Skills and Workforce Transformation Specialist

Department: Strategy

Team: GSMA Intelligence

Location: London (hybrid working)

Position type: Contract until December 2026

What the hiring manager says

Telecoms is at a turning point. AI and automation are not just changing networks and services – they are fundamentally reshaping the skills required to run a modern operator.

We’ve seen major transitions before, from LTE to software-defined networks to the rise of the “tech co” model, but this next shift is broader and faster-moving. At the same time, operators are competing for talent with Big Tech and digital-native companies, often without a clear, shared understanding of what skills they actually need.

This project is about closing that gap.

It’s not a theoretical exercise. This is about giving the industry a practical, evidence-based foundation to make better decisions about people, skills, and capability investment at a time of significant disruption.

We’re looking for someone who wants to help shape a landmark piece of industry insight: building the baseline, defining the framework, and helping tell the story of how telecoms workforce transformation unfolds in the AI era.

If you want to work at the intersection of strategy, technology, and people – and contribute to something that will be used at board level across the global telecom industry – this is a rare opportunity to do exactly that.Tim Hatt, Head of Research and Consulting

About the Team

GSMA Intelligence is the definitive source of mobile industry data, insights, forecasts and research, used globally. Our data products cover every mobile operator, network and MVNO worldwide.

Beyond our industry data, insights and consulting portfolio, GSMA Intelligence is also the home of skills and training. So, while this role is assigned to support the specific project on telco skills transformation, there may be longer term opportunities as part of our wider delivery.

About the Role

We are seeking a specialist contractor to support a flagship industry research project examining how telecom operators must evolve their workforce capabilities in response to AI, automation, and broader changes across the demographic and competitive landscape.

The telecoms sector is undergoing a structural shift from connectivity providers to technology-led organisations. This project aims to build a clear, data-driven view of what that means for skills, roles, and organisational design over the next 2–5 years. You will play a central role in shaping and delivering a global research initiative led by GSMA Intelligence in collaboration with the GSMA Board and industry partners.

Core responsibilities

• Support the design and execution of a mixed-methods research programme (quantitative + qualitative)
• Contribute to survey design, benchmarking frameworks, and interview guides
• Analyse workforce and skills data across telecom operators and comparator tech sectors
• Synthesize findings into clear, structured insights for senior industry stakeholders
• Help develop skills taxonomy and segmentation frameworks relevant to telco transformation
• Contribute to interim and final outputs, including board-level presentations and a flagship report
• Support workshop design and facilitation with global telecom operators

What success looks like

• A robust, credible benchmark of telco workforce skills is established and clearly articulated
• Skills gaps and future capability needs are quantified and well-evidenced
• Insights are clearly translated into actionable recommendations for operators
• Senior stakeholders (including GSMA staff, senior management and Board members) find the outputs practical, relevant, and actionable for their own internal planning and decision making
• The final report is recognised as a leading reference point for telco workforce transformation in the AI era

About You

You are someone who is energised by understanding how industries change, and how people and skills must evolve with them. You don’t need to come from telecoms specifically, but you will be comfortable working with complex, fast-moving environments where technology, strategy, and workforce dynamics intersect. You’ll be successful in this role if you enjoy turning messy or incomplete data into structured insight, and if you can work with senior stakeholders to shape thinking on what comes next for organisations and their people.

You’ll likely thrive here if you:

• Enjoy making sense of workforce, organisational, or capability-related questions in large, complex industries
• Are comfortable engaging with senior stakeholders and translating technical or analytical findings into clear, accessible narratives
• Can move between detail (data, frameworks, analysis) and big-picture storytelling (strategy, implications, foresight)
• Are motivated by work that has real-world impact at industry level rather than within a single organisation
• See this as an opportunity to deepen your expertise in workforce transformation, telecoms, and future-of-work strategy

This role will also give you exposure to global operators, leading industry voices, and cross-sector comparisons, offering a strong platform to further develop your experience in strategic research, thought leadership, and workforce transformation.

About your Skills

We are looking for a combination of analytical, research, and communication capabilities rather than a fixed set of credentials.

You will likely be comfortable working with both qualitative and quantitative information, interpreting survey data, synthesising interview insights, and drawing out meaningful patterns across diverse sources.

You will be able to:

• Structure and interpret complex information to identify themes, trends, and implications
• Work with data (including workforce or skills-related datasets) to support evidence-based conclusions
• Communicate insights clearly in written and visual formats tailored to senior audiences
• Collaborate with multiple stakeholders and integrate different perspectives into coherent outputs
• Apply structured thinking to emerging topics such as AI-driven workforce change and organisational transformation

Experience in telecoms, technology strategy, workforce planning, consulting, or research is helpful but not essential. More important is your ability to learn quickly, adapt your thinking to a new industry context, and contribute meaningfully to a high-profile, evolving research agenda.

We strive to offer a meaningful and inclusive application experience for all candidates. Should you require any accommodations or adjustments due to a disability or for any other reason during the hiring process, please contact [email protected] with your request.

Contract type

Worker type

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.

To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.

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.