Team Leader - Financial Sector Development Programme, Bangladesh in London

Palladium is seeking an experienced and strategic Team Leader to lead the delivery of a five-year UK FCDO-funded technical assistance programme aimed at strengthening Bangladesh's financial sector. The programme will support the central bank, government and regulatory authorities to drive transformation, improve financial infrastructure, and enhance regulatory frameworks. This position is recruited as part of a proposal submission and is contingent upon the successful award of the contract.

The position is ideally based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with consideration for applicants based elsewhere who are willing to spend 50% time in Dhaka.

Reporting Lines

This role will report into the Palladium Programme Director.

Primary Roles And Responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic leadership, quality assurance and stakeholder coordination for the programme, ensuring high-impact delivery across all workstreams and full compliance with FCDO requirements.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with FCDO, Bangladesh Bank, government counterparts and development partners.
• Ensure all workstreams (central bank transformation, financial infrastructure, regulatory/legal reform, financial ecosystem development) are integrated and aligned with programme objectives.
• Build and maintain high-level relationships with FCDO, Bangladesh Bank, government ministries, IMF, World Bank, ADB, IFC, private sector bodies and civil society.
• Represent the programme at policy dialogues, donor coordination platforms, steering committees and public forums.
• Proactively manage sensitive political-economy issues, ensuring effective communication and alignment among stakeholders.
• Provide senior oversight and quality assurance for deliverables produced by Technical Leads and short-term experts, ensuring technical soundness, feasibility and alignment with FCDO KPIs.
• Drive adaptive management and learning across workstreams, ensuring lessons learned inform programme adjustments.
• Oversee capacity-building of Bangladesh Bank and other counterparts, including planning for sustainability and exit strategy.
• Ensure the programme meets all FCDO contract management KPIs, including social value, safeguarding, duty of care, and anti-fraud measures.
• Oversee risk management, monitoring of fiduciary controls and compliance with FCDO transparency requirements.
• Champion Value for Money principles (economy, efficiency, effectiveness, equity) across all programme activities.
• Lead and manage a multidisciplinary team of national and international experts, fostering collaboration, inclusion and performance excellence.
• Mentor senior staff, including the Deputy Team Leader and Technical Leads, to strengthen local leadership capacity.

Essential Criteria

• Experience leading large-scale donor-funded programmes, preferably in financial sector reform or economic governance.
• Proven experience working with central banks, financial regulators, and government institutions in developing countries.
• Strong understanding of financial inclusion, digital finance, and regulatory technology.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder engagement, communication, and team management skills.
• Advanced degree in economics, finance, public policy or related field.
• Proven experience in successfully leading large-scale institutional transformation of central banks or comparable government bodies, including organisational restructuring, governance reforms, and capacity-building in complex political–economic environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in high-level stakeholder coordination, political-economy navigation and risk management.
• Fluency in English is required; knowledge of Bangla is an asset.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience leading large-scale donor-funded programmes in financial sector reform or economic governance, or liaising with donors is highly desirable.
• Strong track record of quality-assuring complex technical deliverables and achieving results against KPIs is highly desirable.
• Experience working in South Asia or similar contexts is highly desirable.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics.

Safeguarding

We define Safeguarding as "the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm". We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.