Main purpose of the role

Asia is a crucial geography to address climate change at global scale. Developing Southeast Asia and developed East Asia altogether take up a lion’s share of the GHG emissions from fossil energy uses. The region is a dynamic contributor for global value chain of clean technologies and holds the potential for demonstrating low carbon just transitions. The region’s strategic importance is growing with ASEAN on a trajectory to become the fourth largest economy in the next decade and Japan, Korea already the most influential economic powers of Asia contributing to regional economic order. The intra-regional connection between Japan, Korea and developing Southeast Asia presents an additional strategic lever to accelerate regional clean energy transition since these two countries are the biggest financiers of Foreign Direct Investment and Official Development Assistance to the latter region, together with China. CIFF is committed to working with partners to facilitate and support Southeast and East Asia to further unlock the potential to uplift global climate agendas and support climate actions in Asia.

Strategy and focus. The position holder will lead the Southeast Asia and East Asia-Japan/Korea (SEEA) strategy, portfolio development and drive the delivery by working with CIFF teams and partners. It involves building further ambitions on climate in key geographies and their interlinkages by organising research, dialogues, advocacy, and on-the-ground climate activities. It will be achieved by identifying and implementing series of sub-strategies of grant-making, partnership building and climate ecosystem building with regional partners with clearly defined objectives and interventions.

Internal collaboration. The position holder will belong to East and Southeast Asia team of which members will be located in the multiple locations. The position holder will play a key role in coordinating SEEA portfolio from London, supporting SEEA team. The position holder will also coordinate with CIFF global teams on priority topics of international, finance, energy, cities and transport, and strategic communications; and other regional climate teams in China, Africa, and India to jointly map out the strategy and program and build it in CIFF global and regional portfolios.

Thought leadership. The position holder will serve as an expert on “SEEA political economy in connection with energy transition and climate actions” to provide regular insights and advice to CIFF leadership including the CEO and Climate Executive Director to support their engagement with senior government officials, business executives and NGO leaders. The position holder will also advise CIFF teams and partners on this topic. Knowledge and experience in developed East Asia-Japan, Korea and their interactions with China and Southeast Asia are highly valued for this position.

Partnership and delivery. The position holder works closely with partners globally and in the key geographies in SEEA to ensure the maximized impacts of regional engagements under CIFF missions and strategies. It involves both supporting the existing partners to concretize strategy and grow capacity and building new partnerships. The position holder will work with CIFF’s strategic partners to build an effective and resilient ecosystem of grantees.

Philanthropic leadership. The position holder will also work with peer funders to regularly share info, align strategies, coordinate grant-makings, and identify and mobilize new resources.

Risk management. The position holder will provide advice to and work closely with External Affairs, CIFF Voice, and Legal teams, as relevant, to manage risks for the organization.

To thrive in the role, the position holder will need to be motivated by fast paced and diverse work that incorporates both their specialist subject knowledge (e.g., developing strategies, acting as the thematic and regional expert) and responsible for program management.

This position reports to Climate Director, SEEA overseeing CIFF regional portfolio. The position holder will play a connector and enabler role to ensure progress in regional portfolio be aligned with CIFF missions, strategies and other relevant work. SEEA connection with  China or China-Japan-Korea connectivity is an important element for this role.

Requirements

Skills & Experience

·       Experienced leader of significant projects and programs. Proven track record of progressive experience in SEEA and international climate policy, climate finance, geopolitics diplomacy, or international capacity building.

·       Strong knowledge of, and first-hand experience of working on regional climate action including dialogues and collaboration, with deep technical expertise in some areas of energy transition, corporate accountability, sustainable finance, transport electrification, industrial decarbonization, supply chains of soft commodity and/or critical minerals, sub-national actions, GHGs accounting, low carbon transition planning, etc.

·       Outstanding verbal and written communication skills in English, with Japanese, Korean or one of the SEEA languages as a second language.

·       Significant experience in corporate communications and/or public affairs, preferably gained in-house with a large, complex organization.

·       Demonstrable experience in analysis and due diligence; policy, planning and program delivery, all within the climate or public policy sectors.

·       Knowledge of evidence bases pertaining to program design and implementation, and belief in the importance of evidence-based decision making.

·       An innovative and entrepreneurial thinker with a pragmatic and solution-oriented mindset

·       Ability to analyse an organization’s strength of management, vision, and adaptive capacity. Ability to recruit, guide, influence and/or advise management teams to effectively implement programs.

·       Effectively champions and promotes causes – credible, humble, and professional, ability to always present the Foundation’s programs in a compelling way to engage the audience.

·       Skilled in relationship building and strengthening; able to influence others and work collaboratively, uniting groups with a shared purpose.

·       Capacity to work in a range of cultural, political, and socio-economic contexts, adapting style and approach appropriately and in a culturally sensitive manner to maximize effectiveness.

·       IT proficiency (most specifically in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

·       A proven self-starter, who works with pace and resilience.

Salary and Benefits

The starting salary for this role is £80,000 per annum.

Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package here at CIFF that includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Annual leave – 25 days per annum.
• Bonus – CIFF currently operates a discretionary bonus scheme.
• Training allowance
• Wellbeing allowance
• Life insurance
• Medical insurance

Please submit your application on or before 8th November 2024.