LATAM Regional Lead, UK PACT

LATAM Regional Lead, UK PACT

About UK PACT

UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) is a programme funded by the UK Government that supports countries with high emissions reduction potential to overcome barriers to clean growth. We deliver capacity building activities to accelerate partner countries’ transition to low carbon development.

UK PACT provides countries with the expertise they need to cut emissions quickly and grow their economy sustainably. Running since 2018, it works in partnership with over 20 countries with large and growing emissions or important ecosystems to tackle the most pressing climate issues they face, from power to planning and green finance, to forests and land management. UK PACT deploys the best local, in-country expertise, while also leveraging the UK’s world-class public and private sector experts to deliver impactful and long-lasting change through both short- and long-term projects.

This Opportunity:

Palladium is recruiting a Regional Lead for the LATAM region of the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) programme (covering Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and the Amazon Regional Fund) in Latin America.

This is a leadership role responsible for overseeing UK PACT delivery across the region, supporting Fund Managers, managing strategic stakeholder relationships particularly with the FCDO, identifying regional opportunities, and ensuring the effective delivery of a portfolio of climate mitigation grants and technical assistance projects, particularly for energy transitions, climate finance, and the bioeconomy. We are seeking an experienced, empathetic, highly organised programme leader with a strong background in donor-funded programme management, stakeholder engagement, and climate or low-carbon development initiatives, particularly energy transitions, climate finance, and the bioeconomy. We are particularly interested in candidates with a strong coaching and mentoring mindset and a demonstrated ability to support, develop, and lead high-performing teams across multiple countries.

This is a full-time, hybrid role based in Brazil preferably São Paulo or Bogotá, Colombia. The position is offered on a fixed-term contract, with an anticipated start date in late November or December 2026 and an end date of 31 March 2028.

Role and purpose

The UK PACT LATAM Regional Lead will be Palladium’s ‘on-the-ground’ liaison, supporting and implementing the FCDO strategy for UK PACT bilateral partnerships in the LATAM region. This will include overseeing day-to-day stakeholder engagement, providing key contextual insights and overseeing the ongoing regional portfolio of grants.

Working closely with the Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader, the LATAM Regional Lead will provide support, regional context and insight, connect country-level activities with wider programme priorities, promote coordinated decision-making, and help teams navigate complex programme challenges across the region. The postholder will strengthen collaboration and consistency across countries and foster a positive culture that supports professional development.

The Regional Lead will work flexibly across the fund’s delivery cycle, adapting support to evolving portfolio needs, programme priorities, client requirements and operational demands. The postholder may also undertake other duties consistent with the nature, level and purpose of the role.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the areas outlined below.

1. 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 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 the region, 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 Fund Implementation Plans.

2. Team management and capacity building

• Provide line management to all Fund Managers in the 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:

º 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.

º 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.

º 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.

3. Risk Management

• Lead the implementation of UK PACT’s Risk Management Strategy across the region, 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 escalate concerns as necessary;

4. 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 impleme