Main purpose of job:

The British High Commission in Kingston is looking for an experienced, capable, and motivated Programme Officer. The post holder will work with advisory and other programme management colleagues but will have specific responsibilities for a violence prevention programme. We are working hard to create an open and flexible organisational culture where we value diversity, honest debate and collective leadership, making a positive corporate contribution to FCDO and across the UK government as well as delivering real development results for the people of the Caribbean. 

The purpose of this role is to ensure that FCDO’s programmes (primarily the Violence Prevention Programme) are managed in accordance with its policy and procedures. The Programme Officer is expected to provide high quality and timely programme management advice and implementation of tasks to enable effective and efficient programme delivery.   

The Programme Officer will be expected to work under the guidance of the Senior Programme Officer and with other programme management staff. The successful candidate will also be expected to support other teams and staff across the region, as and when this support is needed.

In this varied role, the successful candidate will contribute to policy discussions relevant to their programmes, represent FCDO in meetings with key partners, and respond to corporate returns. The Programme Officer will need to operate FCDO finance systems for managing programmes, accurately meeting forecasts, targets and deadlines.  

Roles and responsibilities:

Programme Management:

• Financial Management: You will be the first point of contact on financial matters and be expected to:
  • Request accurate monthly forecasting and explanation of variances from partners.
  • Scrutinise and challenge all invoices made by partners.
  • Ensure that payments are correctly and timely processed using FCDO systems.
  • Develop and maintain a good working relationships with implementing partners and/or suppliers, particularly finance and programme leads.
  • Actively assess/monitor and take action to prevent fraud and corruption.
  • Provide support on financial spot checks.
  • Request narrative and financial reports from implementing partners and ensure that deadlines are met.
  • Ensure Audit Reports are submitted and reviewed.
• Commercial Management. You will be the first point of contact on commercial matters and be expected to:
  • Draft formal agreements with partners such as Memoranda of Understanding, Contracts, and Accountable Grants.
  • Contribute to Due Diligence Assessments.  
  • Contribute to the design and delivery of new projects/programmes, including the development of Concept Notes, Business Cases and results frameworks.
  • Provide support on asset spot checks and manage asset registers.
• Programme Delivery. You will be expected to work flexibly across programmes within the team, including on the following issues:
  • Work with the Senior Programme Officer and the lead Adviser to maintain a risk matrix and delivery plan for projects/programmes and ensure that they are discussed/updated on a quarterly basis.
  • Attend regular field visits with partners, in order to effectively monitor programmes.
  • Actively assess/monitor and take action to prevent fraud and corruption.
  • Contribute to programme annual reviews particularly on Value for Money, Commercial and Risk sections.
  • Support Due Diligence Assessments and other compliance activities.

Policy input on programme areas:

• Provide support to lead Advisers on policy discussions and research.
• Network with counterparts in the Government of Jamaica, development agencies and civil society organisations to explain and support delivery of FCDO policies.  

Communications and Corporate compliance:

• Ensure all public facing documents for your programme responsibility are in line with FCDO’s transparency rules and guidelines and they are published accordingly.
• Support programme team on drafting corporate returns including Parliamentary Questions.

Administration:

• Ensure all documentation regarding key decisions on projects/programmes is up to date and backed up on Teams.
• Take a note of programme meetings and update programme work plans once a week/when needed.
• Organising external meetings and programme boards, circulating papers and taking minutes where appropriate.
• Organising internal meetings as required.
• Lead on or support planning and logistics for visits.

• Bachelor’s Degree (Business Administration, Finance, Project Management, Public Administration or other relevant field) with at least three years project delivery experience.
• Ability to organise and prioritise own work and deal with a number of matters simultaneously.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• Ability to take responsibility for quality of work, and to identify and resolve minor work problems.
• Able to work collaboratively, flexibly and adaptively including as part of a virtual team in a range of locations, and to demonstrate initiative.
• Proven experience in engaging and influencing external partners and managing suppliers.
• Computer literate and familiar with basic features and use of simple spreadsheets.
• Able to create clear and accurate first drafts of project documentation, correspondence, and notes of meetings.
• Able to listen well and communicate effectively with colleagues in Team and externally.
• Understanding of the Project/Programme Cycle Management.
• Working knowledge of the systems and processes related to expenditure management on projects and programmes.
• Working knowledge and practical experience on programme management.
• Understanding of the importance of accurate and up-to-date management information.
• Working knowledge and practical experience on financial management/ administration.
• Working knowledge on procurement and partner management.
• Must have the legal status to live and work in Jamaica in your own right, from time of application.