View Vacancy - International Climate Finance Officer

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Economic and Prosperity

The International Climate Finance (ICF) fund is a £5.8bn portfolio of activity (covering the period 2016-21) which includes innovative private sector pilot projects and innovative financial approaches to shift conditions and perceptions of risk in investments in low carbon activities (especially renewable energy and energy efficiency) in developing countries.  This includes helping developing countries turn their National Determined Contributions (NDCs, as agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2016) into meaningful policy frameworks and investable plans that provide a credible pipeline of projects for investors.

The UK Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has £2bn of international climate finance to support mitigation activities. We are developing some new flagship programmes to support NDC implementation, including:

a)     A new technical assistance (TA) facility to build climate-related capability in some developing countries, so that they can develop sustainably – with the aim to help them meet and beat their climate commitments.

b)    A new Sustainable Infrastructure Programme to support some emerging economies to bring their National Infrastructure Plans in line with their NDCs.

If approved, both programmes could be delivered in Mexico.

BEIS Ministers have said they want to build deep relationships with strategic climate partners, taking a country view of our UK climate finance and related climate programming, tailoring our programmes to country needs, and building an ambitious plan for joint climate action in that country. The UK is looking to deepen its relationship with Mexico on climate, bringing to bear our skills and expertise from decades of low carbon leadership to support Mexico to deliver its NDC.

This new position is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of a growing area of UK – Mexico collaboration. The post holder will be required to develop a vision for how to grow the UK-Mexico climate relationship, and will provide oversight of relevant climate finance programming, working closely with BEIS International Climate Finance team in London. In Mexico this role will report to Head of the Climate, Energy & Future Cities policy team but with strong links across the wider Global Issues sections, and to the Programme and DIT teams.

Roles and responsibilities:

1. Scoping (30%)

  • Support the Head of Climate, Energy and Future Cities Policy to scope and develop deeper climate collaboration with Mexico, fostering relationships across the Government of Mexico at federal, state and local level.
  • Identify, analyse and timely flag policy, technological and commercial developments and risks that could influence the delivery of UK-Mexico climate collaboration.
  • Lead on the preparation and coordination of high-level BEIS missions to Mexico, identifying opportunities for relevant dialogues to support the development and delivery of programmes.
  • Lead on briefings, presentations and other reporting to BEIS team in London to inform the development of relevant opportunities.
  • Manage small-scale evidence, knowledge and capacity contracts to build momentum in the run up to Presidential Elections in Mexico, coordinating discussions between UK stakeholders (BEIS regional leads, UK programme management team and UK Delivery Partners) and Mexican partners.
  • Be able to provide evidence-based recommendations on collaboration opportunities to senior management at the Embassy and in London.

2. Stakeholder management (25%)

  • Proactively develop, manage and strengthen the Embassy’s network of UK – Mexico climate and green finance contacts at all levels of seniority and in all sectors, to identify capacity building and policy influencing opportunities for the ICF programmes.
  • Prompt strategic, regular communications with key stakeholders in the UK, Mexico and other target countries in Latin America to facilitate best practice sharing where appropriate.
  • Publicly represent the Embassy and UK government as a credible interlocutor in climate related engagements as necessary.
  • Follow up on agreements and initiatives derived from the development of ICF programmes.

3. Programmes (25%)

  • Support the development of new ICF programmes (specifically SIP, Transformational Technical Assistance, Cities and Forest programmes), and provide oversight of existing ICF programmes as needed, ensuring UK visibility, coherence and complementarity with other UK government programmes (including, but not limited to Prosperity Fund and Newton Fund).
  • Ensure coordination between UK climate programmes and initiatives supported by other donor agencies, identifying opportunities for multilateral cooperation where possible.
  • Proactively seek for cross-section collaboration opportunities amongst Embassy teams to continue supporting a mainstreamed approach to climate change in bilateral programmes.

4. Administration (10%)

  • The job holder will be expected to manage his or her own administrative tasks and support the wider team on administrative tasks as and when required.

5. Corporate (10%)

  • Play an active part in the corporate life of the Embassy (including if necessary as a member of Embassy Committees) to maximise the overall well-being of staff.
  • Graduated from Climate Science, Public Policy, International Development or related courses with at least 5 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 Mexican climate change policy and institutional framework.
  • Be a flexible and creative problem-solver, able to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems, and coordinate coherent and compelling programmes and projects.
  • Fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish.
  • Project/Programme management experience, preferably with international stakeholders.
  • Experience providing administrative and logistical support.
  • Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to adjust to different audiences.
  • Excellent presentation skills.
  • Ability to work well and have a flexible approach to work whilst under pressure.
  • Team player, driven by values.
  • Relevant post-graduate course;
  • Candidates with prior work experience in International Multinational programmes will be considered as a plus;
  • Knowledge of financial sector;
  • Knowledge of infrastructure sector;
  • Knowledge of UK climate and energy policy, technology and commercial capabilities.
24 October 2017
Fixed Term
38
12 months
Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean
Mexico
Mexico City
British Embassy
1
MXN
41,670.00
21 November 2017
20 November 2018
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This opportunity is closed to applications.