Senior Manager, Climate (Transportation and Air Quality)

at  The Childrens Investment Fund Foundation

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• The work is fascinating, varied, collaborative and would suit someone with proven experience working on the zero carbon transition of the transport sector. A range of experience in central government, the private sector or civil society and direct experience with working in or with NGOs and policy-makers would all bring valuable skills to the role
• Experienced leader of significant projects and programmes. Significant experience on climate policy and international capacity building. Proven experience in the transportation sector and other sectors ideally across a range of regions – with a mix of private/public/NGO an advantage.
• Demonstrable experience in analysis and due diligence; policy, planning and programme delivery, all within the climate or public policy sectors.
• Proven experience in results-based delivery and implementation, as well as the measurement and reporting of delivered impact.
• Knowledge of the evidence bases pertaining to programme design and implementation, and belief in the importance of evidence-based decision making.
• An innovative and entrepreneurial thinker with a pragmatic and solution-oriented mindset.
• Ability to analyse an organisation’s strength of management, vision, and adaptive capacity. Ability to recruit, guide, influence and/or advise management teams to effectively implement programmes.
• Effectively champions and promotes causes – credible and professional, always presenting the Foundation’s programmes in a compelling way to engage audiences.
• Skilled in relationship building and strengthening; able to influence others and work collaboratively, uniting groups with a shared purpose.
• English is CIFF’s business language – we expect all our people to display outstanding verbal and written communication skills across all aspects of their role.
• Capacity to work in a range of cultural, political, and socio-economic contexts, adapting style and approach appropriately and in a culturally sensitive manner to maximise effectiveness
• IT proficiency (most specifically in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• A proven self-starter, who works with pace and resilience

Sector knowledge and profile-building

• Be CIFF’s subject matter expert in transportation, air quality and super pollutants, keeping abreast of developments, establishing appropriate information gathering networks and channels to deepen professional knowledge and skills, and sharing knowledge appropriately across the CIFF climate matrix structure.
• Through this credibility proactively contribute to the development of thought leadership, PR, marketing and advocacy materials, to support CIFF’s ambitions to scale-up, mainstream and leverage additional support for its initiatives, with minimal Director oversight

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The CIFF Climate team is driven by a vision of a climate-safe future for today’s children and future generations. We support the urgent global transition to a zero-carbon society. We are committed to strategies that get to the heart of the greatest climate challenges and are willing to support new approaches to accelerate action and the step-change in ambition required to keep global warming below 1.5 deg C.
This role is fast-paced and incredibly diverse and will focus on three key areas. As CIFF’s main expert on transportation (including shipping, aviation, road transport, transport finance), air quality and super pollutants, the post-holder will provide strategic direction for future investments in these sectors – taking a long-term view on what is needed to win and build the ecosystem.
The post-holder will directly manage a high-quality portfolio of investment proposals and active programmes that contribute to the delivery of the climate sector team priorities, meet the corporate objectives of the CIFF Board and the goals of our global Missions.
The post-holder will also provide cross-cutting thought leadership and connectivity to our regional investments and other global investment areas such as cities, cooling, finance, corporate accountability and methane.

ROLE’S RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy and planning

• Lead on the development of strategies related to transportation (with a particular focus on shipping, aviation, road transport, transport finance), air quality and cross-sectoral approaches to super pollutants – working collaboratively with NGOs, other funders, and regranters.
• Horizon scan to focus on the funding needs and field capacity/skills needed to win over the next 2-5 years.
• Prepare and present high-quality analysis and research for the Board/Investment Committee, as required, to support determining future strategic priorities and setting operational plans.
• Lead the production of programme strategy and the associated evidence base, guiding and coaching other members of the climate team to provide relevant inputs, prior to a proposal’s submission for approval.
• Provide input into organisation-wide strategy development and implementation linked to the areas of responsibility, including contributing to risk management and corporate communications / external affairs.

Programme development, delivery and performance

• Personally manage a portfolio of live programmes (including Clean Air Fund) and an active pipeline of potential, in accordance with the sector priorities and plan.
• Lead on CIFF’s global approach to transportation, air quality as well as super pollutant co-ordination, and assume responsibility for ensuring connectivity across our regional portfolios (including India, China, EU, Africa) as well as across other sectoral global investments (such as Global Methane Hub, Industry, Finance and Corporate Accountability).
• Against key corporate and / or sector team indicators and targets, monitor and report internally on the performance of assigned portfolio.
• Instigate course correcting action when targets are not being met or investments are not delivering as expected.
• Lead accountability for applying due diligence and risk management protocols appropriately throughout the development and delivery of proposals and programmes, to ensure the interests and reputation of the Foundation are protected.
• Conduct structured feasibility analysis on investment proposals, using an appropriate range of methodologies and techniques, to ensure they are based on logical and robust assumptions, which can withstand scrutiny from the Executive Team (ET) and CIFF Board.
• Lead work either with sector colleagues or independently, to prepare summary reports, board reports and portfolio investment reports, ensuring these are produced to a high-standard and in a timely fashion, often within tight timeframes.
• Lead the development of grant agreements, to forecast and process grant payments and to enable effective grant management and reporting within the organisation.
• Identify and embed appropriate monitoring and evaluation processes to all proposals and programmes.
• Conduct regular reviews of the progress and performance of programmes under delivery to identify problems and delays, and work with partners to develop effective solutions (escalating to more senior colleagues for support and intervention, where required).
• Identify opportunities and options for improving processes, procedures and programme management approaches within (and beyond) the team, to support increased organisational efficiency and effectiveness.

Sector knowledge and profile-building

• Be CIFF’s subject matter expert in transportation, air quality and super pollutants, keeping abreast of developments, establishing appropriate information gathering networks and channels to deepen professional knowledge and skills, and sharing knowledge appropriately across the CIFF climate matrix structure.
• Through this credibility proactively contribute to the development of thought leadership, PR, marketing and advocacy materials, to support CIFF’s ambitions to scale-up, mainstream and leverage additional support for its initiatives, with minimal Director oversight.

Stakeholder and partner management

• Lead the design and execution of strategies to strengthen CIFF’s partnerships to enable adoption, replication, co-funding or scaling-up of CIFF’s transportation, air quality and super pollutant strategies.
• Represent CIFF in key funder collaboratives, shaping and aligning collective strategies and governance.
• Conduct rigorous research and evaluation of potential partners, using agreed corporate protocols and techniques, to assess their suitability and credentials for collaborating on CIFF initiatives.
• Apply CIFF’s agreed account management disciplines and approaches in all dealings with programme partners and stakeholders, to ensure productive and professional relationships are maintained in a coordinated and strategic manner.
• With a variety of external audiences, develop and maintain strong partnerships and act as a knowledgeable resource about CIFF’s programmes and priority areas.

Membership and leadership of the team

• Be a role model to less experienced team members, demonstrating CIFF’s leadership behaviours and providing mentorship to aid their growth.
• Adopt a coaching approach with colleagues which instills a culture of openness and trust, embraces diverse thinking, and encourages continuous improvement and learning.
• Act as deputy for the Director, Climate in representing the organisation at key events, contributing sectoral input to the CIFF Missions, and other areas as required.