UK PACT Kenya Portfolio Manager at Palladium International

Primary responsibilities

• The UK PACT Kenya Portfolio 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 Portfolio Manager will:
• Stakeholder Relationships:
• Maintain an excellent working relationship with the BHC team, supporting them in engagement with partner country government agencies, civil society groups, research agencies, (green) financial institutions and relevant private sector firms in order 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 BHC team, FCDO UK, the Skills Share delivery partner and the Palladium core team to implement and adaptive strategy for UK PACT-funded projects in-country;
• 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 with regard to assessing deliverability and impact potential on the ground;
• Support project set-up coordinating with the Palladium core team 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 defence 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
• 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.

Person Specification

• 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 Kenya, including socio-economic context and development challenges and priorities
• Excellent organisational, 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. Professional fluency in Swahili is an advantage;
• 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.