International Climate Finance - UK Pact Officer - (09/24 PTA) at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Roles and responsibilities:

South Africa-UK PACT Projects and Skill-shares Delivery (70%)

• Lead UK PACT programme delivery on specific projects (most likely at provincial and municipal levels), including demand scoping for potential projects at provincial/municipal levels.
• Operational management of UK PACT skill-shares. This will include supporting the UK PACT Fund Lead in London and the UK PACT Delivery Partner to identify opportunities for skill-shares and support their delivery.
• Provide political insight (provincial and municipal levels) and advise the High Commission Board and senior management on opportunities to strengthen both UK visibility and advocacy and campaign priorities.
• Manage the South Africa-UK PACT databases, ensuring that data is meticulously stored and easily accessible.
• Maintain a programme risk register for work across all UK PACT programme components and manage or escalate risks accordingly. 
• Maintain a database of opportunities identified and the best UK PACT interventions for meeting demand (i.e. project, skills share or secondment).
• Speech writing for senior staff delivering speeches at South Africa-UK PACT related events.
• Manage the communications portfolio of South Africa-UK PACT, including identifying communications opportunities and co-designing these in collaboration with the UK PACT South Africa Country Lead and the Communications Team at the British High Commission.

Working jointly with the UK PACT South Africa Country Lead, the jobholder will:

• Support strategy development to assess where UK PACT technical assistance will have most impact, including through scoping with government counterparts, understanding the wider donor landscape and assessing what will bring about transformational change.
• Monitor and communicate on the overall impact of the South Africa-UK PACT programmes in South Africa.
• Maintain the relationship with the South Africa-UK PACT Fund Delivery Partner to monitor project and skill-shares delivery activities and progress.
• Establish good working relationships with project implementing partners and skill-shares experts and maintain a rhythm of engagement on project progress and activity development.
• Deliver ad hoc Climate Change policy research and reporting on specific policy and internal South African developments, with a lead focus on the energy sector.
• Deliver briefs for the six-weekly South Africa-UK PACT meetings with senior management as required.

Working closely with the (wider) ICF Programmes Lead (20%):

• Maintain a watching brief on wider ICF programmes including agility on data retrieval when necessary.
• Advise on read-across between South Africa-UK PACT and wider ICF programmes, including opportunities for combining programmatic resources for greater impactful project delivery.
• Collect and manage progress data for the delivery of ICF programmes in South Africa and report internally to the Programme Management Office (PMO) and other British High Commission returns. 

Corporate (10%)

• Lead on coordination of high-level Climate missions to South Africa, identifying opportunities for relevant dialogues to support the development of programmes, as well as supporting the planning and delivery of potential skill-sharing missions between the UK and South Africa
• Event design, management and delivery in support of both ICF and wider climate change campaign efforts in support of UK policy.
• Play an active part in the corporate life of the High Commission (including if necessary as a member of any High Commission Committees) to maximise the overall well-being of staff.

Resources managed:

• Joint oversight of the multi-million-pound wider South-Africa UK PACT Country Fund budget.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience 

• We are looking for a proactive self-starter, able to work well and have a flexible approach to work whilst under pressure. The person should have excellent interpersonal and communication skills to build strong relations within the High Commission and support engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in South Africa with the following:
• Master’s degree in Political Science, International Relations, International Development or the Social Sciences. A recognised Programme Management qualification/accreditation will be acceptable in place of a Master’s degree
• Minimum 5 years of project/programme management experience, including at least 2 years leading on project delivery
• The ability to demonstrate strong interpersonal, communication and relationship skills
• Be a flexible and creative problem-solver, able to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems, and coordinate coherent and compelling programmes and projects
• Strong organisation skills, with an ability to ensure tasks are completed to high quality to required deadlines.
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Experience providing administrative and logistical support
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to adjust to different audiences
• Excellent presentation skills
• Team player, driven by values

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience 

• Knowledge and understanding of South Africa’s climate change policy, its international commitments and institutional framework
• Prior knowledge of UK climate and energy policy, technology and commercial capabilities, and its global leadership in the subject matter

Required behaviours 

• Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together

Application deadline 

• 26 March 2024