Main purpose of job:

To coordinate British High Commission Kigali work to combat climate change and protect the environment, in particular diplomatic action to deliver on UK objectives as host of COP26. There will be two key platforms for this delivery:

1) The 2020 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali; and

2) The 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in November 2021, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow.

Roles and responsibilities 

• To coordinate regular bilateral engagement with the Rwandan government on climate and environment issues. This will include creating strong relationships with officials across the Government of Rwanda on climate and environment issues including mitigation, adaptation, nature, plastics and renewable energy among others.
• Relevant Government of Rwanda ministries include:  Ministry of Environment, Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• To understand UK COP26 objectives including negotiations, mitigation commitments and the 5 priority campaigns, and to spot opportunities to engage with partners in Rwanda to achieve these objectives.
• To work with colleagues to ensure coherence between UK COP26 priorities and CHOGM Environment priorities.
• To develop, maintain and implement the British High Commission’s COP26 strategy for Rwanda. This will involve working with BHC colleagues working on economic, political, prosperity, development and communications issues.
• To coordinate with colleagues based in the UK on engagement with Rwanda, advising on local sensitivities and priorities.
• To lead on drafting and coordinating briefing for meetings and visits that UK ministers and senior officials will have with Rwandan counterparts.
• To shape climate messaging for external communications to best demonstrate UK objectives and efforts in this area, alongside BHC communications colleagues.
• To plan and implement engagement with non-Government actors. This will include building relationships with working level contacts in Kigali City Authority as well as relevant businesses, NGOs and civil society.
• To monitor progress and impact of UK engagement with Rwanda and continue to work together on shared climate goals after CHOGM and COP26 while Rwanda remain Commonwealth chair.

• Strong interest in climate change and environment issues.
• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field, for instance, Public Policy, Public Administration, International Relations, Climate and Environment Science, etc.
• Understanding of international climate change policy – UNFCCC and COP.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience of managing diverse and senior level relationships.
• Excellent task management, especially ability to manage multiple pieces of work at once.
• Excellent written English.
• Ability to work at pace.
• Self-starter. Will be managed remotely so will need to be able to work independently.
• Excellent IT skills.