Fund Associate: ASEAN upper region

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 for a Fund Associate with a passion for building regional linkages in Southeast Asia to enable accelerated climate mitigation to join our UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) team for the ASEAN-UK Green Transition Fund (GTF) as well as UK PACT wider bilateral work in the Asian countries of India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The position can be based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunai, or Manila, Phillippines.

The Fund Associate will be part of the GTF Team and will support the management, monitoring and coordination of programme planning and implementation activities in the region. The Associate will work closely with the GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead, ASEAN Engagement Lead and Grants Manager to help support demand scoping, market engagement, and pipeline development and management of projects. Furthermore, depending on the background provided, the Associate will support the execution of ASEAN-UK GTF Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning or develop communication materials. The Associate will play a critical role in the Palladium team, supporting the positioning, representation, and promotion of the programme.

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 can be based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunai, or Manila, Phillippines.

You and Your Career:

If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in operational management, procurement and grants management and have experience supporting complex programmes in the development space, we are interested in hearing from you. 

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

Reporting Lines:

The position will report to the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

Specifically for the ASEAN-UK GTF, the Associate will be required to have the agility to:
Project Management, Identification, Selection and Design of Interventions:
Support the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead & Grants Manager in coordination of grant funding windows and support market engagement to ensure the right local stakeholders are aware of, and well-placed to apply for, UK PACT funding opportunities
Contribute to the project screening and selection process, particularly with regard to assessing deliverability and impact potential on the ground
Support the the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead & Grants Manager to 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 outputs for the next period, budget, spend and forecast, and risks
Support the the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead & Grants Manager to adhere to any local due diligence required from Implementing Partners and to support initial briefing to potential Implementation Partners
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 Implementing Partners meet FCDO compliance requirements
Support the the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead & Grants Manager in advising on the potential to extend, scale up or replicate successful projects, and work with successful Implementing Partners to do this with FCDO approval

Programme Reporting:

Support Implementing Partners on project reporting (technical, results and risk), ensuring reporting meets FCDO requirements and providing a coordination and quality assurance function
Strategy Development and Engagement:
Support on continuous context analysis and assessment of regional market capacity to identify the most appropriate avenues for interventions and pathways to climate change impact within each key strategic sector
Support further demand scoping for GTF-funded projects, including stakeholder mapping and engagement, identification of complementary existing programmes (funded by the UK and other donors) to avoid programme duplication, and horizon scanning

Stakeholder Relationships:

Support the GTF team in promoting funding opportunities to potential implementing partners, project and programme outputs to intended beneficiaries, and broader UK engagement on low-carbon development where relevant
Working closely with the ASEAN GTF Senior Programme Engagement Lead & Grants Manager, contribute to, and where appropriate lead the management of day-to-day interactions with stakeholders, specifically supporting the relationships with project applicants and grant recipients/implementing partners
Maintain an excellent working relationship with FCDO team within the Embassy to collaboratively design and generate buy-in for the programme activities
In line with the background and experience, candidate will have additional responsibilities either on Communications or Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Communications:

Contribute to the development of UK PACT communications, knowledge products, and strategies to promote the programme and enhance the brand within ASEAN region
Lead on the maintenance and development of ASEAN GTF contacts database and ensure that the respective country programme website pages are up to date and periodically reviewed
Support the development of strong and engaging digital products that effectively convey messaging about the programme on the UK PACT website and other channels in coordination with country teams, teams at UK Mission to ASEAN, Post, and relevant implementing partners
Provide support to country teams with communications queries and assist with the coordination of external communications
Support the central and regional UK PACT Communications team in general programme communications administration, including the preparation of quarterly and annual progress reports and stakeholder engagement reports
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)
With the support of the central UK PACT MEL Manager, adapt and apply programme level guidance and frameworks, including Theory of Change (ToC) and results framework (logframe), at the country (and regional fund) level, ensuring these reflect ASEAN GTF specificities and needs
Drive for quarterly and annual data collection, quality assurance and reporting of results from across ASEAN GTF projects
Under regional MEL lead coordination, Advise UK PACT Implementing Partners (grantees) on project reporting (technical and results), ensuring reporting meets FCDO and programme requirements, providing a coordination and quality assurance function
Assist UK PACT Implementing Partners and UK PACT team colleagues in country in monitoring and learning activities that include applying assessment tools, designing case studies, implementing capacity building strategies and providing training, assisting with data analysis and presentation, developing data-informed action plans and other technical assistance as requested
Provide a key support function to ASEAN GTF projects for all MEL issues and bottlenecks;
Be responsible for flowing down monitoring and reporting excellence to grantees, including provision of guidance, tools coaching and training where necessary to deliver MEL successfully

Essential Criteria:

Minimum five years of working experiences, with minimum two years of experience working of one or more of the priority areas below:

Climate policy
Green finance
Energy transition
Nature-based solutions
Sustainable cities & transportation

Desirable Criteria:

Background and experience on conducting Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning or Communications
Good and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the local political, economic and operating context in the ASEAN region, with a focus on the low carbon/climate mitigation sectors
Strong project management skills, with the ability to review and quality assure project reports against agreed workplan
Good programme and grant management skills, with a proven track record of supporting management of a complex portfolio of grantees in various sectors
Excellent organisational, inter-personal administration and communication skills
Professional fluency in English, preferable with high ability of writing for various needs
Good knowledge and experience in managing grants mechanisms for FCDO is preferred
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 implementing 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.