Main Purpose of Job:

The British Embassy in Mexico City is looking for a new Manager for the United Kingdom’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transition (UK PACT) Programme worth £2.5 million a year in Mexico. UK PACT supports countries to overcome barriers to clean growth while accelerating their climate change mitigation efforts. This is an exciting opportunity to support the work of our diplomatic network to tackle climate change, strengthen sustainable economic development and to work with a broad range of climate stakeholders. The successful candidate will lead on a dynamic mix of climate policy and programming including a refresh of the Mexico UK PACT Strategy, expansion of our green finance policy work, and effective management of a portfolio of diverse climate projects.

The UK PACT Programme transitioned to a new phase in April of this year. The successful candidate will be instrumental in relationship building and establishing new ways of working with the UK PACT delivery partner in Mexico. They will also work closely with the central UK PACT Team in London. This phase will respond strategically to the new political landscape following Mexico’s elections in June. The jobholder will be well-positioned to identify and pursue climate opportunities and to shape the bilateral climate agenda with in-coming federal and state administrations. 

UK PACT is part of the British Government’s International Climate Finance (ICF) portfolio of programmes operating in Mexico. The jobholder will manage a small ICF Team with two other officers and work closely with the policy leads for climate and nature, and energy and infrastructure. ICF sits within the Climate Team managed by the Head of Climate. Climate is one of five different teams within the Embassy’s Development Section. All UK development work in Mexico has a strong focus on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI). In addition, the Climate Team has its own development communications strategy on sharing impacts and lessons learned from our climate work. The new UK PACT Manager will proactively contribute to the Climate Team’s GESI and communications priorities. They will also support wider Embassy corporate objectives through membership of one or more committees or taskforces.  

1. Lead refresh and implementation of UK PACT Mexico Country Strategy alongside Delivery Partner (30%)

• Working with Embassy teams, UK PACT London team and the UK PACT Delivery Partner, Palladium, to refresh the UK PACT Mexico Country Strategy. This will include:

o A literature review of the country’s climate landscape.

o A consultation process with relevant counterparts across government (federal and subnational), private sector, civil society, academia, and other donors and cooperation agencies.

o Analysis of where UK PACT could best support priorities for technical assistance, that are additional to existing programmes and initiatives and would have the greatest impact.

o Preparation of a draft strategy to recommend priority sectors for UK PACT for review with key stakeholders and finalisation of UK PACT Mexico strategy for senior management approval.

o Subsequently developing sector cases that specify the sub-sectors in which UK PACT should focus through further consultation with internal and external stakeholders, securing approval by senior leadership in the Embassy and in London

o Working with Palladium to develop concept notes and Terms of Reference to go to the market to source technical assistance for projects in these areas, including through calls for proposals and drawing on UK PACT’s roster of experts and UK public sector experts.

2. Manage portfolio of UK PACT projects in Mexico (25%)

• Develop strong a strong relationship with Palladium to oversee high quality delivery of the existing portfolio of UK PACT projects, and new projects, ensuring compliance with UK government programme management guidelines.
• Contribute to best practice in 1) Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), 2) Financial management, 3) integration of Gender, Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion, 4) risk management.
• Liaise with government stakeholders (nationally and sub-nationally) to understand emerging priorities and new opportunities for UK PACT support, ensuring the programme is agile and responsive.
• Engage with project counterparts for whom the technical assistance is for, to ensure their satisfaction with UK PACT projects and to discuss potential amendments to ensure projects remain relevant and impactful.
• Strengthen the impact of each UK PACT project through strategic communications and through supporting dialogue between implementing partners and government stakeholders, following up on utilization of project outputs.
• Lead on briefing about UK PACT for senior leadership to support visits to projects and their engagement with Government.

3. Be the Embassy’s policy lead on green finance (25%)

• Keep on top of latest trends and information related to green and sustainable finance and convert these into policy recommendations and technical advice for Embassy climate work.
• Identify key areas of opportunity to green the financial system in Mexico and mobilise programme and diplomatic tools to address these as appropriate.
• Bring relevant Embassy teams together to coordinate and take joint decisions on priority areas for UK support.
• Represent the UK and make catalytic interventions at strategic activities and events with a focus on green and sustainable finance.
• Be the green finance sectoral expert for UK PACT

4. UK PACT Stakeholder engagement (10%)

• Given Mexico’s forthcoming elections, engage with candidates’ teams and then the new administration on potential areas and tools for collaboration under UK PACT, including but not limited to:
• Manage the relationship with the UK PACT Delivery Partner, ensuring effective ways of working between the Delivery Partner, the Embassy, and the UK PACT team in London.
• Engage with relevant subnational governments to design and implement the programme. Manage relationships with them.
• Prompt strategic, regular communications with key stakeholders in the UK, Mexico, and other regional stakeholders to facilitate sharing of best practices, knowledge products, and lessons learned.
• Publicly represent the Embassy and the UK Government as a credible interlocutor in climate related engagements as necessary.
• Proactively seek cross-team collaboration opportunities amongst Embassy teams to continue supporting a mainstreamed approach to climate change programmes.

5. Corporate Contribution (10%): Help make the Embassy a great place to work.

• All Embassy staff are expected to fulfil a defined role in the event of a crisis.
• Contribute to the Embassy’s wider corporate agenda and values by being an active member in one of our committees, working groups or taskforces.

Resources Managed:

Staff: 1 x EO UK PACT Officer

Resources: Co-manage £2.5 million UK PACT Programme for Mexico

We are looking for a proactive self-starter, able to work well and have a flexible approach to work whilst under pressure. We are looking for someone with excellent interpersonal and communications skills to build strong relations within the British High Commission and UK teams and with a wide range of stakeholders in Mexico.

• An undergraduate degree, in Environmental Science, Climate, Energy, Sustainable Development, Green Finance or related course;
  
• Significant policy capability in the climate agenda.
• Demonstrable experience and technical knowledge of green and sustainable finance.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and relationship skills.
  
• Experience in line management
  
• Commitment to align to Embassy’s core values: respect, inclusion, professionalism, and honesty.
• Strong track record of stakeholder engagement, including with delivery partners.
• Flexible and creative problem-solving skills, and the ability 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;
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and ability to adjust to different audiences;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Team working skills.
• A comprehensive understanding of climate and environment issues and policies in Mexico;
• Extensive experience in Project/Programme management, preferably with international stakeholders.