developing and maintaining senior relationships with both internal and external contacts and sponsors developing a public and media profile for the Hub’s activities, leading on reporting and working as part of the High Commissioner's team and mission.

Responsibilities will include:

• Overall leadership of the Tech Hub, including leading a team of locally-engaged staff, managing the Hub budget and ensuring that Hub operations run smoothly;

• Leading the formulation of a strategy for the country, building on the Brazilian context and aligning to broader Prosperity Fund objectives;

• Working closely with DCMS central Tech Hub team and other UK government departments, including the Department for International Trade (DIT) to ensure that strategic priorities are aligned;

• Acting as the figurehead and lead point of contact for the Hub for stakeholders in government, (both Brazil and UK) corporates and startups;

• Collaborating with the other Hubs in the global network to develop the network offering;

• Overseeing the implementation of the DCMS-designed Hub monitoring and evaluation framework and providing management, performance and financial updates to senior stakeholders within UK Government;

• Initiating and pursuing new strategic partnership opportunities for the Hub, identifying and cultivating new leads, understanding business and innovation needs across all sectors and convincingly present the opportunities for collaboration

• Contributing to the Hubs’ future sustainability by actively seeking new opportunities for execution of the Hub’s mission, and developing revenue streams that will help the Hub to become financially sustainable in the long term.

• Additional activity to support broader UK Prosperity Fund priorities in Brazil
  

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):  

The post-holder will have direct line management responsibilities and be able to finalise recruitment of the Deputy Director of the Hub and Operations Coordinator (locations to be based tbc) and will report to the Brazilian Head of Prosperity based in Sao Paulo, while taking strategic direction from the International Tech Hub Network Team in London. The post-holder will be required to work closely with staff from other government departments, including DIT, as well as the other Tech Hubs.

They will report to and take strategic direction from the Head of Digital International and Tech Hub Network based in the UK. The postholder will be required to work closely with staff from other government departments, including DIT, DFID, FCO, and the other Tech Hubs.

Essential:

• Significant experience in, and knowledge of, the tech sector and startup scene within Brazil;

• Significant leadership experience in the technology/digital sector or business development more widely (or a passion for innovation and technology);

• Experience of developing strategies in partnership with multiple stakeholders;

• Well networked within the tech sector (private sector firms and startups); Knowledge of, and experience with, the Brazil business landscape

• Track record of leading successful delivery in either industry or government;

• Good judgement and political understanding;

• Resilience and adaptability;

• Ability to engage credibly with senior government and senior industry stakeholders

• Proven track record of leading teams to develop and run programs and partnerships from the ground up – core funding will constitute Official Development Assistance, with legal constraints around how it is spent so an existing understanding of this will be helpful;

• Willingness to travel frequently within Brazil, and to occasionally travel to the UK and other locations

Language requirements:

Fluent English and Portuguese required both oral and written.