View Vacancy - Forest and Land-Use Professional

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.
Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Climate change, Environment & Sustainability

Main purpose of job:

To support the Forest and Land Use team and programmes of the United Kingdom International Climate Fund (ICF) in Colombia, mainly with administrative tasks towards an effective delivery of the forest portfolio. To work under the Forest & Land Use Team in the UK Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and collaborate closely with other relevant ICF and non-ICF teams in the Embassy and in London, to ensure the coherence of the forest and land use investments.
The ICF is a £5.8bn portfolio of Official Development Assistance (ODA) activity (covering the period 2016-21) which includes innovative private, public and non-government organizations sector pilot projects and innovative financial approaches to shift conditions and perceptions of risk in investments in low carbon activities in developing countries. This includes giving support to implement National Determined Contributions (NDCs, as agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015) through meaningful policy frameworks and investable plans that provide a credible pipeline of projects for investors.
BEIS has £2bn of international climate finance to support mitigation activities. The Forest and Land Use Portfolio develops different flagship programmes in Colombia to support its NDC implementation and deforestation reduction, including:
1.    REM-Amazon Vision: Colombian strategy that seeks to reach zero net deforestation in the Amazon through five pillars: environmental governance, the sustainability of the sectors of development, agri-environmental activities, indigenous governance and enabling conditions.
2.    Biocarbono Orinoquia (ISFL): promotes the reduction of greenhouse gases caused by the agricultural and forestry sector in developing countries, and the growth of best land use and sustainable agricultural policies and practices.
3.    Partnerships for Forests – P4F: an initiative that seeks to catalyse investments where the public and private sectors, civil society and local communities can achieve a shared profit of sustainable forest management and its derivative uses.
4.    Territorios Forestales Sostenibles – TEFOS: seeks to support the Colombian government in the implementation of the multipurpose cadastre, promote environmental rule of law and provide sustainable economic alternatives; aiming to reduce deforestation in conflict-affected areas.
5.    Sustainable livelihoods strand-UKPACT: provides strategic technical assistance to reduce greenhouse gases emissions while supporting activities that value standing forests (i.e. ecotourism, bioeconomy) and promotes climate smart practices through projects on cattle ranching and agroforestry.
6.    Other Forest and Land Use (F&LU) initiatives supported by UK in Colombia: UK works actively with Colombian stakeholders on initiatives involving Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), private sector, and subnational governments. These aims to promote better agricultural practices (i.e. Tropical Forest Alliance , FOLU ), high environmental integrity in carbon markets (i.e. VCMIi , LEAF ) and international pledges on forest conservation (i.e. Glasgow Leader’s Declaration on Forests and Land Use ).

This position is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of a growing area of UK-Colombia collaboration. The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting the Forest and Land Use Team in effective delivery of the programmes and strategic thinking for forward planning to continue to position the UK as a key partner in Colombia, and the forest agenda as a key political issue. The role will also support the International Climate Fund programming for Colombia to make a successful transition to a low carbon economy in line with its NDC, and engaging external stakeholders including UK and Colombian government agencies, private sector institutions, think tanks, academics and NGOs, among other relevant stakeholders.

The role will report to the Head of ICF Forest & Land Use Programmes, working closely with Political, Security, Economic, Prosperity and International Trade colleagues across the Embassy, as well as liaising with other relevant Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), BEIS and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sections, to ensure successful delivery of the UK-Colombia Partnership and whole ICF portfolio.

This position is advertised on a fixed-term basis until March 31 2024 . Subject to confirmation of future funding, it is expected that the position could be extended.

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

Forest & Land Use (95%)
•    To support the inside management, monitoring and reporting of the Forest and Land Use Portfolio.
•    To support the formulation of new project/programme proposals relating to the Forest and Land use portfolio.
•    To identify and support the coordination and articulation of internal UK funded projects and programmes with other internal or external initiatives. 
•    To support the writing and creation of strategic documents such as briefings, presentations and speeches for several high-ranking officials in the Embassy relating to the Forest and Land Use Portfolio.
•    To advise the Forest and Land Use Team on strategy concerning programmes, future pipeline, relations with stakeholders and other day-to-day decisions.
•    To manage operational tasks as required within the Forest and Land Use Team, and actively to participate in meetings and briefings of relevance to the role, presenting the portfolio to potential applicants and partners while managing expectations.
•    To ensure best value for money service within the Forest and Land Use Team activities, managing purchasing and budget procedures.
•    To manage Ministerial and official visits from the UK related to the Partnership and related climate events in Colombia. To plan and advise on visit agendas, coordinate with media colleagues, and support/lead specific events.
•    To manage the Forest and Land Use communications strategy to increase visibility of the portfolio, by leading on our communications both internal and external with our Economic, Climate and Science Team communications champion and press colleagues.
Management/Corporate (5%)
•    To play an active part in the corporate life of the Embassy, including where relevant as a member of Embassy committees to maximise the overall well-being of staff.
•    To carry out other tasks as required by Embassy senior management.
Resources managed (staff and expenditure):
•    Responsible for local management of F&LU budget for travel, events and other strategic engagement.  

Essential on arrival:

•    Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field, for instance, Engineering, Economy, International relations, Public Administration, Climate and Environment Science, etc., OR equivalent professional experience
•    Recent graduates are encourage to apply as this is a junior role. Also, it is well received to have one or two years of of experience working in a strong, collaborative team environment for an organisation in a relevant field, for example, working for/with national or regional government, international organisations or agencies, preferably in climate change
•    It is desirable but not mandatory to have a background and track record of success in project management, operational activities, administrative tasks and strategic communications
•    Experience and interest ideally in climate and environmental issues
•    Interest of managing diverse and senior level relationships
•    Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of people both orally and in writing; good judgement to inform decisions and provide advice
•    Ability to research, organise and analyse facts and data, and the ability to turn them into compelling presentations
•    Sound judgement and ability to determine work priorities, work methods and budget allocations
•    Fluent written and spoken English and Spanish (minimum level required C1 (under the CEFRL or equivalent)

Must have the legal status to work and reside in Colombia.

Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
5 December 2022
Administrative Officer (AO)
Full-time, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
35
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Colombia
Bogota
British Embassy
1
COP
$4,474,982
16 January 2023
31 March 2024

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):
•    Compulsory online training courses include Diversity and Inclusion. 
•    Courses offered on UK government climate change and programme management.
The British Embassy has an active L&D Committee and offers a wide range of in-house training and funding for external training on policy, programme work and leadership skills.

The jobholder must be prepared to undertake work-related national and occasional international travel, including for learning & development purposes.

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.

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.