About British High Commission (BHC)

The British High Commission in Rwanda is responsible for developing and maintaining relations between the UK and Rwanda.

About This Opportunity

The position of Climate Programme, Policy & Partnership Manager at British High Commission (BHC) located in Kigali, Rwanda offers an opportunity for qualified professionals to contribute their knowledge and experience in a dynamic working environment. The organization seeks individuals who are motivated, reliable, and capable of performing their duties effectively while maintaining professional standards.

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Rwanda has set ambitious climate and development goals, but its growth and poverty-reduction gains remain exposed to floods, droughts, landslides and other climate shocks. Delivering a greener, more resilient economy will require stronger institutions, better investment pipelines and substantially greater mobilisation of public and private climate finance.

The UK and Rwanda have a long-standing climate partnership. The British High Commission (BHC) works with various Government departments, expert partners, businesses and institutions to strengthen Rwanda’s climate finance architecture. Our approach combines targeted technical expertise, institutional partnerships and diplomatic engagement to turn national priorities into investable opportunities, assist inclusive adaptation and resilience, and mobilise more public and private climate finance for Rwanda.

This role sits at the centre of that partnership. Working alongside the BHC’s Climate guide, the postholder will be tasked with the programme management of various components and partnerships within the new portfolio programme, and some centrally managed programmes (from Communities of Expertise and/or Other Government Departments). They will also help shape and deliver our wider climate policy and partnership work, using diplomacy, building partnerships, convening, engaging international and multilateral institutions, as well as leveraging wider UK expertise and private sector partnership to achieve greater impact.

This role will be part of the Growth, Climate and Human Capital Group in the BHC. The primary focus will be delivery of our ‘Climate Finance & Resilience’ objective in our Country Business Plan, contributing to results on scaling inclusive climate finance for Rwanda and embedding climate finance partnerships and delivery systems.

This role would suit someone who is proactive, curious and delivery-focused in their work, as well as passionate about tackling climate change.

Roles and responsibilities

The postholder will be tasked with programme management for the Climate pillar in our new portfolio programme, as well as for any assist from the Climate Centre of Expertise or Other Government Department channels (such as the UK Met Office, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero or the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). They will collaborate with the Climate guide to deliver on our broader policy and partnership work in this area, including working closely with the Government of Rwanda, bilateral and multilateral development partners, business and others.

Managing Partnerships

• Promote UK leadership in climate finance including through convening development partners, private sector, NGOs and others. This may include designing and organising a variety of events (e.g. topical roundtables, receptions, a series of high-level discussions, or supporting the operation of relevant working groups or committees).
• Build a network of partnerships to gather information and insights into what is happening in the climate, nature, energy and environment sectors to inform BHC Kigali’s work.
• Oversee partnerships with multilateral organisations to leverage UK core contributions in assist of thematic priorities in Rwanda, such as the vertical climate funds.
• Assist the BHC senior leadership team in their engagements with government officials in relevant sectors.
• Engage with Communities of Expertise and thematic teams in FCDO HQ, and other parts of HMG, to harness UK expertise where relevant to assist delivery of BHC objectives in Rwanda.

Programme management

• Collaborate with the BHC’s Senior Programme Manager for IGNITE to oversee projects in accordance with FCDO’s Programme Operating Framework (PrOF).
• Use strong financial management skills to oversee forecasts, and in-year budget management.
• Guide programme management discussions with programme partners including on finance, fraud and risk.
• Collaborate with FCDO commercial leads and the Senior Programme Manager to ensure robust contract management and VFM.
• Ensure key risk management tools (Due Diligence assessments, delivery chain maps, fraud and safeguarding risk mapping) are used to oversee project risks.
• Assist monitoring and learning for projects, including supporting collection of necessary data, timely revision of the relevant parts of the logframe, and contributing to Annual Reviews.

Policy engagement

• Guide engagement on key climate policy areas to assist the wider BHC team (these could be leading work to do with specific subsectors such as energy, disaster risk management, or nature conservation.
• Assist with development of core messages or lines to take, communication materials, briefings and documents in these policy areas.

Wider contributions to the British High Commission

All members of BHC Kigali staff are expected to actively contribute to the wider work of the Mission. This can take a range of forms from active participation in one of our committees (e.g. People & Inclusion Committee, Green Committee, Crisis Committee), taking on a cross-cutting responsibility for your Group (e.g. travel budget oversight), volunteering for a cross-office position (e.g. Fairness Champion, Safeguarding Champion, Mental Health First Aider), or supporting with a corporate task when requested (e.g. spot-checks, recruitment panel).

