Program Director Thailand

Tara Climate Foundation is a philanthropic climate foundation dedicated to fostering a future where Asia’s unwavering commitment to climate action paves the way for just, thriving and resilient societies. Tara operates in East, Southeast and South Asia, excluding India and China.

Our mission is to support a diverse group of partners in accelerating Asia’s energy transformation and championing climate action. Tara plays three main roles in the region:

Grantmaker: Tara works closely with mission-aligned foundations and philanthropists to pool resources and grant funds to organisations working to accelerate Asia’s energy transition and climate action (excluding China and India).

Convenor: Tara cultivates networks that facilitate the exchange of ideas between business, civil society, and government throughout and beyond Asia.

Local and regional expert: With strong networks spanning civil society, businesses and government, Tara funds thorough research and analysis to address knowledge gaps, stay abreast of emerging trends, and craft evidence-based strategies to advance our mission.

Despite heightened global focus on climate issues, philanthropic giving toward climate change initiatives remains disproportionately low, constituting just 2% of worldwide philanthropic giving, with an even smaller percentage allocated to Asia.

In response to this challenge, in 2021 Tara established its headquarters in Singapore and has experienced significant growth, expanding our funding base to include more than a dozen philanthropic foundations. Currently, we provide grants to over 300 organisations operating across 13 countries and jurisdictions in the Asia region. Our team of over 50 experts is spread across the Asia-Pacific region, working to combat climate change in this decisive decade.

The Program Director Thailand has overall responsibility and leadership of the country program, including developing and implementing program strategy, representation, convening and networking to drive systemic change and strengthen the national partner ecosystem. The Program Director Thailand is also responsible for partnerships and grants management and has an excellent understanding of the politics as well as economics of energy transition in the country, with experience working with government agencies, corporates, NGOs and think tanks.

The Program Director, Thailand will engage in the following key responsibilities:

Program Strategy

• Lead the development and implementation of the national long-term program strategy, aligned with Tara's organizational goals.
• Develop and manage the program budget, ensuring resource allocation supports strategic objectives.
• Conduct ongoing program evaluation and reporting on progress, impact, and lessons learned.
• Proactively monitor the political, energy, and economic landscape in Thailand to identify emerging opportunities and threats.

Partnership and Co-ordination

• Identify, assess, and onboard new partners for grantmaking aligned with the program strategy.
• Build and nurture a diverse ecosystem of trusted partners, fostering collaboration among stakeholders.
• Regularly assess partner capacity and provide strategic support for their organizational development.
• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure alignment of effort across the organization and the APAC region.

Representation & Networking

• Establish and maintain high-level relationships with key stakeholders, including funders, civil society, business and government to advance program objectives.
• Represent Tara at a national level to funders, civil society partners, business and government partners.
• Represent Tara national program at international and regional forums and where requested as a sole representative of Tara Climate Foundation.

Grantmaking

• Develop and manage a diverse portfolio of grants across a range of climate mitigation sectors.
• Provide guidance and support to grantees to ensure project success.
• Monitor grant progress and ensure timely and high-quality deliverables.
• Advise on legal, operational, and risk management aspects of grantmaking.

Convening & Collaboration 

• Organise and lead convenings of regional and national partners, funders and/or other key stakeholders to enhance strategy development, learning and impact in a way that fosters community, trust and collaboration.
• Lead coordination among partners nationally and regionally to ensure Tara achieves outcomes greater than the sum of individual partners' efforts.
• Collaborate effectively with Tara regional thematic and program support specialists.

Expertise & Knowledge

• Use strong knowledge of national, regional and global trends to inform strategic decision-making and adapt programs to changing contexts.
• Use deep expertise in Thailand political, social and economic context and energy systems to proactively scan for emerging risks and opportunities for Tara's work. Confidently communicate insights to key external audiences as well as internal collaborators.

Leadership & Management

• Provide leadership to and manage a team of up to 4 Tara team members.
• Contribute to Tara's organisational leadership and culture and actively role model Tara's values.
• Provide mentoring and coaching to team members and direct their professional development.
• Promote a culture of excellence, service orientation, high performance, and continuous improvement

Compliance & Risk Management

• Uphold all organisational standard operating procedures and policies including compliance, budget and financial management, human resources, procurement and IT.
• Integrate risk management, safeguarding and safety & security management into ongoing ways of working to protect people, information and assets.

Excited by the prospect of working for a dynamic and fast-growing international organisation dedicated to addressing the climate crisis, the ideal candidate will have at least:

• 15+ years of relevant work experience, gained in either local or international foundations, donor agencies, NGOs or clean energy related companies or financial institutions.
• 7+ years’ experience in leadership positions, with experience managing experienced/expert team members.

In addition, the ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• A strong understanding of the Thailand energy system, the barriers and opportunities for accelerating its energy transition.
• A strong understanding of national climate policy, the major sectors driving greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand and the scope for change.
• Strategic thinking capabilities, and the ability to translate strategy into action.
• An understanding of the role of civil society organisations in effecting policy change.
• An ability to maintain trusting professional relationships across different sectors, a diverse group of partners, including many working in different cultural contexts.
• Experience in leading coordination and collaboration with diverse stakeholders, such as government, parliament, corporates, think tanks, universities, local governments, NGOs, and CSOs.
• An existing good network including senior policy and decision-makers in industry, government, business and NGOs; experience working with government institutions and/or business associations a plus.
• Team leadership experience, with the ability to manage a high performing team in line with Tara's values, organisational culture and standard operating procedures.
• Experience in grant making and grant portfolio management.
• Excellent written and oral English and Thai communication skills.Reliable computer skills with standard applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Sharepoint)

Personal Attributes:

• Deep commitment to solving the climate crisis and enabling systemic change.
• Intrinsic motivation and excellent organisational and self-management skills.
• Deeply collaborative;
• Flexibility over working hours to accommodate global time zones.
• Willingness to travel both regionally and internationally.
• Impeccable ethics, and experience of working securely and confidentially and operating with high security.

Education:

Master’s degree qualification or relevant expertise in a relevant field such as renewable energy, environmental management, business administration, economics, or sustainable development

Location:

The candidate must be based in Thailand and hold citizenship or long-term residency status with legal permit to reside and work in that country.

What Tara offers:

• The unique opportunity to work as part of a highly dynamic, international team who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to work
• A flexible work environment
• Opportunities for career develop and challenge yourself
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• A collaborative, fun and thriving team, driven by our mission and live our values

To Apply:

This recruitment is being handled by NGORecruitment.

To apply, please go to the following link:

https://apply.jobadder.com/16830/964700/olsssmcrmviupcvjkaxxn2qpc4?site=au3

Tara is committed to building leadership capacity within Asia. This position is based in Thailand. Applicants must have the right to work in the country.