View Vacancy - Head of Climate, CDMX

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Climate Diplomacy

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy in Mexico City is looking for a candidate to take on the role of Head of Climate. This is an exciting opportunity to support the work of our diplomatic network to tackle climate change, support sustainable economic development and build on the legacy of the UK’s COP26 Presidency.  The successful candidate will oversee the effective management of around £125m of International Climate Finance (ICF) programmes operating in Mexico requiring different levels and types of engagement for each programme. The jobholder will also lead on all development aspects of climate, environment, energy and biodiversity policy in the Embassy and regularly provide technical advice and inputs to a wide variety of domestic, regional and international policy and programmatic documents and discussions.

Roles and responsibilities:

 

Effectively supervise in-country implementation of the UK’s International Climate Finance Portfolio (40%):

-          Oversee the successful management of the UK PACT programme in Mexico by contributing to the annual strategy and work plan, liaising closely with London leads including on the next phase of the programme (2023-2025), and by providing technical inputs and recommendations on proposed investments;

-          Oversee the successful management of the Skill Shares programme in Mexico by supporting the programme lead to update the Mexico Skills Shares strategy and to set up a pipeline of new skillshares;

-          Monitor the UK’s forest programme portfolio in Mexico including LEAF, ISFL, VCMI and PMI and support the forests lead to deepen and upscale our forestry work through the design and implementation of a new UK-Mexico forests strategy;

-          Co-lead the refresh of other ICF programmes operating in Mexico including the NAMA Facility, NDCP, UCAP, UK SIP and CFA;

-          Lead on the re-establishment of a Climate Partnership between Mexico and the UK;

 

Lead on the UK’s climate, environment, energy and biodiversity strategy and policy work in Mexico (20%)

-          Combine and integrate ICF and climate, environment, energy and biodiversity policy priorities into a long-term vision and strategy for climate cooperation in Mexico that aligns with post COP26 Presidency priorities;

-          Empower policy leads in the creation and implementation of sectorial influencing strategies [climate policy, energy, forests and green finance];

-          Lead on the creation of a communications/impact strategy to increase visibility of portfolio with senior and public audiences, working closely with communications officer in the design, creation and dissemination of impactful communication products.

 

Contribute building the UK’s COP26 Presidency Legacy in Mexico, lobbying for the implementation of the Glasgow Pact (20%)

-          Oversee the design & implementation of country strategy post COP26;

-          Identify and advise on opportunities to drive implementation of climate pledges with strategic partners to meet or improve on existing targets;

-          Lead on engagement with Mexican partners in the run up to 2025 global stocktake and COP28 priorities, including on loss and damage and finance;

-          Support the COP26 manager and coordinator to transition the COP Taskforce into a new cross Embassy Energy, Climate and Environment Virtual Team.

 

Management of 3x ICF and 4x policy staff members (15%)

-          Support 3 new colleagues to settle into their roles and develop stretching objectives while formulating personal development plans;

-          Lead them into strong performance as a unified team through sharing common targets and regular team building activities;

-          Carry out performance management as per best practice and FCDO standards.

Corporate Contribution (5%): Help make the Embassy a great place to work

-          Fulfil agreed role on Embassy Crisis Committee;

-          Contribute to the Embassy’s wider corporate agenda and values by being an active member in one of our committees, working groups or taskforces.

 

 


  • Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field (Climate, Energy or Environmental Science, Political Science, Economics, International Relations, etc.)
  • A minimum of 10+ years of experience working for an organisation in a relevant field, for example, working for/with national or local governments, international organisations or agencies, preferably in climate, energy and environment.
  • High-level advocacy and policy engagement experience, with ability positively to engage senior political and policy thinkers on climate change issues and gain commitment for action.
  • Ability to manage a varied and complex workload to deliver high quality outcomes, prioritising work to meet tight deadlines.
  • A team player, who is able to bring others with them and to work with a diverse range of colleagues and external contacts (e.g., government, academic, civil society and business groups) to build consensus on common action.
  • Experience working in an international context with multicultural environments.
  • Strong working knowledge of IT including Microsoft Office applications (Teams, Word, Excel and Outlook).
  • Master’s degree is a relevant field (Climate, Energy or Environmental Science, Political Science, Economics, International Relations, etc.)
  • Project management experience or qualification
  • Experience working for the UK or other governments in a policy role
  • Experience leading regional projects
Seeing the Big Picture, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
2 April 2023
Grade 7 (G7)
Full-time, Long Term Contract
38
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Mexico
Mexico City
British Embassy
1
MXN
$ 101,502.00MXN
15 May 2023
31 March 2025
Candidates must be able to live and work in Mexico in their own right. The successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance and professional reference checks. Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’.  If during the reserve period of 6-12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

The Embassy aims to offer an attractive working environment and remuneration package for this role, which includes 16 days of leave for staff their first year of service and, 25 days for staff with 1-5 years’ service and 30 days for staff with more than 5 years’ service (calculated pro-rata).

This is a full-time contract until 31 March 2025 based in Mexico City.

There are no other allowances payable as part of this package. No accommodation and relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. The Embassy cannot offer Visa sponsorship for this position; applicants must hold a valid work permit before applying.

The Embassy’s working hours are 8:00 to 16:30 from Monday to Thursday and 8:00 to 14:30 on Friday. Conditioned working hours are 38 hours per week (including breaks).

The jobholder will be required to do some travel across the region.

The British Embassy Network offers a strong benefits package. This package includes generous vacation and leave time, flexible working patterns, and enriching learning and development opportunities. All staff at the British Embassy and its Consulates in Mexico are expected to work towards the UK mission statement of Building a UK/Mexico partnership, which makes the world and us more prosperous and secure, and to embody the Embassy’s agreed values of Honesty, Respect, Inclusion and Professionalism.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

This opportunity is closed to applications.