Country Fund Manager

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

This Opportunity:

Palladium is recruiting a Country Fund Manager with a passion for carbon reductions to join our UK PACT team in Kenya. The UK PACT programme aims to improve the effectiveness of key institutions (public, private and civil society) in partner countries so that they can deliver accelerated emission reductions and raise the ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets. Specifically, the programme will deliver the following results:

An increase in the capacity and capability of partner institutions (national, sub-national and civil society) to deliver enhanced and accelerated climate actions
An increase in in-country buy-in to urgently facilitate low-carbon development

UK PACT is a complex, multi-country and multi-sector programme, which delivers impact through a combination of grant funding for longer-term capacity-building projects and the rapid mobilisation of short-term expertise for targeted skills and knowledge transfer.

Location:

The position is based in Kenya.

You and Your Career:

If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in programme and grant management, with a proven track record of managing a complex portfolio of grantees in various sectors, we are interested in hearing from you.

We are a learning organisation and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

The UK PACT Kenya Fund Manager will be the ‘on-the-ground' liaison for Palladium affirming and implementing the FCDO strategy for UK PACT in Kenya, managing day-to-day activities from stakeholder engagement and providing key contextual insights and managing the ongoing portfolio of grants.

Specifically, the Country Fund Manager will:

Stakeholder Relationships:

Maintain an excellent working relationship with the team at Post, supporting them in engagement with partner country government agencies, civil society groups, research agencies, (green) financial institutions and relevant private sector firms to collaboratively design and generate buy-in for the programme’s strategy, plans, and resource requirements
Act as an ambassador for UK PACT in Kenya, promoting funding opportunities to potential implementing partners, project and programme outputs to intended beneficiaries, and broader UK engagement on low-carbon development where relevant, and as agreed with FCDO

Strategy Development and Engagement:

Work collaboratively with team at Post, FCDO UK, and the PMU to implement an adaptive strategy for UK PACT-funded projects in-country drawing on the various types of funds, skill-shares and technical assistance available
Identifying complementary existing programmes (funded by the UK and other donors) to feed into UK PACT country implementation plans, theories of change and log-frames and avoid programme duplication
Provide technical advice and input for continuous context analysis and assessment of local market capacity to identify the most appropriate avenues for interventions and pathways to climate change impact within each key strategic sector, and flag policy, technological and commercial developments and risks that could influence the delivery of UK-Kenya climate collaboration

Programme Management; Identification, Selection and Implementation of Interventions:

Coordinate grant funding windows in accordance with country implementation plans, and lead on market engagement to ensure the right local stakeholders are aware of, and well-placed to apply for, funding opportunities
Organise and manage a call for proposals in collaboration with post, the Palladium team in the UK and the FCDO lead
Facilitate and contribute to the project selection process, particularly regarding assessing deliverability and impact potential on the ground
Support project set-up coordinating with the PMU to adhere to any local due diligence required and to support initial briefing to potential Implementation Partners
Oversee timely implementation of projects and regularly ensure the feedback of results, impacts and learning through quarterly reports to FCDO covering overall progress, progress against outputs, main activities and deliverables for the next period, budget, spend and forecast, and risks
Advise FCDO on potential to extend, scale up or replicate successful projects, and work with successful Implementation Partners to do this with FCDO approval
Support defense against fraud, corruption and safeguarding risks, conducting spot checks and other processes to ensure FCDO grant funding is spent as intended and that Implementation Partners meet FCDO compliance requirements

Programme Reporting

Support Implementing Partners on project reporting, ensuring reporting meets FCDO requirements; providing a quality assurance function
Oversee country and project specific risk management, working with all parties, ensuring any issues identified result in quick mitigation strategies and/or are escalated as required
Contribute to programme governance and decision-making, both in-country and centrally, as required

Desirable Criteria:

Excellent programme and grant management skills, with a proven track record of managing a complex portfolio of grantees in various sectors
Strong reporting skills with proven ability to engage with and manage donor client formal reporting and ad-hoc requests
Good knowledge and/or willingness to learn more about the environmental / low carbon sector in terms of policy landscape, relevant state and non-state actors in relation to climate change, and low-carbon economic development
Demonstrated ability to build networks and communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders at different levels of seniority
Good knowledge and understanding of the local political economy and business operating context in India, including socio-economic context and development challenges and priorities
Excellent organizational, inter-personal administration and communication skills
An ability to see both the big (strategic) picture, identifying opportunities for innovation and value addition for UK PACT, as well as keeping alert to project delivery risks
Professional fluency in English
A high degree of personal resilience, flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances
Highly collaborative and committed to close working and open communication with colleagues in post and in the UK, and other UK PACT partners
Commitment to neutrality in all dealings with stakeholders, including political stakeholders, to build trusted relationships and ensure maximum effectiveness of the programme

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.