Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy in Harare is looking for a dynamic and capable Senior Governance Analyst to join the Embassy’s Political and Governance (Pol/Gov) team. The jobholder will play a key role in providing governance and political economy advice on a broad range of governance issues relevant to Zimbabwe. 

The jobholder will work closely with colleagues in the Embassy’s Pol/Gov team. This small team holds considerable responsibility and leads on policy and programming on human rights, democracy, accountability and anti-corruption. 

The jobholder will support the team in delivering the £22m Zimbabwe Accountability and Citizen Engagement (ZIMACE) Programme which has 5 workstreams: human rights; citizenship; democracy and accountability; environmental governance; and women and girls. This programme will maintain up to 40 local partnerships, and relationships with many organisations that are not directly funded. The jobholder will play a lead advisory role on technical areas of the programme and also on establishing this portfolio of partnerships and relationships. 

Roles and responsibilities:

The British Embassy Harare is committed to supporting all staff with their career development plans and the post holder will have the opportunity to access significant on the job learning as well as discussing opportunities for other structured learning and development with their line manager.

The jobholder will be responsible for:

• Identifying and facilitating high-level engagement with representatives from the Government of Zimbabwe, key institutions and civil society on priority areas of governance. This requires a good network of contacts, strong diplomatic skills and experience of working with senior government.
• Identifying strategic, innovative and realistic options for governance programming with Government, key institutions and civil society, including technical approaches, entry points and key facilitators, while thinking and working politically. This requires extensive experience of government systems and good practice in technical and programmatic support for reforms.
• Providing high quality technical advice based on deep experience and knowledge of the sector, and providing deep dive technical presentations to teams across the embassy. This requires strong technical knowledge of a range of governance policy areas, and communication skills to communicate complex issues clearly and effectively.
• Represent the UK with professionalism, political objectivity, impartiality and balance, to foster trust and build strong relationships and partnerships. This requires strong representational and inter-personal skills and behaviours.
• Deploying excellent people skills to work effectively with all members of the political and governance team, as well as other policy and programme teams in the embassy, and implementing partners.
• Bringing extensive experience of the design and delivery of governance programmes to support excellence in the ZIMACE programme. This requires extensive experience of managing funding to national and local partner organisations, including experience of a wide range of risk management and compliance functions.
• Supporting robust monitoring evaluation and learning of the ZIMACE programme. This requires a deep understanding of approaches to effective monitoring and evaluation.

The above list is not exhaustive. The postholder may be required to be flexible and take on other ad hoc tasks as required. The job description may be reviewed to meet changes in business needs.

We are looking for someone with:

• The ability to work in a complex political environment with confidence and credibility. You will be navigating politically sensitive and contentious policy areas, providing lots of opportunity for stretch and influencing work.
• The ability to think strategically, with political acumen, capable of seeing the big picture. You’ll need communication, negotiation and influencing skills.
• Personal resilience, an ability to work at pace, and a willingness to embrace change and creativity.
• The ability to work collaboratively and inclusively with people in a wide range of teams.
• Extensive experience of design and delivery of governance programmes in complex contexts.

Resources managed:

• The senior governance analyst will be based in the Pol/Gov Team. He/she will advise on the £22m ZIMACE programme, and UK engagement on governance in Zimbabwe.
• The senior governance analyst will have access to expert knowledge and advice from colleagues from across the FCDO network.
• There will be an expectation of local and regional travel.

• Governance Core Competency-GCC: Applied Governance and Political Economy Analysis: Understand governance evidence, policy and practice in a range of settings; demonstrating knowledge of political systems, core governance concepts and global, regional and transnational drivers of governance change. The ability to apply political and institutional analysis to influence planning, dialogue, policy and programming decisions.
• Governance Specialist Competency: Public Financial Management and Domestic Revenue Mobilisation: Understand the role of public financial management and domestic revenue mobilisation in development, accountability, and state-building processes. Advise, influence policy direction and programme leadership on PFM and revenue mobilisation, working with HMG, country, and international partners.
• Governance Specialist Competency-GSC 3: Inclusive Growth and Economic Development; Demonstrate knowledge of institutional and political barriers and drivers for inclusive growth and economic development. Influence and provide support to economic development work in a range of settings (with a particular focus on extractives)
• Governance Specialist Competency 2: Public Sector Governance and Service Delivery: Demonstrate knowledge of public sector governance at national and local levels and application in particular sectors. Influence and provide analytical, advisory and programme support to civil service and sector reform processes that contribute to the sustainable improvements in service delivery

Language requirements: 

Language: English 

Level of language required: Fluent