Urban Governance Expert

Demos Helsinki

The societies we live in were not designed for the challenges they now face.

Institutions, policies and economic structures have developed over decades through political choices, compromises and changing circumstances. Many have produced enormous progress. But the values behind them are increasingly being tested by global dynamics that cut across established policy boundaries: ecological crises, geopolitical uncertainty, technological change, demographic shifts and growing pressures on democratic societies.

At Demos Helsinki, we believe these challenges require more than better answers to existing questions. They require us to keep asking which questions matter, what is worth knowing, and how knowledge can actually help societies change direction towards a fairer, more sustainable and joyful future.

This is what our work is about.

Demos Helsinki is a globally operating, non-profit and independent think tank. We are a community of motivated experts dedicated to instigating and sustaining essential transitions to a fair, sustainable and joyful future. We believe that change can happen only together.

That is why we carry out consultative and research projects together with hundreds of partners, including private international foundations, UN organisations, the European Commission and companies. Over the past 20 years, we have grown into an organisation of over 80 people working on more than 100 projects per year, with forecasted revenue of over €6 million.

About the role

Cities are where many of the defining questions of societal transformation become concrete.

How should cities and regions govern transitions that cut across traditional administrative boundaries? How can residents, businesses and public institutions shape change together? How should cities respond to pressures ranging from climate adaptation and social inequality to digitalisation and changing democratic participation?

Demos Helsinki has deep roots in working with cities and urban governance, from city strategies and participatory planning to climate governance and international urban development. We now want to strengthen this work with an Expert in Urban Governance.

Everyone at Demos Helsinki contributes to developing projects, proposals and partnerships, and everyone works close to substantive questions.

What the role involves

We are looking for an urban governance expert with a consultative, sales and partnership-building orientation. You understand the substance, but you also enjoy finding where that expertise could matter next and how to translate ideas into new projects and partnerships. Your focus would thus be on recognising opportunities, developing sales propositions, turning conversations into new projects, and building long-lasting relationships and partnerships.

You will join our Regenerative Localities team and work on questions concerning how cities and regions are governed and how urban transformations can be made fairer, more sustainable and more democratic.

Your responsibilities include:

• Leading and contributing to research, consultative and advisory projects in urban and regional governance

• Developing new project ideas, proposals and funding applications

• Bringing discussions and sales proposals to confirmed projects

• Building Demos Helsinki's thinking and offering around emerging urban governance questions

• Working with cities, regions, governments, international organisations, foundations, researchers, businesses and other partners

• Designing and facilitating processes that bring different actors and forms of knowledge together

• Supporting colleagues and contributing to work across teams

• In this role, you orient towards consultative and partnership-building work. Additionally, we would additionally expect you to take an active role in identifying sales opportunities, building external relationships and developing those relationships into new projects and partnerships.

What we are looking for

What matters to us is that you bring:

• Strong expertise in urban or regional governance, urban policy, public administration or a closely related field, and a genuine interest in how governance can enable societal transformation.

• Experience and orientation towards consultative work, partnership-building and sales: You have experience or demonstrated ability in building relationships, identifying opportunities and developing new work. You enjoy the outward-facing side of expert work and are motivated by turning ideas and relationships into impactful projects.

• The ability to work with complexity. You can analyse difficult questions, distinguish what matters and turn complexity into something other people can understand and act on.

• The ability to work with others. Much of our work happens across disciplines, organisations and sectors, often with people who understand the same problem very differently.

• The ability to move work forward in ambiguity. You do not need everything to be settled before you can start making progress.

• Excellent written and spoken English. Finnish is an asset, and proficiency in other languages is welcome.

Above all, we are looking for someone who cares about these questions. Someone intellectually curious, collaborative and willing to challenge existing ways of thinking while helping others find ways forward.

What success could look like

After your first year, you have become a trusted expert in Demos Helsinki's urban governance work and brought in and contributed to several high-quality research and/or consultative projects.

You have helped us sharpen our thinking about urban governance, strengthened the quality of our work and helped turn that thinking into impact with our partners.

Depending on your profile, you also have either opened new relationships and project opportunities, and contributed in deepening our substantive expertise that creates new opportunities for Demos Helsinki.

In either case, you have helped us identify not only how to answer existing questions, but which questions about the future of cities are worth asking next.

Practicalities

• Employment: Permanent, full-time position (37.5 h/week) with flexible working hours

• Location: Our home base is Helsinki, Finland. Working arrangements can include hybrid and remote work, although we expect regular presence in Helsinki, particularly in the beginning.

• Salary: According to Demos Helsinki's responsibility category model. Final salary is determined based on the level of responsibility and your demonstrated experience in comparable responsibilities.

• Start: As soon as possible / agreed with the selected candidate.

How to apply

Please submit your application through our recruitment system. The deadline is set forSep 27th 00:00 CET.

Your application should include your CV and answers to the questions in the application form. In the application, we will ask whether you see yourself primarily in the consultative & partnership-building profile, the research & thematic profile, or somewhere between the two.

We do not expect candidates to fit neatly into one box. The question simply helps us understand where your strongest capabilities and motivation lie.

We assume AI tools may be part of how you work. If you use AI in preparing your application, please briefly tell us how you used it and how it contributed to your thinking.

If you have questions about the role, please contactErkki Perälä, Team Lead, Regenerative Localities.

We look forward to hearing from you.