View Vacancy - MNL - Prosperity Fund Global Future Cities Programme Manager (C4)

Background and main purpose of job:

The cross-UK Government Prosperity Fund (PF) was created in 2015 to promote economic growth in middle income countries and create opportunities for international business, including for UK companies. The fund has a budget of £1.2 billion over 6 years to provide support to partner countries in key reform areas such as the business environment, energy financial services, infrastructure and future cities, amongst others.

We are recruiting a Future Cities Programme Officer in each country to oversee, assess and monitor programme activity to ensure intended outcomes and impacts are achieved, and the programme continues to offer value for money.

The successful candidate will build relationships and work closely with delivery partners, the government of the Philippines, businesses, civil society, NGOs and other external stakeholders to ensure successful delivery of the programme. The successful applicant will work with the Head of Section at the UK Embassy in the Philippines and will coordinate with other posts in the region and government colleagues in the UK to achieve UK policy objectives and to ensure that the programme complies with OECD rules for ODA. An important aspect of the job will be working with both Foreign Commonwealth Office and Department of International Trade colleagues in the Philippines and in London to unlock the opportunities created by the programmes’ interventions for increased inward trade and investment, particularly for UK companies.

The post will be based at the UK Embassy in the Philippines, a vibrant, international organisation, committed to diversity and staff development, and also expected to work in Clark and Cebu cities.  

This is a challenging and exciting opportunity to play an influential role in a high-profile and strategic British development initiative in the Philippines, which aims to have a positive impact on economic development and trade, as well as strengthening the relationship between the UK and the Philippines.

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

We are looking for a pro-active, engaged individual with a passion for delivering development impacts. The job holder will have three main responsibilities: oversight of programme delivery, stakeholder engagement and coordination, prosperity and commercial leadership, policy delivery; and liaison with FCO and DIT colleagues at post and in London.

 Oversight of Programme Delivery (30%)

• Engage with delivery partners, proactively seeking opportunities to oversee in-country delivery of the programme’s components by delivery partners. Utilise strong insight into the impact of the programmes beyond delivery of activity and report this to the Head of Section at Post, overseeing the Prosperity Fund in the Philippines and coordinating with colleagues in London.
• Deploy excellent programme management skills to drive forward delivery of the programmes in-country, including: inputting into and critically assessing projects for effective risk management, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and learning; inputting into procurement processes, providing local expertise on the ground; overseeing delivery including resolution of issues and mitigating arising risks; managing local benefits realisation; and managing relationships with implementing partners.
• Co-ordinate with policy and programme officers in the Prosperity Fund at Post and wider network to drive consistency, deliver efficiencies and increase impact through realisation of synergies.
• Reach out to colleagues to understand UK policy aims in this space and work with policy leads at post and in the region to ensure programme activities remain aligned to these aims.

Stakeholder Engagement and Co-ordination (30%)

• Build and maintain relationships with the Philippines Government interlocutors responsible for programme priority areas to enable and enhance the implementation of the programmes and ensure continued buy-in – in collaboration with FCO policy leads.
• Work with and influence national and international partners at a senior level (e.g. other donors) to promote UK objectives (e.g. on the Rules Based International System (RUBIES) or implementation of the Paris Agreement) and improve our understanding of partners’ priorities.
• Work with all critical stakeholders to drive through lasting change on the back of programme activity, for example by promoting the programme’s work to relevant beneficiaries.
• Liaise with the Post policy and programme officers and regional networks (e.g. Climate Change and Energy, Economics and Trade) and communications colleagues to deliver effective communications of high-impact programme activities. 

Prosperity/Commercial (15%)

• Support the secondary prosperity benefits of the programme by identifying and promoting commercial opportunities in the Future Cities sphere (e.g. transport and infrastructure) to expand that market for international (including UK) trade and investment. Work closely with the Philippines Prosperity Network in the Embassy to ensure these programmes are fully coordinated with the other parts of the programme and relevant to Embassy work.

Policy Delivery (15%)

• Know and monitor the current business regulatory environment and development opportunities in the Future Cities sphere for  the Philippines , including opportunities for and barriers against the programmes objectives. Build relationships with key decision makers in the Philippine government, civil society and private sector in support of these programmes, including leveraging diplomatic and senior engagement to drive forward regulatory and policy shifts in support of prosperity objectives. Provide reporting on your analysis to government colleagues. Coordinate with others in the Embassy and relevant government departments in London. 
• Support policy and programme colleagues at Post to ensure a cohesive set of Post objectives and policy focus consistent with the Country Business Plan of the British Embassy Manila.

Cross Embassy/High Commission/Prosperity colleague’s liaison (10%)

• Collaborate with Department of International Trade colleagues and other relevant cross-government stakeholders in the region and in London to unlock opportunities for increased inward trade and investment, particularly for UK firms, and track UK response to the opportunities.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Staff: No direct line management is envisaged at this time. However team management and/or leadership experience is preferred given the job holder will be responsible for ensuring strategic direction of the programme as a whole which will involve leading and negotiating with others.
• Resources: The job holder will be responsible for managing the country’s share of the programme’s £80m.

• Fluent in written and spoken Filipino (Tagalog and English.
• Graduate with a university degree relevant to the job and at least 5 years of experience in a relevant field.
• Experience of delivering complex programmes
• Experience of managing delivery partners
• Understanding of ODA/International development
• Demonstrate expertise in relevant areas like urbanisation, infrastructure planning and city development.
• At least 5 years’ experience in programme management ideally in a development context.
• A flexible and creative problem-solver, able to come up with innovative solutions to complex challenges.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills including in giving presentations to external audiences.
• Team player driven by values.

This will be an ideal job for a flexible, motivated self-starter who has strong programme management and stakeholder engagement skills. A successful applicant would need to demonstrate a combination of urbanisation and economic development subject knowledge, with an ability to use self-directed study to learn further about these areas as the programme develops. Applicants will also need to show project management experience and strong communication skills to work in a team and influence others.