Programme Lead - Upsall International

Programme Lead

The deadline for applications is Sunday 11^th August 2024.

Location: London, United Kingdom

Location type:                Hybrid, 2- 3 days a week in office

Reporting to:                  CEO

Annual salary:                Starts at £65K GBP, significant upward potential for the right candidate

Contract type:                Full-time, Permanent

Candidate level:             Experienced

Background
Jacobs Futura Foundation is a newly established philanthropic foundation based in London and aiming for lasting impact. Our two distinct areas of focus are protecting the world’s tropical rainforests and supporting athletes in the transition to life after their sporting careers. The core principles for the Foundation which frame how we think and operate are:

We take a long-term view – we seek lasting, systemic change in the areas we target
We have a strategic focus – we are interested in outcomes and impact in our selected areas
We are open-minded – our interest is in learning what will make a difference, based on evidence and experience
We have a global outlook but believe change starts on the ground at the local level
We seek to develop long-term, deep and mutual partnerships

JFF fosters a culture of openness, positivity and a bias to action. We want to create lasting impact. We want to build a true sense of shared values and, importantly, we want an energised, collaborative workplace. The Foundation seeks to protect the world’s tropical rainforests for the benefit of nature, the climate and the communities that depend on them, and to prevent further deforestation by addressing the underlying drivers leading to their destruction. We will work globally but are likely to have a deeper footprint in Africa and Latin America. We will target projects that are financially and socially viable for the long-term, for example with the participation of indigenous peoples, local communities and/or national government buy-in, and with strong alternative revenue sources. We will draw on the experience of others and grow our own in-house expertise. We will fund approaches based on evidence, remain clear-focused, collaborate with others and adopt a learning approach to our grant-making.

Purpose of role
This role will manage and develop significant aspects our growing rainforest grant portfolio which covers Latin America, Africa and cross-cutting aspects. This role will include:

Overseeing the entire lifecycle of grants within our rainforest portfolio.
Leading the development of future grant-making phases, building on learnings to enhance and expand a strategically aligned and impactful portfolio.
Identify and cultivate partnerships (e.g., grantees, funders, private or public sector collaborations) to maximize impact.
Identify and pursue opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing across different regions.
Introduce and promote innovative ideas and approaches to accelerate impact, such as leveraging technology for rainforest protection and addressing political-economic drivers to prevent further destruction.
Oversee certain cross-cutting themes related to rainforest conservation.

Given our emphasis on collaboration and leveraging learnings for greater impact, the successful candidate is expected to actively engage in and contribute to key discussions and thought leadership around tropical rainforest protection, informing our work and that of the broader community. Ultimately, this role will be a significant contributor to the Foundation’s strategic approach.

Primary responsibilities
Strategy

Take a leading role in shaping the Foundation’s overall approach to protecting tropical rainforests and preventing further destruction with a particular focus on Latin America.
Identify where the Foundation can be most impactful including what approaches, which geographies, which partners, and which projects.
Evolve and develop the strategic approach through research and continuous learning, based on experience and evidence.

Programme management

Oversee and ensure implementation of the strategy, including sourcing and reviewing funding opportunities, testing different approaches and partners, tracking progress, adapting as required.
Develop budgets, activity schedules and monitoring and evaluation frameworks for specific programmes and projects.
Manage and execute the end-to-end administration of grants including due diligence, the development of and management of grant agreements, developing and tracking KPIs to assess progress, contracting and payments for approved grants, conducting reviews of programmes and partners; and providing regular updates and reports to the Board.

Communication and engagement

Be an advocate for the Foundation and the cause, representing the Foundation at meetings with a variety of stakeholders.
Demonstrate thought leadership on the subject, identifying new ideas and opportunities, forging connections and highlighting issues of importance to enable an enhanced and more aligned strategic approach across the wider community.
Build and maintain a network with the wider private, public and non-profit sectors to inform our approach and advocate for our mission.
Directly interact with the Foundation’s Board and senior stakeholders about relevant aspects of our work.

Measurement and learning

Keep abreast of and contribute to new developments, evidence and experience, within and outside the portfolio.
Apply these to support the learnings of the Foundation, the evolution of the strategy, the enhancement of impact and the broader knowledgebase of the community.
Develop and oversee the programme’s results and impact framework and directly report on this to the CEO and Board.
Embrace a learning approach to the evaluation of the Foundation’s work.

Organisation

Actively contribute towards the wider vision, mission and objectives of the Foundation.
Be a team-player, supporting and learning from other colleagues to strengthen our overall organisation.

This job description is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities. The job holder may be required to complete any other duties in line with the role.

Profile
As part of a small and ambitious team, the successful individual will need to be a self-starter, happy to work both autonomously and collaboratively and lean into the work required. The role will work particularly closely with the Foundation’s CEO and programme analysts.

We are looking for a highly motivated and proactive individual. The nature of the role also means that the candidate will need excellent project management skills. The work will range from big-picture thinking including strategic, global, and systems-change-thinking, through to practical project management such as grant administration, research, budgeting and progress evaluation, requiring good attention to detail. To thrive in the role the successful individual will be able to work in a varied, fast-moving, and sometimes ambiguous context and have excellent communication and relationship skills.

The Foundation’s success will be through others, so the successful candidate will also demonstrate humility, a belief in collaboration and partnerships and a learning and sharing mindset.

Experience

5- 7 years of relevant work experience – this does not have to be directly on tropical rainforests but can be a related area, e.g. sustainability, conservation, commodity trade and finance. We are open to candidates from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors (NGO, think tank or trusts and foundations).
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to present complex ideas clearly.
Proven track record in developing, pushing forward and implementing innovative programmes or initiatives.
Preparation and administration of project budgets and managing financial information
Project management experience.
Experienced in planning and organising a portfolio of work, including convening meetings and events.
A track record of building strong partnerships and managing multiple internal and external relationships to achieve outcomes.

Skills and attributes

A motivated, driven individual who is passionate about making a difference and acts with humility and respect.
Entrepreneurial and with a bias to action, demonstrates a pragmatic and solution/results-oriented mindset.
A strategist and tactician; a systems-thinker who realises the importance of implementation.
A self-starter with experience of multitasking and managing priorities, who thrives within a varied role who can work at pace and with resilience.
Able to travel internationally and work flexible hours when required.
Fluent in English, working proficiency in French, Spanish or Portuguese preferred but not required.
Right to work in the UK.

Jacobs Futura Foundation staff benefits

A matched contribution pension scheme, to which JFF contributes 5% of the employee’s salary, making a total 10% contribution.
Private medical and dental insurance, with options for individuals to separately pay to extend coverage for family members.
Life insurance as a death-in-service benefit. Should the staff member die whilst in employment with us, then an amount equivalent to three times their salary will be paid out to their nominated beneficiaries.
25 days’ holiday per year in addition to public holidays.
Access to a learning and development fund, for professional development relevant to staff members’ roles and in line with organisational priorities.
A flexible working approach, with offices in central London.
Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption leave; shared parental leave; and parental bereavement leave.

Please contact Ruth Gardner at ruth@darylupsall.com for any queries you may have.

The deadline for application is Sunday 11^th August 2024

Interviews will be the Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st of August

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Daryl Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required; irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation.