Associate Director - Global Government Advisory

Company Overview

Access Partnership is the world's leading tech policy consultancy. Working with both the public and private sectors, we support the development and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks that drive digital transformation and the growth of the digital economy, whilst enabling market access for innovative technologies and products. Our firm uniquely mixes public policy, economics, legal and regulatory knowledge, as well as engineering competencies to achieve our goals. We have 12 offices globally, including our regional hub in Singapore and 6 others in the AsiaPacific region.

Public Sector Advisory Practice

The Public Sector Advisory Practice works with governments and multilateral institutions across the world to design, implement, and measure the impact of digital and tech-related policy and regulation, and other policy adjacencies (e.g. trade, financial services and labour). Blending technical and public policy expertise with in-depth industry insights we ensure that policy is innovative, impactful, and contributes to solving major public policy questions. Specifically, the Practice focuses on:

• public policy and regulatory design for governments

• programme strategy, design, and implementation for international donors and multilateral banks and other global institutions and

• campaigns at multilateral institutions.

Our team operates globally, with team members located in Washington DC, Colombia, Brazil, Singapore and London. Current clients include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ASEAN and APEC Secretariats, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), as well as direct-to-government contracts with several G20 countries. Recent projects have included the design of a regulatory academy for the communications regulator in the Middle East exploring the potential for emerging technology to be used in the fight against corruption designing an interactive, ethical AI tool for developers and deployers and advising on the design and roll-out of digital financial infrastructure.

Job Purpose

The Associate Director is a commercial and strategic face of Access Partnership's Public Sector Advisory (PSA) practice across Asia Pacific. This is first and foremost a growth role: the successful candidate will own the region's PSA revenue line, actively hunting and closing new mandates, deepening existing client relationships, and expanding the practice's footprint across governments, donors, and multilateral institutions. Alongside this commercial leadership, they serve as the practice's internal and external voice on public sector thinking within the Singapore/Asia team. Ensuring that every regional opportunity is assessed not only through a commercial or economic lens but with a grounded public sector perspective specifically, identifying how to expand our thematic focus into new areas. They set a clear 6-12 month strategic vision for their client accounts, lead complex cross-practice delivery, and act as a role model and multiplier, building team capability, growing careers, and embedding a client-centric, commercially-minded culture across the business.

Key Responsibilities

1. Go-to-Market Strategy & Account Growth

• Take a lead role in the commercial performance of the AP Public Sector Advisory practice in Asia Pacific: set and deliver against a clear 6-12 month revenue and pipeline target, proactively identify and convert high-value opportunities across the region, and be jointly accountable for team outcomes. This role is the commercial engine of the PSA practice in APAC, driving growth is a core mandate.

• Confidently lead new business initiatives for both new and existing clients, driving account growth and ensuring alignment with Access Partnership's global priorities.

• Actively seek to expand the breadth of the current technical offering into other digital and tech areas and adjacencies.

• Lead bid responses to requests for proposals (RFPs) ensuring technical rigour and commercial competitiveness support the development of this capability more broadly with the team/AP.

• Bring a genuine public sector lens to every commercial conversation, internally and externally. While Access Partnership's regional leadership will provide broader market and economic context, this role is responsible for articulating and advocating the public sector perspective on any opportunity: how governments and multilateral institutions think, what they will and won't fund, and when a conventional commercial framing needs to be recast to reflect public sector realities. This is not a passive input, the Associate Director should be willing to constructively challenge and redirect where the PS dimension is being under-weighted.

2. Client Relationships & Thought Leadership

• Serve as a face of Access Partnership's Public Sector Advisory practice across Asia Pacific: the primary point of contact and trusted strategic partner for a selection of the practice's major regional accounts (including, ADB, APEC, DFAT, FCDO, World Bank). Leverage existing personal networks and build new senior relationships to drive long-term account value and growth, while ensuring AP is consistently positioned as the go-to adviser on public sector digital and technology policy in the region.

• Continue to develop technical and market expert leadership internally and externally, driving new thought leadership, contributing to industry forums and conferences, and building capabilities to meet emerging demand in digital and tech policy.

• Represent Access Partnership at key international forums, conferences, and media engagements, anticipating broad client and industry challenges to ensure the practice is always ahead of the curve.

3. Delivery Excellence & Quality Assurance

• Demonstrate excellence in project directorship/management by leading complex, often cross-practice projects, ensuring quality, relevance, and commercial rigour address delivery issues early and make smart trade-offs to achieve the best client outcomes.

• Handle complex and unfamiliar challenges under pressure, breaking down problems into actionable solutions and maintaining quality oversight on all bids, tenders, and proposals for our clients.

• Ensure quality control of all work under your remit, monitoring practice-wide delivery standards, client satisfaction, and performance metrics to drive continuous improvement.

• Actively build further technical competency in areas that match personal interests as well as business need.

4. Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Act as a multiplier by leveraging cross-practice teams to enable the best outcomes for clients, leading a diverse team with different skillsets, delegating work effectively, driving performance, and growing consulting and client capability.

• Understand and help to manage practice financials, including forecasting, resource allocation, and profitability, embedding a collaborative culture and ensuring sustainable long-term growth.

• Take on line-management responsibilities as the team in Singapore, and globally, continues to grow.

• Serve as a recognised role model and mentor across the business, growing careers, fostering a culture of excellence and client-centricity, and collaborating across practices to deliver integrated solutions for complex policy challenges.

Qualifications and Experience

• 10-12 years of experience in public policy, international development, regulatory affairs, or technology advisory.

• Experience in consulting or advisory roles for governments, international donors (e.g. World Bank, ADB, DFAT, FCDO, USAID), or global organisations (e.g. UN, OECD).

• Proven ability to lead complex, multi-stakeholder projects on digital transformation, technology governance, or innovation policy across multiple markets.

• Demonstrated success in business development, from opportunity identification to bid leadership and client relationship management.

• Strong record of building senior stakeholder relationships and influencing decision-making at the highest levels.

• Leadership experience in developing and motivating diverse teams to achieve strategic and commercial goals.

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to distil complex policy issues into clear, actionable insights.

• Commercial and strategic acumen, including experience managing budgets, resources, and profitability.

Nice to have:

• Advanced degree in public policy, international relations, economics, law, engineering, or a related discipline.

• Familiarity with programme design, monitoring, and evaluation frameworks used in development cooperation.

• Regional experience in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East, with cross-cultural stakeholder engagement.

• Recognised thought leadership or public speaking credentials in technology policy or digital transformation.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and benefits package.

• Opportunities for professional growth and development.

• A collaborative and supportive work environment.

• The opportunity to make a tangible impact on global digital policy and contribute to Access Partnership's mission of shaping a fair, open, and sustainable digital future.