View Vacancy - Skills for Prosperity Programme Manager (37/18 PTA) - Failed Campaign

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Economic and Prosperity

Main purpose of job:

This is a great opportunity to deliver a key component of the £1.2bn cross-government Prosperity Fund. New and innovative, the Fund represents a step change in the UK Government’s (HMG) approach to promoting economic development and prosperity overseas.

Your job will be to help define and implement a circa £5-7m multi-year Prosperity Fund programme supporting the development of Higher Education (HE) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in South Africa, which:

  • Reduces poverty and stimulates inclusive, sustainable economic growth
  • Addresses skills gaps and opens new markets for international businesses, including UK companies
  • Is aligned with equivalent UK programmes in other middle-income ODA-eligible countries
  • Is coherent with wider High Commission/HMG efforts to build education links with the UK
  • Has impact in South Africa and is good value for money

Roles and responsibilities:

The cross-government Prosperity Fund (PF) was established under the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) with the primary aim of supporting growth in recipient countries and thereby reducing poverty. As such, it represents a key component of the prosperity pillar of the UK Aid Strategy. But the Fund uniquely focuses on promoting growth in ODA-eligible middle income countries, which are home to nearly 70% of the world’s poor and where the development challenges remain significant, but at the same time are important business partners and drivers of prosperity. By delivering high impact, strategic multi-year programmes, across high opportunity countries, regions and sectors, the Fund will help create opportunities for international business, including UK companies. As the UK leaves the EU, an even more outward-looking global Britain investing and trading with the fastest growing markets will become increasingly important.

Around 25 multi-year programmes have so far been endorsed by the Ministerial Board. These cover trade, anti-corruption, infrastructure, business environment, health, future cities, education, financial services, energy and outward investment. For more information, see the Prosperity Fund Annual Report 2016/17.

As part of this, we plan to invest in a circa £5-7m Prosperity Fund programme in South Africa on TVET development, which is a priority sector for Ministers.

You’ll need to be mindful of interest at the very top of UK Government in this agenda; the permeation of skills agenda throughout all areas of economic development work; and the need to collaborate with a network of UK Government departments here working on this area to understand the broader offer and ensure we’re able to articulate that within this conversation with South Africa.

Your job is to help design and implement that programme, which will run until 2021. Broadly speaking this will take place in three stages:

Stage I: TransitionWe expect this stage to last until December 2018.

  • Help finalise a global Business Case and input into the programme’s design
  • Provide strategic advice to design and oversee small-scale transition activity
  • Contribute to a London-led procurement exercise to contract lead global implementers, highlighting any local risks or issues
  • Build a strong network for the High Commission amongst education stakeholders in Government, civil society and business
  • Develop strong relations with education leads in London and other priority Prosperity Fund countries
  • Use this network and knowledge to refine a cross-cutting High Commission Education Strategy into which the Prosperity Fund programme will feed

 

Stage II: InceptionWe expect this stage to last until June 2019.

  • Connect the global programme implementers with the right organisations in South Africa and robustly represent cross HMG interests
  • Ensure that the programme is de-conflicted with other UK Government and donor work in South Africa
  • Secure UK credit in working up the programme details with beneficiaries.

Stage III: ImplementationWe expect this stage to last until March 2021.

  • Ensure that the programme is run effectively and that risks are mitigated appropriately
  • Monitoring: sign off delivery partner milestones and report to central programme team
  • Continue de-conflicting the programme with other UK-funded work in South Africa
  • Ensure that the UK gets due credit for successes, and that South Africa’s contribution to the overall programme’s annual reviews has impact
  • Deploy High Commission’s diplomatic levers to support the programme’s primary aim of reducing poverty
  • Deploy High Commission’s commercial levers to support the programme’s secondary aim of opening new markets

 

In all Stages, you will need to:

ODA (Official Developent Assistance) activity - 90% of role:

  • Ensure the South African programme complies with the International Development Act, including the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014; meets the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)’s criteria; is untied; meets UK government transparency commitments on ODA spend; and complies with HMG audit requirements.
  • Identify and manage risks to successful programme implementation.
  • Keep abreast of education policy developments in South Africa and the UK, using this knowledge to spot opportunities for programme interventions which support better education in South Africa.
  • Support gender equality act compliance and support PF’s policy and guidance on gender equality, women’s economic empowerment and inclusive growth.
  • Build links across the High Commission and participate in Cross-Government initiatives consisting of programme, policy and commercial colleagues in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town. 
  • Deepen the High Commission’s education engagement in South Africa’s TVET sector (this will involve regional travel around South Africa).
  • Maintain a strong network with your colleagues in the UK, and counterparts in Africa and other priority Prosperity Fund countries, adapting the programme on the basis of lessons learnt (this may involve international travel).

Non-ODA activity – 5% of role:

  • Support the wider Prosperity team, and take on High Commission corporate roles.

 Corporate activity – 5% of role:

  • Oversee a small non-ODA fund to build UK/South Africa trade/investment links in education.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

  • Small-scale transition projects in 2018
  • Programme manager for large-scale multi-year contracts from 2019-21 (circa £5-7m)

We are looking for a proactive, creative self-starter who can prioritise to operate in a fast-paced environment, largely unsupervised, delivering to deadlines.  S/he will need excellent interpersonal and communications skills to build strong relations within the High Commission; in South Africa; and with stakeholders in the UK. 

  • Graduate with a university degree
  • Knowledge of the education sector in South Africa from having worked in the public/private sectors
  • Passion for education and a desire to improve education in South Africa
  • Experience in developing policy advice/analysis and delivering successful programmes
  • Minimum 5 years experience in programme management, ideally in a development context
  • A strong understanding of gender issues
  • Computer literate, working with Microsoft Windows and able to manage information effectively with available computer systems
  • Experience of managing budgets

24 September 2018
Higher Executive Officer (HEO)
Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
Africa
South Africa
Pretoria
British High Commission
R 38,398.77
1 November 2018

Learning and development opportunities

We place a strong emphasis on learning and development. You will be encouraged to undertake developmental training and get involved in corporate activities. 

This role provides an excellent opportunity to build up programme knowledge and expertise and gain exposure to working across government. 

You will have access to existing and new Project & Programme Management L&D as well as wider job-relevant L&D and support for your own personal development. You may have the opportunity to participate in annual reviews to assess the performance of PF programmes. The High Commission has a strong L&D offer (including L&D Weeks and the possibility of securing funds for personal L&D). 



  • The British High Commission pays in full for the Key Care Plus option on Discovery Health for staff including spouses/partners and dependants.
  • Once you have successfully completed your probation the British High Commission will contribute 9% of your monthly salary to a Provident Fund.
  • Annual leave entitlement of 25 day

This is a 12 month fixed contract, with a possibility of renewal

  • Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.
  • Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.
  • The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.
  • Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Pretoria are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in South Africa.
  • All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. 
  • The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to;
  1. Obtain the relevant permit
  2. Pay fees for the permit
  3. Make arrangements to relocate
  4. Meet the costs to relocation 
  • The British High Commission do not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so. 
  • Employees who are not eligible to pay local income tax: e.g. certain third-country nationals and spouses/partners of UK diplomats will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.
  • Information about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Competency Framework can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-competency-framework Please note:  AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5
  • Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.
  • Please log into your profile on the application system on a regular basis to review the status of your application.
  • We do encourage you to apply for your police clearance certificate at the time of your application
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This opportunity is closed to applications.