View Vacancy - CPK - Head of Prosperity Fund Central Team, C5(L)

We are looking for a confident, ambitious self-starter to head up the Prosperity Fund Central Team, which plays a   key coordination, management and oversight function across the seven multi-million pound programmes that together make up the new £140 million China Prosperity Fund Portfolio.  The programmes will cover Infrastructure, Rule of Law for Business, Energy and Low Carbon, Financial Services, Health, Skills and Future Cities.  The Prosperity Fund portfolio is funded primarily through the UK ODA (Official Development Assistance) budget (Aid money).  Its primary purpose is therefore to support China and other developing countries’ inclusive economic development and poverty alleviation.  At the same time, the Prosperity Fund portfolio also looks to improve market access and identify commercial opportunities for foreign business, including from the UK. 

The successful candidate will be responsible for the day to day operation of the Central Team, made up of nine staff, responsible for project and programme approval, assurance, audit, finance, communications, MREL (monitoring, reporting, evaluation and learning), staffing, learning & development.  You’ll be working closely with the Prosperity Fund Counsellor and his deputy on portfolio management and wider strategy, and the programme teams who are responsible for the design and delivery of each of the seven programmes.  You’ll be well supported but will have a large degree of responsibility, flexibility and autonomy. People will look to you to be the key decision-maker on a wider range of often complex issues.  Essentially you will be the Chief Operating Officer for the portfolio.

Oversight of Prosperity Fund Central Team

Whilst each of the seven programme teams leads on the design and delivery of their programmes, the central team coordinates between them, making sure everything is done on time, on budget and in line with the overarching policy and legal principles that underpin the Prosperity Fund.  The successful candidate will provide oversight, guidance and direction and decision-making across a broad range of project and programme approval, assurance, finance, communications, MREL (monitoring, reporting, evaluation and learning), staffing, and learning & development issues. 

The China Prosperity Fund Portfolio is the largest single country programme across the Prosperity Fund – totalling £140 million, it represents over 10% of the total global budget.  As such, scrutiny will be high and audit and reporting requirements likely to be ongoing.  The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the portfolio is fit for purpose and all audit/compliance requirements are met.

The successful candidate will ensure that we are following best programme and project management  practice, taking firm decisions where needed; showing flexibility where appropriate.  A strong programme management background will be key, ideally development-focused, and an understanding of the China context will also be important.

Portfolio Management and Strategy

Much of the delivery of the programmes will be carried out by a broad range of external suppliers – private sector companies, consultancies, NGOs, think tanks, arm’s length bodies and potentially multilaterals such as the World Bank. Ensuring that such a complex portfolio runs smoothly, with synergies taken advantage of and duplication avoided, will be an important element of the job. We will be carrying out active portfolio management, looking to flex and reallocate funding between projects (within each programme) and also potentially across programmes so that the most successful ones can be supported and the least successful ones can be scaled back.  Ensuring that we have the up to date and authoritative evidence to inform those decisions will be a key elements of the job holder’s responsibility.

Staffing and Line Management

The Prosperity Fund team is currently 25 strong, and at full capacity will be around 33-35 strong.  Whilst the staff all report into the Prosperity Fund management chain, each programme team sits with their relevant policy teams. Coordinating between these team and fostering a sense of ‘one team’ will be an important element of the role.  We are facing strict limits on the number of staff that we can hire, so the successful job holder will also play an important role in maximising how we deploy existing resource, looking for savings where possible whilst being ready to push for additional staff where needed and justified.  The job holder will also play a role overseeing recruitment decisions and processes across the portfolio.

• Degree level qualificaqtion or equivalent
• Minimum of five years’ experience working on project and programme management, ideally Development related
• Experience of working with a range of external stakeholders including within UK and China government organisations
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to engage with China network teams
• Native English speaker or real fluency in English as this job will also require drafting and proof reading documents written by non-Native speaking colleagues.