View Vacancy - Senior Programme Manager, UK-India Tech Partnership, UK Trade Economics and Prosperity, New Delhi

Main purpose of the job:

This role will put you at the heart of the UK’s bilateral relationship with India, the fastest growing G7 economy, on a topic that is a top priority for the British High Commission (BHC). You will be a critical part of the team turning the vision of Prime Ministers Modi and May for a UK-India Tech Partnership into a reality that supports jobs, innovation and growth in both countries. This large, broad, coordinated technology partnership is a world first, and your role will be vital to ensuring its success. You will be situated within an integrated operation called UK Trade, Economics and Prosperity (UKTEP) which brings together trade, investment, trade policy, economics, science and innovation, and the prosperity team, delivering together as a one HMG team for DIT, FCO, HM Treasury, BEIS and others.

The jobholder will support the Deputy Director for the UK-India Tech Partnership by leading programme management and driving delivery of varied and innovative projects under the new Tech Clusters (TCs).  This will be FCO’s main instrument for supporting tech market development in India. The TCs will link enable shared innovation and technology exchange; build on regional and sectoral strengths; address barriers that prevent technology exchange and innovation-led inclusive growth. 

The jobholder will be responsible for delivery of the Tech Clusters programme comprising several activities including the delivery and management of a new research grant scheme. The total budget of the team’s programme portfolio is expected to be in the order of £9m to 2022. It forms an exciting addition to the £1.2bn cross-government Prosperity Fund, which represents a step change in HMG’s approach to promoting economic development and prosperity overseas. As Senior Programme Manager, the jobholder will be responsible for linking the Tech Clusters programme and wider UK-India Tech Partnership with the FCO Prosperity Fund team based in the BHC, New Delhi. This will involve ensuring best practice is observed, and that there is consistent reporting, programme and financial management standards across the TCs and FCO Prosperity Fund portfolio in India.

This is an exciting new post, based in New Delhi. In this role, you will oversee the work of two TCs Regional Programme Managers, based in Karnataka and Maharashtra, who will coordinate delivery of the pilot TCs projects in these regions. In doing so, you will be responsible for aligning delivery and avoiding duplication across the TCs programme’s regional and central locations. You will also be expected to build strong relationships with stakeholders across the Tech Partnership, as well as facilitating collaborations with tech teams across the UKTEP network, including FCO Prosperity Team, Trade Policy, Tech Sector, DFID and the Science and Innovation Network (SIN). 

The job will include:

• Coordination of programme management across the TCs and wider Tech Partnership.This includes driving overall delivery, ensuring there is coherence between the two pilot TCs in Karnataka and Maharashtra, and the TCs are aligned with the wider Tech Partnership projects (Tech Hubs, Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Catalyst, Tech Alliance, Future Manufacturing Centre, FinTech Rocketship Awards);
• Leading overall financial management and Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation and Learning (MREL) of the TCs programme.

• Responsibility for ensuring best practice is used for the programme and financial management of both TCs, and for ensuring the overall programme is in line with Prosperity Fund standards and guidelines
• Linking the TCs programme with the wider portfolio of the Prosperity Fund Team, based in Delhi, and reporting to India Prosperity Fund Board
• Leading communication of progress and impact of the two TCs  to internal and external stakeholders in UK and India;
• Supporting the broader UK effort on technology and innovation in India through consistent collaboration across the UKTEP, including building appropriate links with other policy areas (e.g. electric mobility, data, digital).

As Senior Programme Manager, you will oversee the work of two C4 Regional Programme Managers based in the TCs in Bangalore and Pune. You will require strong interpersonal skills to engage and motivate colleagues and a wider virtual team across the network.

Roles and responsibilities:

This is an exciting new post, based in Delhi, working closely with the TP Deputy Director and Deputy Head. Within this relationship there is a high degree of responsibility and the opportunity to shape the development of the TCPs in India.

Prosperity Fund

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.

