Blue Planet Fund Regional Programme Officer SEO (46/22 ACC) at Her Majesty's Government (HM Government)

Main purpose of job:

• This role is to lead the day-to-day oversight, engagement, delivery, and coordination of programmes and projects under the BPF programme across West Africa, and contribute to the design of other BPF programmes that will deliver in the region. This role will also ensure the BPF supports marine nature commitments made by countries in West Africa. This role will require close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including British Embassies and British High Commissions (BHC), regional and multi-lateral organisations, the Defra and FCDO BPF programme teams in the UK, UK government departments, non-government organisations (NGO), and the private sector, to maximise the impact of the BPF programme in the region.
• This is a great opportunity for a highly motivated self-starter with strong project management skills, experience in advising on programme design of international development and/or marine programmes, and stakeholder engagement, including with senior government officials and local communities. We are looking for someone with a ‘can do’ approach to help to design, oversee and implement projects under the BPF delivering in the West African region.
• Reporting to the FCDO Team Leader of the Climate and Investment team at the BHC in Accra and to the International Sustainable Blue Finance team in London, you will enjoy a good level of autonomy and decision-making. You will also be able to access professional development opportunities, including scope to work on the wider BPF programme and other embassy priorities, including UK advocacy work on the marine environment across the region. The role will also support Defra and FCDO BPF teams to coordinate the delivery of all BPF programmes in the region. You will need excellent communication and presentation skills (both written and verbal), and the ability to deliver high quality work. You will need to assess and prioritise own workload within given timeframe, to meet project schedules. This role will also require good international development, political and policy skills to ensure successful HMG BPF delivery, cooperation and collaboration between delivery partners, and results for recipients. This role will also require you to undertake a certain amount of regional travel, which will be planned well in advance approximately once every 2-3 months.  As with any role, there will be occasions when the work is reactive to instructions and tasking either from teams in the UK or from Embassy Senior Management. All staff are expected to be collaborative team players, willing to turn their hand to any task.

Main duties include:  
   Programme coordination and delivery – 80%  

• Ensuring BPF programming is complementary with other in-country and regional donors and their activities, including liaising with other donors, multilaterals, and diplomatic missions to ensure programme activity does not duplicate other work 
• Supporting on the day-to-day relationships with BPF programme delivery partners and country governments receiving support through the BPF, ensuring join up across the programmes and other donor programmes 
• Coordinating Defra and FCDO BPF programme activities in West Africa to ensure complimentary, and advising Defra on how to improve joined-up delivery
• Providing advice and support to UK BPF teams on the delivery and design of BPF programmes in West Africa (eg. supporting the Ocean Country Partnership Programme and the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) develop their partnerships in West Africa, and providing support for Defra’s competitive fund, providing support to FCDO’s Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition programme)
• Regular reporting to UK-based teams and regional boards, including consulting and aligning on UK government priorities and liaising with UK government departments to identify and follow-up on opportunities arising from programme activities  
• Advising – and subsequently supporting – communications activities in the region to ensure uptake of key lessons from BPF projects and to promote and raise the profile of the UK and the BPF across West Africa  
• Providing advice and guidance to British Embassy and High Commission staff in the region on all aspects of BPF programme activity, including regularly reporting to the One HMG Board at the British High Commission, as well as other relevant Embassy boards in the region.    

Blue Planet Fund policy and wider UK government support on the marine environment – 20% 

• Deliver wider mission critical work as required as part of the team at the British High Commission  
• Drafting briefings, reports and presentations on the marine environment as required  
• Representing the UK at meetings across West Africa to influence and communicate UK marine priorities  
• Participate in self-development to continually improve performance/systems and undertake development activities that are identified 
• The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the Defra and FCDO programming teams. These responsibilities may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the BPF and the organization. 

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Travel and subsistence (T&S) arrangements will be in place to reimburse any additional and reasonable expenses necessarily incurred on official business.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Degree qualification or equivalent experience
• Training and/or experience in project management
• Previous experience in similar role in project/programme management in public sector or with bilateral/multilateral organizations.
• Experience of building a network and managing effective relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including government officials, delivery partners and local and community groups.
• Understanding of marine environment, biodiversity conservation, fisheries management, and marine pollution
• Fluent written and oral English
• Excellent written and oral communication skills on complex matters, often requiring persuasion and influence.
• Ability to identify strategic opportunities and risks, underlying drivers and connections.
• Ability to effectively as part of a team which is dispersed across the region and in the UK
• Effective organization, prioritization and planning skills.
• Ability to work on own initiative and organize own workload without supervision working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change.
• Ability to handle strictly confidential information from internal and external sources whilst always adhering to best practices of confidentiality.
• Computer literate and proficient user of Microsoft programs such as Outlook, Word, Excel and SharePoint.
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Experience/knowledge of the region (politics, socio-economic situation)
• Experience drafting briefing papers, reports and presentations.
• Experience of organizing events/conferences/ workshops
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex information and recommend appropriate actions.
• Advanced-intermediate French

Required behaviours  

• Seeing the Big Picture, Managing a Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together