View Vacancy - KL - UK PACT Officer, B3(L)

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Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
(BEIS) Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Main purpose of job:

Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing our world, and Malaysia is both vulnerable as an emerging economy, and a significant contributor to global greenhouse emissions, ranking as the 26th largest emitter in the world with significant emissions across sectors including energy.

As part of the UK Government’s global response to the climate challenge and its commitment to help deliver the aims of the 2016 Paris Agreement, the International Climate Finance (ICF) team in the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is responsible for up to £2bn of UK International Climate Finance. Within ICF, UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) is a technical assistance programme that has been established to support partner countries accelerate their clean growth transitions and reduce carbon emissions in line with their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Malaysia is a key partner for the UK in tackling climate change and has been identified as a key strategic partner for UK PACT which, in conjunction with existing UK and other donor programmes, could potentially play a transformative role in Malaysia supporting Malaysian institutions to deliver climate smart solutions in a range of areas, including within the climate action enabling environment, green finance and energy efficiency. 

This position is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of an evolving area of UK-Malaysia partnerships on climate change. The job holder will be responsible in supporting the delivery of up to £2.5m UK PACT technical assistance programme The job holder will be supporting engagement with key Malaysian and UK stakeholders, including government agencies, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, international representative bodies, leading think tanks, NGOs, academics as well as the programme’s delivery partners.

The jobholder will need to be comfortable working across multiple and evolving work streams over the programme lifecycle. Based at the British High Commission (BHC) in KL, this role will report to the Malaysia-UK PACT Lead who is part of a broader Climate and Energy policy team at post, and works closely with other colleagues working on global issues across the BHC, as well as liaise with other relevant BEIS and FCDO Departments, to ensure successful programme delivery.

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

Programme management: overseeing implementation, monitoring and reporting (50%)

  • Manage the successful implementation of UK PACT, including its country programmes, skill-shares and secondments, provide quality assurance, and ensure the delivery of activities to schedule and budget in close collaboration with programme delivery partners and BEIS London. This includes supporting public calls for bids for technical assistance project proposals, scoping demand for skill shares and secondments, check and develop activity based budgets, and check implementer expenses;
  • Monitor and evaluate project proposals when required, including ongoing financial and contractual management and monitoring of risks and significant outcomes. Take responsibility for participating in project evaluations, to provide feedback in assessing progress against project deliverables and policy impact;
  • Analyse market information in consultation with senior managers and policy leads to produce clear and accurate reports for Malaysia and UK use;
  • Support policy leads in overseeing quality projects which deliver high impact against programme criteria. Contracted delivery partners will be administering the implementation, management and monitoring of projects, however this role would be expected to provide oversight of this function which will involve close and productive working with delivery partners.
  • Provide support to other ICF programmes as needed, ensuring UK visibility, coherence and complementarity with other UK active programmes at the BHC (including, but not limited to Prosperity Fund, Newton Fund and the Science and Innovation Network)

To develop external and internal stakeholder relationships in support of the design and implementation of the Malaysia-UK PACT Programme (15%)

  • Manage and strengthen the High Commission's network of UK-Malaysia climate relationships to identify capacity building and policy influencing opportunities for the ICF clean growth programme portfolio. Engage with these contacts, as required;
  • Engage with potential Malaysian and foreign implementation partners, including government departments, research institutes, consultants, academia and NGOs both in Malaysia and the UK, at national and local levels, to engage the market towards building a clear picture of delivery requirements and capabilities;
  • Build and use an extensive network of contacts to promote positive relationships between internal and external stakeholders and ensure there are clear lines of communication that keep the Malaysia-UK PACT programme portfolio on track, on time and in line with UK PACT’s overall goals and ambitions;
  • Undertake occasional travel to engage with local stakeholders, as required, and potentially in the UK to support activities;     
  • Support cross-section collaboration amongst High Commission teams to continue developing a mainstreamed approach to climate change in bi-lateral programmes;
  • Ensure coordination between UK climate programmes and initiatives supported by donor agencies, identifying opportunities for multilateral cooperation where possible.