UK-India Tech Partnership

In 2018 Prime Ministers May and Modi announced the formal creation of the India-UK Tech Partnership. The partnership is designed to bring together some of the best minds working in tech to unlock its future potential and deliver high-skilled jobs and economic growth in both countries. The Tech Partnership will:

• present the UK and India as global thought leaders on tech
• pair businesses, universities and others from different regions in the UK with States in India
• focus on fast growing sectors including: cyber security, AI/data, future mobility, digital manufacturing and  healthcare
• provide access routes for British and Indian entrepreneurs and SMEs to each other’s markets
• encourage broader innovation and productivity by helping businesses in the UK and India to develop mentoring relationships, collaborate and exchange staff

Programme management

The Senior Programme Manager is responsible for effective co-ordination of the overall TCs programme including oversight of any risks and issues arising across the two pilot TCs.

• Ensure delivery of the TCs is consistent with FCO Prosperity Fund programmes delivered across the UKTEP network. This will involve consistent collaboration with the Prosperity Fund Team based in Delhi, reporting on progress in the TCs to the India Prosperity Fund Board, and working with the TP Deputy Director and Deputy Head to ensure that reports to the central Prosperity Fund Portfolio Board in the UK is timely, accurate and in line with their standard.

• Ensure that programme delivery across the two TCs is in line with UK principles, standards and guidance – ensuring all compliance activities are undertaken. This includes leading Due Diligence Assessments, ensuring Value for Money is demonstrated across the programme, and making sure implementation of the TCs programme is in line with FCO systems and processes and the UK-India Tech Partnership Programme business case.  

• Working with policy leads provide quality assurance to ensure the delivery of new products or services from projects is to the required standard, on time and within budget, in accordance with the programme plan and programme governance arrangements.

• Working with the Procurement Group, to ensure timely and well managed procurement of services to deliver across the TCPs pogrammes in line with FCO systems and guidance.
• Working with policy leads, the TP Deputy Director, TP Deputy Head and Regional Programme Managers, ensure high quality stakeholder management and communications with all delivery partners to drive delivery and ensure appropriate flow of information and advice.
• Working with the TP Deputy Head, two Cluster Team Leaders, Regional Programme Managers and policy leads, to manage risks including by maintaining an up-to-date risk register and timeline, and developing strategies for risk mitigation.
• Lead coordination of Monitoring, Reporting, Evalution and Learning (MREL) functions for the TCs programmes, working with the UKTEP MREL specialist and with independent MREL service providers
• Ensure that data is passed efficiently between internal and external partners, and is inputted effectively to the MREL tool Prospero.
• Ensure that learning is fed back into the TCs programme to inform course correction and adaptive programming, and outcomes are properly captured.  
• Oversee regular reviews of partner reporting, in co-ordination with Policy Leads and Regional Programme Managers.
• Critically appraise progress, troubleshooting programme issues and escalating delivery risks as appropriate.
• Lead the production of annual reviews and project completion reviews for the TCs to quality standards and agreed deadline.

Financial Management

• Working closely with the Prosperity Fund Portfolio team, manage the TCs overall budget on behalf of the SRO, monitoring expenditure and costs against delivered and realised benefits as the programme progresses.

• Ensure timely and accurate allocation and forecasting across the two pilot TCs budgets and financial management in line with FCO PPM (Programme and Project Management) benchmarks and quality standards. 

• Ensure that the whole TCs team is consistently practicing sound financial management using appropriate tools and practices.
• Ensure that key delivery partners are meeting expected standards on delivering Value for Money.

Communication

• Working with the TP Deputy Head and Regional Programme Managers, lead coordination of proactive progress reporting on programme progress, emerging risks and lessons learned, for the SRO, Tech Clusters Project Board as well as other key Programme Boards and Teams in the BHC and in London.
• Deliver proactive and timely communication of results to internal customers and external stakeholders, including drafting impact stories and other communications products matched to audience, diplomatic telegrams, letters etc.

Management

• The candidate will be responsible for overall management and delivery of the TCs programme, including oversight of the work of two C4 Regional Programme Managers
• As the overall lead on TCs programme management, they will be responsible for co-ordinating inputs from a range of people across the TP network as well as other government departments in India and the UK

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 

Overall responsibility for 9 million GBP FCO Prosperity Fund Tech Partnership programme between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Oversight of 2xC4 Regional Programme Managers based in Bangalore and Pune.

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

Other skills / experience / qualifications: 

Essential on arrival:

• Post-graduate degree in relevant subject;
• At least ten years of experience of programme and financial management of large programmes including in the international development field.
• Experience of working with third party delivery partners.
• Ability to work autonomously and proactively