View Vacancy - CPK - Programme Manager, Rule of Law for Business C4(L)

Promoting a more predictable legal environment is a priority for the Chinese Government. President Xi made ‘Rule of Law’ the focus of the 3rd and 4th plenums and has emphasised the importance of judicial reform in supporting China’s transition to a sustainable and prosperous economy.

In this Golden Era of UK-China relations, our countries are keen to expand our cooperation. Given the strength of the UK’s legal system, the reputation of our judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and legal services sector, the UK is well placed to work with China on this high-profile agenda.

The successful candidate will be taking on an exciting and challenging role at the centre of the newly launched UK Prosperity Programme in China. They will be central to designing and the delivering the envisaged £25 million Rule of Law for Business programme aimed at promoting rule of law in China to support China’s sustainable socio-economic growth while opening up opportunities for international business, including from the UK. Key areas of focus are expected to include reducing business risk and cost, raising standards, improving transparency and enhancing the enforcement and implementation of commercial law, thereby helping to improve the competitiveness of the Chinese economy.

The successful candidate will work as part of a small team made up of a D6(L) Programme Director and 2 x C4(L) Programme Managers (of which this is one), supported by a larger management team and working closely with the relevant policy teams in the Embassy. This role is expected to focus primarily on: Stakeholder management; Policy engagement; Monitoring and reporting impact; Communications; Programme and contract management (though this will be primarily led by other C4(L) programme manager in the team).

Although the focus on the programme is economic, the role requires a significant amount of political engagement and strategic alignment both within the Embassy, our wider China Network, and Whitehall Departments, but also with key UK and Chinese judicial, legal, and commercial stakeholders. As such, you will need to be comfortable meeting with and developing relationships with senior level contacts in both UK and Chinese organisations. Strong communication skills are essential.

Working in partnership with policy teams and project implementing partners, the successful applicant will work on a wide range of policy and legal issues. Ideally they will have existing knowledge of judicial reform and transparency, accountability and anti-corruption, and legal and regulatory reform, including market access, intellectual property and competition. A legal or trade policy background or recent experience of work in these areas is therefore needed.

This position is advertised on a fixed-term basis until 31 March 2019.

What will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

— Policy support for Rule of Law for Prosperity programme

• Working closely with policy teams at working level, help the Programme Director to analyse policy teams’ priorities and how best to incorporate them into the programme in order to ensure alignment;
• Contribute to the Terms of Reference for the multi-year Rule of Law for Prosperity programme and to subsequent mid-year and annual review process;
• Provide wider policy and programme support to the Programme Director, Programme (contract) Manager and policy teams.

— Develop and maintain strong external and internal stakeholder relationships in support of the design and implementation of the Rule of Law for Prosperity programme

• Develop and maintain external and internal stakeholder relationships in support of the design and implementation of the programme, including with UK and Chinese Government departments, judiciaries, agencies and institutions, major UK and Chinese businesses and industry groups, research institutes, academia, consultants, and other Embassy teams; 
• Work with suppliers and implementers to maintain effective relationships between all of the above key stakeholders;
• Ensure that all organisations are kept up to date and informed on developments within the programme.

— Support programme delivery and the management of suppliers and contracts: Help manage the successful day-to-day implementation of Prosperity Fund projects under the Rule of Law for Prosperity programme, including

• Supporting the team in designing and implementing quality projects which deliver high impact and value for money against prosperity criteria; 
• Supporting the procurement of external suppliers to implement various strands of the programme.

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant policy experience (such as law or trade policy);
• Experience working with external stakeholders in both commercial sectors and government institutions;
• Project or programme management experience;
• Sound working knowledge of basic software, including Word and Excel;
• Strong interpersonal skills;

• University graduate;

• Fluent in English and Chinese, both written and spoken.