Senior Manager, Digital Service Coordination and Pilot Partnerships

Position title: Senior Manager, Digital Service Coordination and Pilot Partnerships Department: GCoM & Multilevel Partnerships Reporting to: Head of Data Systems, Regions and Partnerships

Location:
Belgium, South Africa, United Kingdom
- Please note that if your right to work in one of the listed locations is not confirmed at the time of applying, C40 will be unable to proceed with your application.

Salary:
(Grade 3)Belgium EUR 91,065, South Africa ZAR 1,067,386, United Kingdom GBP£65,318 gross per annum
- Due to its commitment to maintain equity and fairness, C40 operates on a spot salary model. This means that our employees are paid the same salary according to their grade and location. Term: Fixed term until 31st December 2028 Position description: The Senior Manager, Digital Service Coordination and Pilot Partnerships plays a pivotal role in driving the regional delivery, adoption, and impact of the AI-assisted Digital Service across the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) alliance—representing 14,000+ signatories—and C40 cities, while overseeing in-depth pilots of AI-assisted functionalities in target countries. Reporting directly to the Head of Data Systems Regions and Partnerships, this role operationalises the link between technical development and regional impact. The Senior Manager leads the execution of the global engagement strategy, coordinating a dedicated regional engagement team to synchronise rollout efforts across GCoM Regional and National Covenants, C40 regional teams, and supporting partners. A primary focus is driving the functional success and widespread uptake of the GCoM Digital Service. The postholder will lead high-impact engagement activities and actively build strategic partnerships with national governments and local delivery partners to execute country-level pilots. Operating within an agile framework, the Senior Manager leads internal project management for the Support & Stakeholder Engagement workstream, driving coherence and impact within the engagement workstream’s distinct sub-functions as well as facilitating seamless alignment between engagement and all other workstreams across the Tech and Data Programme. Responsibilities Coordination of global engagement for the Digital Service: Collaboratively and constructively coordinate the Digital Service Regional Engagement team, aligning regional delivery strategies with global development and engagement milestones to ensure cohesive execution. Lead the development and execution of a global engagement and outreach strategy to facilitate the Digital Service development, rollout, and uptake, working closely with in-region Senior Engagement Managers, Regional/National Covenant Secretariats and the C40 Regional and Mayoral Engagement team to tailor strategies regionally. Facilitate alignment and collaboration among in-region Senior Engagement Managers, the GCoM Secretariat Regional Coordination team, GCoM Regional/National Covenant Secretariats and key supporting partners. Manage coordination between the GCoM Global Secretariat, GCoM Regional and National Covenants, and the C40 Regional and Mayoral Engagement team to ensure the seamless execution of the Data System rollout and engagement strategy. Lead regional partnership engagement activities to support the development, rollout, uptake and ongoing operations of the Digital Service. Start and strengthen partnerships in pilot countries for the Digital Service: Align with the Multi-Level Partnerships team and Senior Regional Engagement Managers to engage and build strategic partnerships with national governments and establish pilot country projects. Work in tandem with the Senior Regional Engagement Managers to engage local delivery partners in pilot countries and execute tailored, country-specific delivery strategies. Support Senior Regional Engagement Managers in organising and executing regional convenings, workshops and webinars to facilitate pilot implementation and capacity-building. Internal coordination and management for the Digital Service: Oversee and coordinate internal project management for the Support & Stakeholder Engagement workstream, ensuring seamless alignment and integration across the Tech and Data Programme (including cross-team collaboration, tracking progress, and removing blockers). Coordinate and align project management across all elements of the Support & Stakeholder Engagement workstream, fostering strong collaboration, clear communication, and consistent progress tracking within the Stakeholder & Engagement team to drive coherence and collective impact. And any other duties appropriate for the grade. Person specification: Strong experience in designing and executing on-the-ground engagement activities, including leading user-requirement gathering, managing technical feedback loops, and overseeing pilot deployments (preferred but not essential: for digital/data products) Demonstrated success in establishing strategic partnerships with national governments, municipal leaders, regional or local delivery partners, and cross-sector stakeholders to execute complex projects. Demonstrated expertise in designing regionally tailored capacity-building programmes, technical resources, and high-impact knowledge-sharing events (workshops, webinars, peer exchanges). Extensive experience coordinating distributed teams across diverse cultures, languages, and time zones to achieve complex operational goals. Significant experience working in urban sustainability, climate change, or multi-level governance, preferably in a municipal or international organisation context. Proven track record in project management within agile environments, including coordinating multi-disciplinary workstreams, tracking budgets, managing consultants, and bridging technical and non-technical teams. Proven ability to direct and coordinate work of team members on a project without formal line management responsibility. Outstanding strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with a track record of driving coherence across sub-teams, removing operational blockers, and reporting progress to senior leadership. Extensive background operating effectively across international contexts and matrixed organisations. Fluency in English is essential; professional working proficiency in French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Arabic is desirable. Other

Requirements:
Applicants must already have the right to work in the listed locations. Moderate travel will be required as part of the role. We seek to recruit individuals who not only have the appropriate skills and experience for the role, but are committed to carrying out their roles in line with our organisational values. C40 offers a comprehensive benefits package to support employee well-being and work-life balance: Paid Time Off: Full-time employees receive 35 days of paid time off annually, which includes all national holidays. Company Shutdowns: In addition to the standard paid time off, C40 provides two non-contractual, non-statutory shutdown weeks each year (mid-year and end-of-year) for a full break. Parental Leave: All employees are eligible for up to 52 weeks of parenting leave. The first 16 weeks are paid at 100% of the employee's current salary. Weeks 17 through 52 are unpaid by C40, unless payment is required by national law. Flexible Working: C40 supports flexible working arrangements to enhance work-life balance, provided they align with business requirements. Time off in Lieu (TOIL): Employees can take TOIL to recover following periods of excessive hours or travel. Sick Leave: Entitlement to sick leave increases upon the successful completion of the employee's probation period. Employee Training: Training and development opportunities are available to all staff (excluding temporary staff and interns) after they have completed and passed their probation period. Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): Confidential services, such as counselling, are accessible for short-term support. Pension scheme: C40 offers a pension scheme to employees in eligible locations. Availability is determined by the country of employment. Private Health Insurance: This is provided in countries where publicly funded healthcare is not available. Application Process: Closing date for applications is Thursday, 24th September 2026 at 4pm UK Time. C40 reserves the right to close this job opening before the closing date for applications so please do submit applications early. To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C40Cities. For any queries

about the role
, please contact careers@C40.org. Kindly note that this email address is for recruitment related queries only. We are unable to accept CVs and cover letters sent to this inbox. We can only accept and process applications that are submitted via our website. C40 is an equal opportunities employer.