Role: Manager – UK Country Delivery Lead (Maternity cover)  

Location: London 

Reports to: UK Associate Director / Director 

Contract: 12 months, Fixed Term Contract, Full Time (Part time considered).  

Salary Range: Salary range £65-£75 k  

Right to work:  Given the short-term nature of this role, we are only able to consider applicants who currently have the right to work in the UK, as visa sponsorship is not available for this role.  

Expected Start Date: January 2026 (please be available to start at the start of the month) 

Updated: November 2025 

About CPI
 Climate Policy Initiative
(CPI) is an analysis and advisory organization with deep expertise in finance and policy. Our mission is to help governments, businesses, and financial institutions drive economic growth while addressing climate change. CPI has seven offices around the world in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

CPI is a global leader in tracking sustainable investment trends, identifying innovative business models, and supporting the solutions that can drive the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, inclusive economy. We are unique in our focus on finance, our ability to get the right people to the table, and our analytical rigor.   

About the role
  CPI is recruiting for a Manager, UK Country Delivery Lead (Maternity cover) to join our UK regional team on a fixed term basis. This is a unique opportunity to play a vital role in delivery across CPI’s core areas of work, in support of the Tracking, Integrity, Food Systems and Cities workstreams. The role focuses on project management, effectiveness and program delivery. The candidate will work with CPI’s global Functional teams (Operations, Finance and Communications) and UK research teams to strengthen the project management function, continue and drive improvements in the delivery of our programs, and support project managers across our ~25 funded projects led from the UK in 2026.  

In addition to this role the Country Delivery Lead will support the UK Director and Associate Director to ensure CPI’s climate finance team in the UK have the management information; tools and systems needed to deliver strategic excellence and maximise the impact of our work. This role is likely to have line management responsibilities.  

Key responsibilities could include (but are not limited to): 

Program delivery management – Global and UK  

Maintain and enhance key processes to support project delivery management in the UK: 

• Inspire and manage the UK ‘project delivery lead’ team to deliver effectively; lead monthly meetings to stay on top of key challenges; provide support to the team and share experiences amongst Project Managers (PMs). Direct line or dotted line management of project delivery staff (3-4 FTE) 
• Provide day-to-day support on specific project delivery challenges escalated to the Country Delivery Lead role.  
• Drive a solutions orientated approach and feedback to UK leadership where challenges are encountered and suggest appropriate organisational improvements.  
• Act as a temporary project manager on select high value business development opportunities when resource needs are high and decision-making is complex. This will require direct engagement with funders.  

Maintain and improve UK office / project reporting: 

• Keep oversight of all project budgets; the UK office budget, including all spend progress and forecasts, updating progress monthly and reporting to the Director 
• Review regularly the consolidated monthly KPIs with UK leadership (to inform strategy and tactics; ensure budget delivery against the 2026 operating budget; and support in-year decision making). 
• Review (and potentially approve or recommend) resourcing allocations and needs, improving distribution cross-workstream and globally; and feed into workforce planning.  
• Review business development and pipeline metrics and strategy. Ensure UK’s Fluxx database is updated. Track BD opportunities and link to budget forecasting. 

Drive and input into project management system improvements:  

• Focus on implementing the NetSuite Suite Projects Pro (SPP) project management tool across UK workstreams in 2026.  
• Finalise outstanding design issues in coordination with central Operations. 
• Participate in, and coordinate Subject Matter Experts, for extensive testing. 
• Test and strengthen SPP so the tool is user-friendly, efficient and fit-for-purpose.  
• Contribute to the training approach for project management. 
• Feed into a standard operating procedure document. 
• Maintain coordination with central Operations and other CPI offices. 
• Review new approvals processes and collate all UK feedback on Netsuite SPP. 

In order to succeed you will need to: 

• Rapidly develop a solid understanding of CPI’s project delivery approach, understanding the risks and practicalities of project delivery across 25 separate projects, to specific milestones in coordination with the research teams and supporting them with resource allocation and budget surveillance. 
• Bring a proactive problem-solving approach which enables you to understand both opportunities and challenges of project delivery for the UK in 2026; coordination with central functions and propose effective solutions over the duration of the contract term.  
• Reflect deep Project Management expertise and be
  ready to join our established teams and project confidence and credibility into specific projects and be ready to take decisions and guide the teams to successful delivery. Based on a distinguished project management focused resume, ideally delivering grants and investments by public development agencies and philanthropies.  
• Ability to deliver on time and on budget with clear evidence of managing across multiple projects, with individual projects exceeding annual values of $1m funding per year. 
• Foster a culture of UK office learning and improvement across project delivery through leading meetings which enable and encourage knowledge exchange. 

About You
 Qualifications & Experience  

• Substantial professional experience – 8-12 years (at a credible senior level) in project management ideally within a climate and/or nature finance arena covering grant and project management, including in research institutions, think tanks, major consulting firms, or other relevant organizations.   
• Demonstrated program, grant and project management skills.  Including proficiency in project management tools and software applications. Experience working with project management tools (specifically Netsuite SSP / Fluxx / Intaact) will be favoured. Professional project management qualification preferred.  
• MA or MSc degree required with professional experience in the fields of international development, economics, finance, climate change, sustainability, or another relevant field. 
• Written and spoken fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of a second language is an advantage.  
• Advanced user of MS Office suite.  
• Proven management experience with the ability to lead, develop, and support teams in a fast-paced, multicultural environment. 

Competencies & Personal Attributes
  

• Demonstrated leadership and project delivery abilities and a collaborative approach to working in a multi-cultural team environment.  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages for diverse audiences.   
• Independent, analytical thinking with a track record of applying sound financial, and strategic judgment to complex project delivery issues.  
• Ability to juggle multiple projects, tasks and priorities whilst adhering to set deadlines and keeping the big picture in mind.   
• You are self-motivated and dependable with a passion for learning.   
• You can keep calm under pressure and perform assignments with absolute professionalism and sensitivity to internal and external client demands.   
• Your values are aligned with CPI’s – you believe in the importance of aligning finance with low-carbon and climate-resilient pathways and want to be part of a positive change in the world.   
• Strong attention to detail, organization, time management, and prioritization skills.  

To apply:  

Please submit the following documents:  

• CV/resume strictly no longer than 2 pages.    
• A compelling cover letter outlining (responding to the following prompts) strictly no longer than 1 page: 
• What excites you about this role at CPI? 
• Why are you going to be a great choice for us, show how your resume underpins this? 
• Will you have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the contract?  
• Will you be able to meet our 40% time in the London office guidance? 

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. 

 Please add notifications@app.bamboohr.com to your contact list to ensure delivery of all correspondence from us.   
 

Applications deadline. 

10 am (GMT) 1st of December 2025.  

CPI Commitment 

Climate Policy Initiative is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and we are working to embed DEI across every facet of our organisation. We seek to establish a working environment where all board members, staff, volunteers, and contractors feel respected and valued regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation or identity, disability, education, or any other bias. We want to create an inclusive culture where all forms of diversity are openly valued as critical to the success of our organization and the achievement of our mission and vision.   

If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application. We will then work with you to identify the best way to assist you through the recruitment process.