Atlantic Institute
Appointment of Executive Director

Appointing the Next Executive Director of the Atlantic Institute  

Evie O’Brien has announced that she will be stepping down from her role as Executive Director of the Atlantic Institute in the summer of 2024.

We are hugely grateful to Evie for her vision and leadership over the past five years, and as we enter into a new period of change and transition, we look forward to the next phase of this community’s life.

The Recruitment Process

A Search Committee, authorized by the Atlantic Institute Governing Board (AIGB), has been formed (see below) and will be chaired by AIGB board member, Kofi Appenteng.

The Committee has engaged Perrett Laver, a global search firm with offices in 15 countries including Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa, to assist the Institute in identifying the most suitable candidates to lead the Institute in the next phase in its evolution.

The search process will follow global best practice, guided by the Institute’s own founding documents and its values. For further information regarding the proposed timetable for the search, please see below. 

The Committee

 The Search Committee is comprised of the following members:

Consultation with the Atlantic Community

The Committee, assisted by Perrett Laver, will engage with the Atlantic community and its partners over the coming months. The aim of this outreach is to solicit the community’s views on the Institute’s priorities and challenges, as well as the desirable characteristics and qualities that they would like to see in a new Executive Director.

Several members of the Committee initiated the consultation process by visiting Oxford during the week of October 9. They held several meetings including an open forum with the staff of the Atlantic Institute at which we asked them about the key qualities, experience, and attributes for a successor Executive Director.

The Committee will now continue this outreach by hosting three online consultations for members of the community over the coming weeks as follows: 

Monday November 20 – Americas (EST)

15:00-17:00 | 20:00-22:00 (GMT)

Wednesday November 22 – Europe & Africa (GMT +2)

15:00-17:00 | 13:00-15:00 (GMT)

Thursday November 30 Australia & Asia Pacific (AEDT)

16:30-18:30 | 05:30-07:30 (GMT)

For those unable to attend any of the consultations, Perrett Laver has set up a dedicated email address for you to contribute your thoughts, suggestions and recommendations: atlantic@perrettlaver.com. We will also provide recordings of the meetings.

The Timetable

Whilst we are aiming to onboard the new Executive Director by the middle of 2024, we are not predetermining the length of this process.

The below is a preliminary timeline that the Committee has put together with Perrett Laver, which will naturally evolve based on the amount of consultation we think we will need and based on the quality of candidates and their availability. The Committee is committed to giving this process the amount of time it needs to ensure that the best candidate is appointed.

November 2023 – January 2024 | Consultation and engagement with the Atlantic Community 

Mid December – end of January 2024 | Public advertising and candidate outreach 

February – March 2024 | Longlisting and Shortlisting

April – May 2024  | Assessments and final in-person interviews 

Your Input

We would now like to encourage you to provide your input and responses to the following questions, which will help Perrett Laver gain an authentic understanding of the Institute’s vision, strategy and character as an organization to inform the search process:

  • What are the distinctive characteristics and values of the Atlantic Institute which are critical for a new Executive Director to embody?
  • What do you believe is the Institute’s ambition for the next phase of its development?
  • What do you perceive to be the key challenges in achieving this?
  • What are the key characteristics and qualities that you would like to see in the next Executive Director of the Institute?

Please send your contributions to Perrett Laver at the following email address: atlantic@perrettlaver.com. Your feedback will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please note that the deadline for feedback is December 6 2023.

Those members of the Atlantic Institute community who wish to apply for the role should contact Perrett Laver directly once the job description is live.

Who to Talk to