View Vacancy – MNL – UK PACT Programme Manager, HEO

The British Embassy Manila is a large diplomatic mission delivering a dynamic and rapidly expanding programme of activity in support of the UK’s objectives on prosperity, security and consular matters. The Embassy is a modern, diverse and inclusive employer where everyone contributes to the embassy’s values of Well-being, Opportunity, Respect and Collaboration.

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy  Manila (BEM) is working closely with a broad range of partners across the country and the region to strengthen international collaboration on the major practical challenges of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental degradation. 

The BEM is looking for a Programme Manager for the United Kingdom’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transition (UK PACT) initiative. UK PACT supports countries to overcome barriers to clean growth while accelerating their climate change mitigation efforts.  The UK PACT Programme has recently expanded its country portfolio to include the Philippines. 

This is an exciting opportunity to support the work of our diplomatic network to tackle climate change, strengthen sustainable economic development and work with a broad range of climate stakeholders. The successful candidate will lead on a dynamic mix of climate policy and programming including the UK PACT Strategy, and effective management of a portfolio of diverse climate projects.

The successful candidate will be instrumental in setting up the new Fund, relationship building and establishing new ways of working with the UK PACT delivery partner in the Philippines, as well as working closely with the central UK PACT Team in London. The jobholder will be well-positioned to identify and pursue climate opportunities and to shape the bilateral climate agenda with national and subnational agencies.  

The Philippines and UK are working in partnership to tackle climate change as demonstrated in the Annual Climate Change and Environment Dialogue, including a wide array of support provided in the areas of climate adaptation and resilience, energy transition, climate finance, blue economy, nature-based solutions, and loss and damage, among others.
  
This new position, based in the BEM, will lead on the scoping of a new multi-sector, multi-year, UK PACT country fund in the Philippines. This will include:  developing an overarching strategy for the programme and how this will further the UK-Philippines climate relationship; designing a programme to best suit the Philippine context while ensuring a coherent portfolio with transformational impact, and; in-depth scoping  on areas of focus for the country fund, requiring robust Government and wider stakeholder engagement.  

The development of strong relationships with Government and stakeholders, and maintaining engagement throughout the scoping and delivery phase of all UK PACT activities in-country, will be a key area of the role. The selected candidate will be working in close partnership with the programme in-country delivery partner, who is responsible for overseeing and managing project implementing partners. For the expert deployment component of the programme, the role-holder may also be expected to promote, design and implement deployments, dependent on demand from the partner Government.  

This role will work closely with the Economic and Climate team at the BEM but will require frequent cross-team working with colleagues across the Philippines Network within the Embassy and with colleagues in the UK – including but not limited to the UK PACT Philippines Fund Lead. The post holder will be expected to develop strong links with other colleagues working on global issues, including Green Finance, Urban Cities, Nature Based Solutions and Energy teams.  

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Philippines-UK PACT Scoping and Strategy Development (45% initially, we expect this to change as the Fund moves through the project delivery cycle)

• Work with the support of Embassy and FCDO UK PACT London team to develop a clear understanding of the climate change landscape in the Philippines. This should include mapping existing climate activities funded by the UK and other donors, understanding partner country demand, and setting out the political, economic, and social context the programme will be operating in. An understanding of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) issues in-country and how they interact with climate will form a significant part of any scoping or strategy work;
• Leverage the expertise of the UK PACT Programme Delivery Partner to manage and coo-ordinate a deep dive on the key country priorities, gaps and challenges, and solutions to advance green finance, nature-based solutions, and clean energy. Ultimately this should support the identification of interventions through which UK PACT could support emissions reduction (de-conflicting with existing programme work), leading to a multisector Philippines-UK PACT country fund portfolio, with transformational impact;
• With the support of the wider BEM climate team, identify, analyse, and flag policy, technological and commercial developments and risks that could influence the delivery of the Philippines-UK climate collaboration;
• Input on briefings, presentations and other reporting to the UK PACT team in London to inform the development and management of relevant UK PACT opportunities, and;
• Provide evidence-based recommendations on collaboration opportunities to senior management at the BEM and in London.

UK PACT Stakeholder management (45% initially, we expect this to change as the Fund moves through the project delivery cycle)

• Engage with Government of the Philippines to scope, design and implement the programme. Manage relationships with them;
• Proactively support, develop, manage and strengthen the Embassy’s network of UK– Philippines climate contacts at all levels of seniority and in all sectors, to identify capacity building and policy influencing opportunities for UK PACT and wider climate change diplomacy and programmes;
• Support the Economic and Climate team to scope and develop deeper climate collaboration with the Philippines, at national and subnational level, fostering relationships across the Government of the Philippines;
• Prompt strategic and regular communications with key stakeholders in the UK, Philippines and other regional stakeholders to facilitate best practice sharing where appropriate;
• Publicly represent the BEM and the UK Government as a credible interlocutor in climate related engagements as necessary;
• Ensure coordination between UK climate programmes and initiatives supported by other donor agencies, identifying opportunities for multilateral cooperation where possible; and,
• Proactively seek cross-team collaboration opportunities amongst Embassy teams to continue supporting a mainstreamed approach to climate change in bilateral programmes.

Contribution to the Embassy’s corporate agenda (10%) 

• Involvement in the Green Team to implement the Embassy Green Action Plan; and,
• Participating in wider corporate agenda, including crisis work as necessary.

Others

The candidate will need to be flexible and resilient to changes in their role to respond to changing needs within the Mission, whether to cover particularly acute work periods (such as a humanitarian disaster) or support other teams during peaks in work.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 

Staff: None at present.  

Resources: No direct management but will be expected to ensure value-for-money and best practice compliance when scoping Philippines-UK PACT strategy and programme.   

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 and excellent interpersonal and communications skills to build strong relations within the British Embassy and UK teams and with a wide range of stakeholders in the Philippines. 

Candidates should demonstrate: 

• A university degree, preferably in Environmental Science, Climate, Public Policy, Economics, or a related course;
• An understanding of climate and environment issues and policies in the Philippines.
• A minimum of 5 years of work experience, ideally with Project/Programme management experience and international stakeholder engagement;
• Strong interpersonal, communication and relationship skills;
• Flexible and creative problem-solving skills, and the ability to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems, and coordinate coherent and compelling programmes and projects;
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Filipino;
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to adjust to different audiences;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Team working skills.

Language requirements: 

Language: English and Filipino

Level of language required: Fluent