Prosperity Fund Programme Manager (Economic Reform and Global Trade), C4 (L)

This position is being advertised as a 12-month contract with a possibility of extension.
Main purpose of job:
We are seeking a motivated and high performing programme manager for the Economic Reform and Global Trade Programmes in Vietnam and will be responsible for the successful delivery of the programmes, which is a part of the UK's Prosperity Fund.
The focus of the Global Trade Programme and Economic Reform programmes in Vietnam will be to:
• Reduce poverty and stimulate inclusive, sustainable economic growth;
• Improve the overarching business environment (e.g. regulatory reform, transparency) and finance
• Supplement wider Embassy/HMG efforts to reduce barriers to trade;
• Open new markets for international businesses, including UK companies.
This role will bring together a high level of independence in a complex environment, working closely with trade, economics and prosperity leads at the Embassy as well as across the region and in the FCO and Other Government Departments in the UK. Strong oversight is important as delivery of much of the programmes' delivery will be undertaken by external suppliers who may in turn sub-contract particular elements.
The successful candidate will build relationships and work closely with delivery partners, the Government of Vietnam, businesses, beneficiary agencies, NGOs and other external stakeholders to ensure successful delivery of the programme. S/he will work to the Head of Prosperity at the British Embassy in Vietnam and will coordinate with the regional Prosperity Fund Programme Office in the British High Commission in Singapore, other Posts in the region and government colleagues in the UK to achieve UK policy objectives and to ensure that programmes comply with OECD rules for ODA. An important aspect of the job will be working with Department of International Trade colleagues in Vietnam and in London to unlock the opportunities created by the Programmes' interventions for increased inward trade and investment, particularly for UK companies.
The Post will be based at the British Embassy in Hanoi, an international organisation committed to diversity and staff development. This is a challenging and exciting opportunity to play an influential role in a high-profile and strategic development initiative in South East Asia, which aims to have a positive impact on economic development and trade, as well as strengthening the relationship between the UK and Vietnam.
Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:
Prosperity is one of the UK's three Foreign Policy Priorities. We seek to 'build the UK's prosperity by increasing exports and investment, opening markets, ensuring access to resources, and promoting sustainable global growth'.
One tool for achieving this objective is a £1.2bn five-year Cross-Government Prosperity Fund, which was launched in April 2016 to help promote economic growth in developing countries. The purpose of the Prosperity Fund is to reduce poverty, by:
• Promoting economic reforms and removing barriers to trade
• Strengthening policy capacity and building strong institutions
• Developing sectors which support growth
The Global Trade Programme will provide technical assistance to support key target ODA-eligible Middle Income countries. Programme objectives are to boost economic growth and combat poverty, and support these countries to trade more effectively and efficiently with the rest of the world, including the UK. We will do this by focusing on tackling non-tariff barriers to trade, including regulatory reforms, intellectual property rights, standards, and streamlining customs procedures. These non-tariff barriers will form the core of programme activity. It is vital our analysis and research clarifies what the main NTBs are in Vietnam, the main issues in addressing these barriers, and how the UK can best support the Vietnam government over the coming years to alleviate them. The Economic Reform Programme will work on the overarching business environment (e.g. regulatory reform, transparency) and finance.
We are looking for a pro-active, engaged individual with a passion for delivering development impacts. The job holder will have three main responsibilities:
Leading on oversight of programme delivery in Vietnam:
• Engage with delivery partners, proactively seeking opportunities to oversee in-country delivery of the programmes' components by delivery partners. Utilise strong insight into the impact of the programmes beyond delivery of activity, ensuring synergy with other UK programming and activities in country;
• Deploy excellent programme management skills to drive forward delivery of the programmes in-country, including: inputting into and critically evaluating monitoring, reporting, evaluation and learning; inputting into procurement processes, providing local insight; overseeing delivery including resolution of issues and mitigating risk; managing local benefits realisation and managing relationships with implementing partners.
Proactive stakeholder management;
• Building strong relationships with the Government of Vietnam; across government Departments in Hanoi, HCMC and London and delivery partners / implementers;
• Liaise with the regional networks (Economics and Trade) and Communications colleagues to deliver effective communications activities.
• Reassessing the ongoing commitment to programme activities, planned outputs and outcomes;
• Avoiding wider duplication through awareness of other donor activities in the same space.
Effective and impactful day-to-day management of the programme:
• Liaise with the regional networks (Economics and Trade) and Communications colleagues to deliver effective communications activities.
• Co-ordinate with other programme officers in the SE Asian Prosperity Fund countries to drive consistency, deliver efficiencies and increase impact
• Inform the design of the Global Trade Programme throughout the inception period.
• Reporting to the service manager and the Global Trade Programme operational board in London.
• Support the secondary prosperity benefits of the programmes by identifying and promoting commercial opportunities (e.g. FinTech) to expand that market for international (including UK) trade and investment.
• Work closely with other Prosperity Fund programme managers in the Vietnam network (Embassy and Consulate General HCMC) to ensure these programmes are coordinated with and add value to wider objectives.
• Collaborate with Department of International Trade colleagues in the region and in London to unlock opportunities for increased inward trade and investment, particularly for UK firms
Alongside your core responsibilities you will need to:
• Support the wider Prosperity team, and take on Embassy corporate roles.
Resources managed (staff and expenditure):
• Staff: No direct line management is envisaged at this time. However, team management or leadership experience is preferred given the job holder will be responsible for ensuring strategic direction of the programme as a whole which will involve leading and negotiating with others.
• Resources: To be confirmed.
Essential qualifications, skills and experience
We are looking for a proactive, confident self-starter who can prioritise to operate in a fast-paced environment, largely unsupervised, delivering to deadlines.