Paul Wafer

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT PAUL WAFER

Paul Wafer is a strategist and public service leader with over 25 years\' experience leading transformational change across UK central government, multilateral institutions and the private sector. Based in East Sussex, he is increasingly focused on working with organisations navigating local government reorganisation and devolution — from councils and strategic authorities to advisory firms, system partners and mission-led agencies. Paul works naturally at the intersection of vision and delivery. He enjoys stepping back to see the bigger picture — connecting work to broader system change — while keeping a close eye on what it takes to land results. He has a long track record of building coalitions around shared goals, bringing strong political instincts and an intuitive feel for the needs, perspectives and motivations of others. His specialisms include whole-organisation strategy and transformation; policy development and ministerial engagement at Whitehall level; cross-government delivery; and multi-agency partnership building. From his recent role as Head of Delivery at the UN Education Outcomes Fund, he has direct experience of outcomes-based contracting and results-based finance — approaches increasingly central to prevention, early intervention and integrated public services in UK local government. Paul\'s leadership is values-based. He has led diverse, multi-country teams of up to 50, has coached and mentored emerging leaders, and is known for bringing calm, clarity and decisive action when it matters most. His career includes Chief Strategy Officer at Crown Agents, where he directed the refresh of corporate strategy, restructured of the global office network; Chief of Staff to DFID\'s Africa Directorate in Whitehall; Development Director for the UK Government in Sierra Leone during the onset of the Ebola epidemic; and senior diplomatic postings in Mozambique and Serbia. As Lead Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister\'s Post-2015 Team, he drafted the narrative that brought the development and environment agendas together in what became the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He is currently a Senior Strategic Adviser at the UN Education Outcomes Fund, supporting organisational transformation and strategic partnership development, but is available for associate, advisory and consultancy assignments.