View Vacancy – Head of Forests and Climate

The successful applicant will play a key role in delivering the UK government’s growth mission by driving towards aligning Peru’s economy with climate and nature agreements, with a focus on scaling up profitable bio-business models backed by anchor companies, market demand and green finance. This is an exciting position within the Embassy’s Climate, Nature and Infrastructure (CNI) section (13 staff), which works towards contributing to a fall in deforestation and biodiversity loss, bedding in sustainable livelihoods and respect for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) while reducing vulnerability to environmental crime in the Peruvian Amazon. Our work is divided into three priority themes: (1) development of bio-businesses to create economic incentives for forest and land users to halt deforestation, (2) scale up of private sector investment into green products and activities, especially in the forest sector/nature, and (3) sustainable infrastructure and clean energy.

The post holder will provide team leadership/people management and technical/political guidance to programmes managed by government departments in the UK (FCDO, DESNZ, DEFRA), oversee a portfolio of projects directly (funded by internal Challenge Funds or the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions – UK PACT – Programme), offer expertise to the Peruvian government, private sector and other key stakeholders and engage with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank on shaping their Amazon portfolios. The post holder will also collaborate closely with other colleagues in the British Embassy in Lima, UK embassies throughout the Amazon region and officials from the UK’s International Forests Unit and other parts of the British government. That includes strategic reporting on developments in the UK, Peru, the region and globally, bringing together the big picture on politics, programming and policy influencing to analyse trends.

This role will report to the First Secretary Climate, Nature and Infrastructure, identifying opportunities to advance the Embassy’s strategy for forests and climate, aiming to accelerate the low carbon transition and secure the protection of high carbon density natural systems (e.g. peatlands).

Roles and responsibilities:

Leadership of the forests and climate portfolio – 50%:

• Oversee the forests and climate portfolio by accompanying the design, implementation and monitoring of projects, and making sure they are aligned with the UK’s strategy for the Amazon.
• Promote best practice on project management: quality, impact, value for money, additionality, sustainability, scale up, applying learning, and risk/financial/knowledge management.
• Identify and follow-up on other funding opportunities to position Peru as a leader on specific themes in the region, including internal Challenge Funds.
• Manage the embassy’s engagement with two regional initiatives: the Amazon Bio-economy and Forest Multi-donor Trust Fund (AMDTF) of the IDB and the Amazon Catalyst for Forest Communities (AMCAT).

Technical and political advice – 20%:

• Strategically working towards a strong offer of the UK, Peru and the Latin American region at COP30. This may include active participation in the development of a regional Amazon roadmap.
• Maximise the impact of the launch of new programming that benefits Peru and of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM) to set the framework for our joint environmental work for the next three years.
• Influence stakeholders to align strategic processes: Amazon roadmap, re-negotiation of the Joint Declaration of Intent, country package under the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, and a potential investment by the World Bank’s Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions Fund.
• Act as the section’s focal point for IPLCs and build a more coherent offer based on the post’s IPLC strategy, with a focus on the “indigenous economy” and access to finance. The role holder will also be the team’s contact point for environmental crime.
• Trends analysis and reporting: Follow and report on developments and evidence on forest governance in Peru, the region, the UK and internationally. For example, monitor closely implications of the forest law modification for Peru’s OECD accession plans.

Line management and leadership of forests and climate sub-team – 20%:

• The role will also lead a sub-team of six country-based staff members, setting goals and direction, building their capability, and supporting wellbeing.
• Supervise four staff members directly who act as thematic leads: Bioeconomy Lead, Green Finance Lead, Forests and Climate Policy Lead and the Andes Amazon Landscape Coordinator of the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund.

Other – 10%:

• As a senior leader, the expectation is to play an active part in the corporate life of the embassy, including contribution to committees (Security, Crisis, Programme Board, Post Management, Country Board) and to any crisis response (as Deputy Welfare Manager).
• On-going tasks: Summarise meetings, missions, correspondence, reports, and compile written documents.

These responsibilities will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation. The above is an indicative outline of roles and responsibilities required of the role.  The FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require. For example, this could include the management of Ministerial and official visits from the UK related to forests, climate or planet compatible growth in Peru and/or supporting embassy events.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Four staff members who are all Higher Executive Officers (technical specialists).
• Oversight of projects under UK PACT and related programmes worth several millions.

• Bachelor’s Degree and/or Master’s in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, Environmental Science or related field.
• A minimum of 7+ years of experience working for an organisation in a relevant field, for example, working with government or international organisations on forests and climate.
• Strong understanding of the forest and land use sector, climate and development policies as well as related institutional frameworks in Peru.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills:
  • Proven ability to write fluently and persuasively in English about technical and policy issues for a senior audience.
  • Ability to form coherent arguments and persuade someone of their point of view.
• Leadership/people management skills and team player with excellent interpersonal skills, including experience of managing diverse relationships and teams.

Language requirements: 

Language: English and Spanish
Level of language required:  High level of fluency and professional proficiency required in both.