Asia Regional Lead, UK PACT

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This Opportunity Palladium is recruiting an Asia Regional Lead to join UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) programme. UK PACT is a UK Government initiative funded through International Climate Finance (ICF), operating since 2018 and currently active over thirteen countries.

UK PACT is a flexible technical assistance programme designed to support ODA‑eligible countries in raising their climate ambitions, reducing emissions, and accelerating just transitions to clean growth. The programme’s overarching objective is to alleviate poverty, primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The UK PACT Asia Regional Lead is a senior manager‑level leadership position, providing the core point of engagement between the UK PACT Project Management Unit and the UK PACT Funds operating in the Asia region. The Asia Regional Lead will offer leadership, provide strategic direction, operational and financial oversight of the delivery of all UK PACT Asia funds, and play a pivotal role in guiding the successful delivery of UK PACT’s ambitious climate and development objectives across Asia.

Asia funds currently include the ASEAN UK Green Transition Fund, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines Funds are designed to support responsive, demand‑led, technical assistance projects with high mitigation potential in any of the UK PACT sectors.

The ASEAN UK Green Transition Fund is designed to support the ASEAN Secretariat and its 10 Member States on net zero and supporting access to green finance, accelerated energy transition, mobility, and nature‑based solutions as part of a just economic transition. This programme will complement the UK’s large portfolio of bilateral climate work, e.g. JETPs in Vietnam and Indonesia, across the 10 ASEAN countries.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement

Support Fund Managers to implement an adaptive strategy for UK PACT‑funded activities in the regional countries drawing on the various types of funds and technical assistance available under UK PACT;

Collaborate closely with the FCDO Regional Lead to design and implement the UK PACT regional strategy, ensuring that each country implementation plan contributes to a collective impact greater than the sum of its individual parts;

Identify specific synergies between ASEAN UK Green Transition Fund activities and bilateral activities in UK PACT countries that are also ASEAN Member States – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam;

Identify regional synergies within UK PACT portfolios and complementary existing programmes (funded by the UK and other donors) to feed into UK PACT country implementation plans within the region, theories of change and log‑frames, enhancing potential impact and avoiding duplication;

Work with Fund Leads to maintain an excellent working relationship with teams at Post and FCDO Country Leads in all countries within the region; 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 Asia, 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; and

Be the main regional focal point supporting the PMU to roll out and deliver the UK PACT the monitoring, communication and learning strategy of the programme. Ensure Fund Managers are aware of the strategy and have fully integrated this into Country Implementation Plans.

Team Management and Capacity Building

Provide line management to all Fund Managers in the Asia region, supporting each to set and deliver on a scope of work and reviewing performance on an annual basis;

Support the delivery of PMU regional teams including Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Communications, Grants and Expert Deployment and GEDSI. These positions will have a secondary reporting relationship to the Regional Lead and will require regular engagement and an agreed scope of work to deliver UK PACT objectives;

Train Fund Managers in UK PACT mechanisms and funding processes and support them to deliver the Country Implementation Plan, in collaboration with the PMU and relevant FCDO stakeholders. This may include:

• Portfolio design and refresh – advice on the best methodology to design a coherent portfolio of projects through sectoral scoping or scoping refresh, including support for the identification of technical experts;

• Portfolio set up – advice on how to translate portfolio design and sector scoping into a set of projects using the different implementation modalities in UK PACT. This will include support to identify interventions that can be delivered through expert deployment or grant funding, support to strategically engage potential Implementing Partners – organisations or individual experts – as well as provide surge capacity where needed in the selection process and overseeing project set‑up coordinating with country fund teams to adhere to any local due diligence required and to support initial briefing to selected Implementation Partners;

• Portfolio management – advise on the monitoring of portfolio of projects. This will include support to country teams to efficiently monitor 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.

Work with Fund Managers to advise FCDO on potential to extend, scale up or replicate successful projects, in country or regionally, and work with successful Implementation Partners to do this with FCDO approval.

Capacity Building: Work closely with country teams to strengthen their capacity for designing and delivering grant‑funded projects, fostering knowledge‑sharing and dissemination of lessons learned across the region, including through supporting the design and delivery of regional knowledge sharing workshops.

Risk Management

Lead the implementation of UK PACT’s Risk Management Strategy across Asia, ensuring strict adherence to processes and protocols;

Serve as a core focal point for risk mitigation, chairing risk committees, conducting spot checks and overseeing compliance, safeguarding, and fraud prevention efforts. Promptly address any issues and elevate concerns as necessary.

Operational and Financial Oversight

Be accountable for UK PACT regional progress reporting, providing support to Fund Teams to prepare and submit monthly Delivery and Quarterly progress reports to FCDO;

Oversee the implementation of other ad hoc deliverables required by FCDO, working alongside the Regional Team and supporting Fund Teams to deliver high quality outputs;

Be accountable for regional financial planning (both supplier and activity costs), working with Fund Teams and the Regional Team to develop implementation budgets, submit forecasts and financial progress reports according to the requirements of FCDO and in line with the strategies designed for each Fund; and

Contribute to programme governance and decision‑making, both in‑country and centrally, as required. Attend and contribute at regular governance meetings.

Results Monitoring and Communications

Be jointly accountable, with the Programme MEL Manager, for ensuring the delivery of strategic and consistent results reporting and learning activities across the region;

Contribute to strategic decision making on monitoring, evaluation and learning priorities in the region, in consultation with the Programme and Regional MEL Managers and Fund Managers;

Provide review and quality assurance as needed to reporting and other MEL deliverables in the region.

Reporting & Location The Asia Regional Lead is a senior management role reporting directly to the UK PACT Team Leader and be accountable for regional programme delivery and outcomes operating in the Asia region.

This is a full‑time position, and the position is preferably based in Indonesia but candidates residing in other UK PACT countries within Southeast Asia are encouraged to apply, as remote working arrangements may be considered.

The anticipated start date is Spring 2026 (exact date TBC), with the contract running through March 2027. The contract may be extended subject to performance and/or continuation of the UK PACT programme.

Essential Criteria

Extensive Experience: Demonstrated success leading international development programmes, ideally with major donors such as FCDO.

Technical Expertise: Proven track record in grant and contract management or technical assistance, preferably in climate change or low‑carbon development sectors...