Supporting policy direction, programme development and outreach (15%)

  • Undertake regular analysis of Malaysia's NDC developments and government priorities, in order to help identify key opportunities for the Malaysia-UK PACT programme portfolio;
  • Support the High Commission's climate team in market analysis of key Malaysian and UK stakeholders to understand their priorities in order to feed into the development of the programme;
  • Provide communication support for the outreach and representation of the Malaysia-UK PACT programme portfolio. 

Administration (10%)

  • Support the preparation and coordination of high-level climate missions to Malaysia, identifying opportunities for relevant dialogues to support the development and delivery of programmes, as well as planning and supporting the planning and delivery of potential skill-sharing missions between the UK and Malaysia. 

Corporate (10%)

  • Play an active part in the corporate life of the High Commission (including if necessary as a member of any High Commission committees) to maximise the overall wellbeing of staff.

Essential on arrival:      

  • Graduated from environmental sciences, public policy, international development, international business/relations or related courses, and at least 2 years of experience on a related field/activity to this job description and able to demonstrate strong interpersonal, communication and relationship skills;
  • Solid knowledge of the Malaysian climate change/sustainable development policy and related institutional frameworks particularly in the areas of the climate action enabling environment, energy and green finance;
  • Experience in project and programme management including: designing new projects, setting specific outputs, outcomes and indicators, monitoring and evaluating of project expenditure, identifying risks and project outcomes
  • Proven track record in policy or business analysis, maintaining and building effective networks with influencing external stakeholders in both public and private sectors, including government departments, financial institutions, think tanks and NGOs
  • A team player. Strong interpersonal skills to engage with different High Commission sections, UK government stakeholders and contracted delivery partners and wider stakeholders
  • Ability to work well and have a flexible approach to work whilst under pressure. Fluent in spoken and written English.
  • Excellent IT skills, including Windows Office Excel, Word and Power Point
  • Relevant post-graduate course;
  • Experience of implementing cross-border climate change programmes;
  • Knowledge of UK climate and energy policy, technology and commercial capabilities.
  • Knowledge of the UK's Overseas Development Aid (ODA) guidelines and objectives, strong relationship building skills and flexibility to undertake a mix of routine and more challenging work.

Language requirements:

Fluent written and spoken English and Bahasa.

19 April 2021
Executive Officer (EO)
Full-time, Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
36.25
Asia Pacific
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
British High Commission
1
MYR
RM 6,500
14 June 2021
13 June 2022

The British High Commission offers a competitive remuneration package, benefits, leave entitlement of 20 days per annum (calculated on pro rata basis) and works hard to provide L&D opportunities to staff. There are a wide range of options available for personal development including training courses, coaching and mentoring, job-shadowing, presentations and learning sets. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the Diplomatic Academy and Civil Service Learning.  The jobholder will be required to take some specific training courses related to their role. All new staff undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses covering areas such as diversity, health and safety, and information management.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to developing its staff, working hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources and are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all the available opportunities. All new staff undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses covering areas such as diversity, health and safety, and information management.

  • Compulsory online training courses include diversity and inclusion.
  • Courses offered on UK government climate change and energy policy.
  • The British High Commission 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

Working patterns:

The British High Commission has a formal flexible working policy and welcomes requests for flexible working arrangements, including non-standard working hours, working remotely or compressed hours. Under usual circumstances, most team members work from home at least one day a week and hot-desking/virtual team working is encouraged.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, staff are actively encouraged to work from home to limit movement and exposure to others. This impacts normal team-working configurations and work-related travel, which will be discussed with the hiring manager.

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 may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.

Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

Indicated start date is provisional and subject to successful completion of reference and security checks.

Kindly check your application centre or email regularly for any update on the status of your application.

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This opportunity is closed to applications.