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Knowledge of climate change, climate finance, adaptation, resilience or green growth and investment, gained through professional experience or substantial relevant study
• Strong financial and project management literacy and experience of budget management, forecasting, risk management and value-for-money considerations
• Being a self-starter, comfortable working with significant autonomy at pace in a timely way, with proven openness to trying new ways of working.
• Excellent written and verbal communications, including the ability to explain complex issues clearly and produce concise material for senior, non-technical audiences.
• Ability to build strong trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholder across the BHC and FCDO, and externally with government, other development partners and private sector.
• Ability to detect and apply lessons learned from other programmes to enhance delivery approaches.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Experience working with a wide range of Rwandan stakeholders on climate finance (government, civil society, international partners, private sector).
• Familiar with the FCDO Programme Operating Framework and systems such as AMP and HERA
• Experience working on a range of programme delivery modalities (e.g. contracts, accountable grants and technical assistance projects).
• Kinyarwanda language skills

Required behaviours

Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Other benefits and conditions of employment

• Staff: No direct line management responsibilities.
• Expenditure: Programme expenditure associated with the partnerships and projects of the High Commission’s portfolio programme. Expected to be around £1M p.a.
• Learning and development: FCDO places a strong emphasis on continuous learning and development, with staff expected to dedicate at least five days each year to L&D. The postholder will have access to FCDO’s extensive learning offer, including policy and diplomatic skills, programme and project delivery, leadership and management, as well as coaching and mentoring. There will also be opportunities to create specialist knowledge and networks in innovation, science, and technology through the role itself and relevant FCDO and cross-government learning.

Additional information

Please make sure that your application is authentically written based on your own experiences. If AI tools are used, their usage must only be limited to specific tasks such as ensuring formatting consistency and keyword relevance. The core content, personal narratives, and responses to behaviour and skill-based questions must genuinely reflect your professional journey, experiences, and achievements. We place great importance on originality and individual effort throughout the application process. Any form of plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.

The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position

Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Rwanda are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in Kigali

All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit

The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to;

1. Obtain the relevant permit
2. Pay the fees for the permit
3. Make arrangements to relocate
4. Meet the costs to relocation

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary may have their salaries reduced by the equivalent local income tax amount.

Information about the Civil Service Success Profiles can be found on this link:

Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates

Please log into your profile on the application system on a regular basis to evaluate the status of your application

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate

• Promote UK leadership in climate finance including through convening development partners, private sector, NGOs and others. This may include designing and organising a variety of events (e.g. topical roundtables, receptions, a series of high-level discussions, or supporting the operation of relevant working groups or committees).
• Build a network of partnerships to gather information and insights into what is happening in the climate, nature, energy and environment sectors to inform BHC Kigali’s work.
• Oversee partnerships with multilateral organisations to leverage UK core contributions in assist of thematic priorities in Rwanda, such as the vertical climate funds.
• Assist the BHC senior leadership team in their engagements with government officials in relevant sectors.
• Engage with Communities of Expertise and thematic teams in FCDO HQ, and other parts of HMG, to harness UK expertise where relevant to assist delivery of BHC objectives in Rwanda.
• Collaborate with the BHC’s Senior Programme Manager for IGNITE to oversee projects in accordance with FCDO’s Programme Operating Framework (PrOF).
• Use strong financial management skills to oversee forecasts, and in-year budget management.
• Guide programme management discussions with programme partners including on finance, fraud and risk.
• Collaborate with FCDO commercial leads and the Senior Programme Manager to ensure robust contract management and VFM.
• Ensure key risk management tools (Due Diligence assessments, delivery chain maps, fraud and safeguarding risk mapping) are used to oversee project risks.
• Assist monitoring and learning for projects, including supporting collection of necessary data, timely revision of the relevant parts of the logframe, and contributing to Annual Reviews.
• Guide engagement on key climate policy areas to assist the wider BHC team (these could be leading work to do with specific subsectors such as energy, disaster risk management, or nature conservation.
• Assist with development of core messages or lines to take, communication materials, briefings and documents in these policy areas.
• All members of BHC Kigali staff are expected to actively contribute to the wider work of the Mission. This can take a range of forms from active participation in one of our committees (e.g. People & Inclusion Committee, Green Committee, Crisis Committee), taking on a cross-cutting responsibility for your Group (e.g. travel budget oversight), volunteering for a cross-office position (e.g. Fairness Champion, Safeguarding Champion, Mental Health First Aider), or supporting with a corporate task when requested (e.g. spot-checks, recruitment panel).

• Communication
• Leadership
• Management
• Excel
• Tax
• Project management
• Knowledge of climate change, climate finance, adaptation, resilience or green growth and investment
• Strong financial and project management literacy
• Budget management
• Forecasting
• Risk management
• Value-for-money considerations
• Self-starter
• Working with significant autonomy at pace
• Openness to trying new ways of working
• Excellent written and verbal communications
• Ability to explain complex issues clearly
• Produce concise material for senior, non-technical audiences
• Ability to build strong trusted relationships
• Ability to detect and apply lessons learned from other programmes

• Knowledge of climate change, climate finance, adaptation, resilience or green growth and investment, gained through professional experience or substantial relevant study
• Strong financial and project management literacy and experience of budget management, forecasting, risk management and value-for-money considerations
• Being a self-starter, comfortable working with significant autonomy at pace in a timely way, with proven openness to trying new ways of working.
• Excellent written and verbal communications, including the ability to explain complex issues clearly and produce concise material for senior, non-technical audiences.
• Ability to build strong trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholder across the BHC and FCDO, and externally with government, other development partners and private sector.
• Ability to detect and apply lessons learned from other programmes to enhance delivery approaches.
• Experience working with a wide range of Rwandan stakeholders on climate finance (government, civil society, international partners, private sector).
• Familiar with the FCDO Programme Operating Framework and systems such as AMP and HERA
• Experience working on a range of programme delivery modalities (e.g. contracts, accountable grants and technical assistance projects).
• Kinyarwanda language skills