➔ Description of the mission

Innovation Manager - South East Asia

We are a global team of technologists, designers, strategists, and behavioural scientists, united by a commitment to harnessing technology for transformative impact. We love collaborating with those who are frustrated by the status quo and ready to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. With our clients and partners, we create bold, innovative strategies & programmes to tackle urgent and preventable issues and drive impact in education, health, climate and more.

We want to build a diverse team, with people from a range of backgrounds. You might deploy user research, design thinking or service design approaches in an innovation lab. You might work for a startup or grassroots organisation, eager to bring an understanding of ‘impact’ and metrics to a broader portfolio of work. Or, you might work for a philanthropy, investor or funding institution and want to move closer to the chalkface, supporting promising ideas to be tested in context and scale.

The Role:

A sharp, practical innovation coach who’s excited about working with government units and innovators in the Philippines and Viet Nam. You’ll be the hands-on support behind two of Brink’s major portfolios:

A UK-funded global education, technology and research programme - EdTech Hub’s goal is to empower people by giving them the evidence they need to make decisions about technology in education. Some of the challenges you will be tackling include:
How can Lean Impact be used by government institutions in South East Asia to improve the implementation of their AI and EdTech policies and programmes in education
How can a hypothesis-driven approach using strategic foresight and experimentation help narrow the learning divide in the age of AI in the global South?
A UK-funded frontier technology programme: Frontier Tech Hub (FT Hub) is a global platform with over 10 years of experience supporting emerging tech innovation in developing markets through catalytic financing, agile coaching and design-thinking methodologies, business and impact modelling, and storytelling. FT Hub specialises in testing risky hypotheses, generating learning and supporting the development of ideas into business opportunities. Some of the challenges you will be tackling include:
How can we transform climate adaptation from a perceived cost into an investment opportunity by piloting climate intelligence tech (early warning systems, predictive weather data) in Viet Nam and the Philippines
How might frontier technologies like robotics and AI tackle some of the biggest challenges in development globally?

You’ll support a mix of government, start-up and non-profit organisations to define and refine their innovations, test and validate them with users, and build their readiness to grow. You’ll know what it takes to go from early wins to sustainable scale – not just through pitch decks & presentations, but through deeply understanding what works and why.

When needed, you’ll act as a coach, unlocking progress and insights through deep listening and questions. At other times, you’ll be willing to dive in and work alongside teams, designing experiments, engaging key stakeholders and taking them along the journey (ranging from government partners to funders), and running events to build a connected ecosystem and showcase successes.

Timeline for recruitment

Application Launch: 6 October 2025
Closing date: 19 October 2025 (12AM PHT)
First stage interviews: w/c 20 October 2025
Second stage interview (if needed): 27 - 29 October 2025
Final offer by: 31 October 2025
Start date: 3 November 2025

How to apply

If you’re interested in joining us, please click on our ‘apply to position’ button. This will take you to an online application form where we will ask you to upload your CV as well as a one page letter that includes:

Your story and why you believe this is the right role for you
A case study or piece of work you’re proud of - include links out to websites, videos or other places where we can see your work. Ideally this work will be ‘live’ and out in the world
A recommendation for a book, article, podcast or something else that’s shaped your thinking lately
Confirmation of your location in South East Asia and right to work
Your salary expectation or day rate

➔ Profile

What we’re looking for in an ideal candidate

1. Entrepreneurialism on behalf of the team and the problem

An understanding that innovation is about managing uncertainty and risk accountably and measurably. As such you are able to hold teams to account, while always being on their side
Scientific but human, mixing an understanding of how people “tick” with a desire to test ideas thoroughly and with rigour
Able to act strategically, on behalf of teams, making connections and joining useful dots for them. You retain this strategic mindset even when faced with numerous and constantly shifting priorities
Know Lean Startup inside out and back again , you know how that it is both broad and thin and how to weave in human centred design, research and creativity to experimentation in a way that results in velocity (You also know the difference between speed and velocity. You are not a busy fool)

2. Communication and influence

Natural facilitator, with the confidence to help teams tease apart their facts, opinions and guesses. Enjoys enabling innovation in others
An effective communicator, able to relay messages clearly and influence across different organisational and geographical contexts and virtually over audio and video

3. Global outlook and experience

Enjoys problem-solving with others in different contexts, from global governments to grassroots innovators in developing countries
Curious about the latest trends in technology and innovation, and how these may impact emerging markets
Culturally sensitive, able to understand and empathise with international contexts and explore how values and beliefs play a role in innovation

4. Interpersonal skills

Growth mindset: keen and eager to experiment and learn, comfortable with not knowing all the answers yet and happy to let stuff go when it doesn’t quite hit the mark
Is ‘interoperable’: quickly establishes rapport with all kinds of people
Enjoys ‘making others shine’: Brink is a low-ego zone that thrives on making our colleagues, clients and collaborators shine
Self-starter: proactive, can ‘get on with it’, has a sense of agency and a point of view

In addition to the above, we would be excited to see:

Experience or networks in emerging tech and AI in South East Asian countries (ideally in any of these areas: climate and finance tech, coastal nature based enterprises in Viet Nam and the Philippines, or education tech & AI in South East Asia, particularly the Philippines).
Experience of working with governments in low and middle income countries, particularly in government as a scaling pathway for new ideas, or how to support governments to apply evidence in decision making.
Experience of different approaches to designing funds, including an understanding of different financial instruments and grant structures.
Evidence of ‘thinking out loud’. This could be an active social media presence, a personal blog or newsletter, or presence at events and conferences. We are particularly excited to see someone with a desire to grow into a thought leader in the world of technology and AI for impact.

Brink

The Brink missions aims to achieve Three things: - Shift power - Tap untapped talent - Spark cooperation

Website
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Between 15 and 50 persons
Others

Brink did not yet communicate its impact measurement.

This structure did not communicate to us the labels or certifications that it was able to obtain.

Brink

The Brink missions aims to achieve Three things: - Shift power - Tap untapped talent - Spark cooperation

Website
Unknown
Between 15 and 50 persons
Others

Brink did not yet communicate its impact measurement.

This structure did not communicate to us the labels or certifications that it was able to obtain.

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