Jonathan Ledger’s professional journey is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and purpose-led leadership. Starting out in a hands-on role in the UK’s training and skills sector, Jonathan never imagined he would one day be shaping national workforce strategies across 79 countries or advising international governments on vocational reform. But his path, rich with pivots and persistence, has led him to become one of the UK’s most recognised figures in skills diplomacy.
Jonathan’s early career was forged in the practical realities of adult training. He worked at ground level, developing training programmes, assessing qualifications, and mentoring learners. These were formative years that taught him the value of frontline delivery, and the credibility it brings to system-level discussions later on.
In his mid-career, Jonathan stepped into management roles within training providers and sector bodies, eventually overseeing large-scale workforce programmes. He reflects that being made redundant early on forced him to re-evaluate his skills, embrace risk, and think beyond the traditional career ladder. It was this willingness to adapt that led him build on his experience in the international arena, first as a consultant, then as a leader of global skills partnerships.
Over the last two decades, Jonathan has developed a unique blend of policy fluency, strategic diplomacy, and operational delivery. As a result, he has supported governments in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Central and Latin America, and Eastern and Central Europe to design and implement national skills strategies, often linking them to wider trade, migration, or industrialisation plans.
Jonathan describes himself as a “builder of systems and relationships”, someone who looks beyond qualifications; someone who operates at the intersection of infrastructure, governance, and employer engagement to make skills ecosystems sustainable. He strongly believes in the UK’s ability to lead globally in TVET, not by preaching, but by partnering.
In 2017, frustrated by the fragmentation in the UK’s international skills offer, Jonathan focused on maximising the UK Skills Partnership (UKSP), working to reframe skills as a sovereign capability. He’s built a platform that gives visibility, structure, and shared purpose to UK skills organisations wanting to engage and achieve success internationally. It is now widely recognised by UK government departments such as Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and overseas governments as a trusted gateway to the UK skills ecosystem.
