Department: External Affairs
Team: SDG Accelerator
Location: London with hybrid working
Position type: Permanent; full-time
What the hiring manager says
“In an era where AI’s transformative power is rewriting industries and creating innovative services for people around the world, this role offers a unique opportunity to work at the cutting-edge of the fast-evolving global AI landscape. You will work directly with senior AI business and product owners from across the telco industry to support their AI transformation journey, fast-track impactful use cases and facilitate joint action on industry’s top priorities. You will be part of a diverse team that is committed to foster AI innovations that generate positive outcomes for industry and society, making a tangible impact on how AI shapes our world.”
Jeanine Vos, Head of SDG Accelerator
About the Team
The GSMA founded the AI for Impact (AI4I) initiative in 2017, to drive collaboration with partners across the public and private sector to scale AI opportunities for telcos, while safeguarding its ethical and responsible deployment.
The team is currently working with AI Leads from 30 mobile operators accounting for over 2 billion connections in 100+ countries. We also engage with a network of global thought leaders from UN agencies, governments, international organisations, academia and private sector.
The team’s programme of activities currently centre around 4 core workstreams, namely AI in Action, Responsible AI, Policy and Regulation, plus Emerging Tech. These are delivered in close collaboration with expert colleagues from across the GSMA, including the Advocacy, Mobile for Development and Technology departments, as well as our regional offices.
About the Role
As our AI4I Director you will shape the GSMA AI for Impact agenda, implement the corresponding programme of activities and disseminate knowledge and expertise through leading content, workshops and events.
You will collaborate closely with the mobile operator members of the AI Taskforce to understand both their AI ambitions, goals and opportunities, as well as challenges, enablers and success factors to realise those. Based on this insight, the individual will define priorities for collaborative action and joint industry research, building on the existing programme of activities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Oversee the holistic portfolio of activities across the AI Taskforce and its AI in Action, Responsible AI, Policy and Emerging Tech work streams and ensure it addresses the key priorities for industry collaboration and collective action.
• Manage a small multi-functional team of individuals with industry insights, responsible AI, policy and development background.
• Lead the ongoing delivery of the programme by the team, in close collaboration with internal colleagues and engagement with the members of the AI task force and external partners.
• Work with the team and colleagues to deliver compelling series of regular virtual meetings and workshops to progress and inform the programme of AI Taskforce and sub-group activities.
• Stay up-to-date on AI developments as relevant to the mobile industry, ranging from use cases and business opportunities, to technical capabilities and policy landscape.
• Work with Technology and Advocacy teams to ensure a complementary programme of activities, identify collaboration opportunities and profile relevant activities to the AI Taskforce.
• Collaborate closely with the GSMA Mobile for Development team to oversee in-country projects to leverage AI for underserved communities in LMICs.
• Identify research opportunities to develop industry thought leadership content working with our in-house insights and research team GSMA Intelligence, or external consultants when relevant.
• Engage and direct external consultancies and other contracted parties to create key deliverables and outputs.
• Represent the team at different industry events, workshops and roundtables.

This is a hands-on role and the successful candidate is required to be self-motivated to achieve deliverables and objectives without day-to-day supervision, while keeping the senior management informed on progress and escalating issues as relevant.

About You

• You have thorough knowledge of the opportunities that AI can provide for the mobile industry, as well as what is involved in developing and adopting these technologies at scale. Including use cases, business requirements, technical capabilities need.
• You have first-hand experience in developing or adopting AI in business, public sector or development settings, eg by delivering AI Transformation programmes, developing AI products and services or delivering AI projects for socio-economic impact.
• You have gained this experience working in the telco industry and adjacent sectors, or through consulting or advisory services.
• You are familiar with the landscape of existing actors, consortia and efforts aiming to harness AI innovations for impact. You have worked with partners to deliver digital innovations or transform business processes.
• You are well-versed in the ethical principles in which AI design, development and deployment should be founded, and familiar with the emerging policy and regulatory landscape.
• You have experiencing in managing small, multi-disciplinary expert teams and you are able to work comfortably in a matrix environment.
• You will have demonstrated the ability to quickly learn and grasps complex subject matters, and proficiency in driving research that generates fresh and unique insights. You have experience in carrying projects from ideation, to implementation, through to evaluation.
• You are well-versed at multi-tasking and managing appropriate priorities between parallel project deliverables and ensuring progress to sometimes challenging timelines. Strong organisation skills are required to manage the diverse workload.

Contract type
Regular
Worker type
Employee
What We Offer
Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.
In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.
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Being You at the GSMA
We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We’re keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.
GSMA Values
Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.
Passionately driven
We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.
Insightful leaders
We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.
Stronger together
We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help.
Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.

• Oversee the holistic portfolio of activities across the AI Taskforce and its AI in Action, Responsible AI, Policy and Emerging Tech work streams and ensure it addresses the key priorities for industry collaboration and collective action.
• Manage a small multi-functional team of individuals with industry insights, responsible AI, policy and development background.
• Lead the ongoing delivery of the programme by the team, in close collaboration with internal colleagues and engagement with the members of the AI task force and external partners.
• Work with the team and colleagues to deliver compelling series of regular virtual meetings and workshops to progress and inform the programme of AI Taskforce and sub-group activities.
• Stay up-to-date on AI developments as relevant to the mobile industry, ranging from use cases and business opportunities, to technical capabilities and policy landscape.
• Work with Technology and Advocacy teams to ensure a complementary programme of activities, identify collaboration opportunities and profile relevant activities to the AI Taskforce.
• Collaborate closely with the GSMA Mobile for Development team to oversee in-country projects to leverage AI for underserved communities in LMICs.
• Identify research opportunities to develop industry thought leadership content working with our in-house insights and research team GSMA Intelligence, or external consultants when relevant.
• Engage and direct external consultancies and other contracted parties to create key deliverables and outputs.
• Represent the team at different industry events, workshops and roundtables