Principal Consultant, Climate and Health

Overview

The Health team within the Policy Practice at Oxford Policy Management is currently seeking a Principal Consultant, Climate & Health (C&H) on a full-time, permanent basis.  The position can be based in any of the following offices: Addis Ababa, Nairobi, New Delhi, Pakistan, or remotely in the UK.

We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet.

Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement and evaluate impactful public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience, and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change.

Position Summary

The climate–health nexus is the dynamic relationship between climate change and health outcomes. Climate-related hazards and environmental change affect population health, disease burden and health-system performance, while climate adaptation, mitigation and resilient health systems can deliver health, development and equity benefits.

As OPM develops and positions its work at the intersection of climate and health, the Principal Consultant, C&H will provide strategic leadership for this growing area. The role combines business development, market shaping, technical and team leadership, programme oversight and external engagement, with accountability for building a high-performing Climate & Health portfolio.

The Principal Consultant, C&H will bring deep technical expertise in climate or health policy, together with a strong understanding of how these fields intersect to create one of the world’s most complex policy challenges. Working across OPM’s Nature, Resources and Growth and Health teams, they will identify and shape the areas in which OPM can add the greatest value, grounded in an understanding of the complex problems our clients are seeking to solve. They will lead proactive market assessment, engagement and pre-positioning to expand OPM’s C&H portfolio and ensure that OPM is well placed to pursue strategic opportunities.

As a Principal Consultant, Climate and Health at OPM you will:

Lead and grow our C&H technical capability

Set the strategic direction and growth priorities for our work at the climate-health nexus.

Embed work on C&H as a technical priority area amongst climate, health and other inter-related teams at OPM, drawing on expertise of colleagues across the organisation in a diversity of disciplines including climate finance and health systems strengthening to align a high-level technical offer.

Recruit, retain, mentor and develop technical and consulting talent, including developing C&H expertise across the broader Health team.

Ensure delivery against agreed financial, business development, technical and organisational objectives.

Drive business development and market positioning

Systematically identify, assess and prioritise C&H opportunities across priority markets, funders and geographies.

Develop and maintain strong relationships with bilateral and multilateral donors, philanthropic foundations, climate finance institutions and other relevant funders.

Engage directly with funders and clients to understand their priorities, shape opportunities and position OPM’s capabilities.

Develop compelling bid strategies, including technical positioning, value propositions, partnership models and competitive differentiation.

Lead the development of technical proposals, including methodologies, technical approaches, workplans, delivery models, team structures and technical narratives.

Coordinate technical contributions from internal teams, external experts and consortium partners.

Drive technical excellence in delivery

Provide senior technical advice to governments, clients, funders, development partners and other stakeholders in LMICs.

Shape rigorous and practical approaches to understanding and addressing the health impacts of climate and environmental change.

Lead on technical delivery, in a remit of Technical Team Leader (TTL) or Technical Director (TD), ensuring that suggested technical approaches reflect the latest evidence, policy developments and emerging practice.

Build technical capability and knowledge across the Hub and wider Health Team.

Strengthen OPM’s reputation, thought leadership and network in C&H

Lead or contribute to high-quality publications, technical papers, policy briefs, reports and other knowledge products.

Act as our primary external representative on the C&H agenda, engaging with conferences, presentations, webinars and other external platforms.

Maintain a strong understanding of emerging evidence, policy developments, funding trends and innovations in C&H.

Key Qualifications / Experience / Skills / Behaviours

Advanced degree in public health, climate change, environmental health, international development or another relevant discipline.

Significant professional experience in the development of climate or health related public policy development within LMIC contexts, with professional exposure to work at the climate-health nexus.

Strong interest in international C&H policy, evidence, financing and institutional landscape.

Strong knowledge of key global and regional actors, funders, initiatives and emerging priorities relevant to C&H.

Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical evidence into practical policy, programme and investment recommendations.

Strong track record in proactive business development, market development and strategic prepositioning.

Demonstrated experience engaging directly with funders and clients to understand priorities, shape opportunities and develop new business.

Strong understanding of donor procurement processes and funding mechanisms.

Demonstrated experience leading complex and high-value bids from opportunity identification through to submission.

Strong understanding of the relationship between technical design, resourcing, pricing, risk and commercial competitiveness.

Demonstrated ability to provide senior strategic and technical advice to governments, funders, development partners and other stakeholders.

Experience of working within a global, matrixed organisational setting.

Empowering, enabling and accountable people management style, with experience in identifying and nurturing talent.

Excellent analytical, technical writing and communication skills.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Strong networking, influencing and stakeholder-management capabilities.

Strong analytical, strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

Highly collaborative approach, combined with the confidence to lead and challenge where required.

Our Offer

• We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work cross functionally, and space to engage with a range of internal and external industry events.
• Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.
• We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.
• Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.
• Competitive salary and contributory pension scheme.
• We are strengthened by the diversity of colleagues across our global business and are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.
• Our recruitment practices reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more inclusive and firm belief that our work delivers the best outcomes when we actively include a diversity of perspectives and experiences.

Application

If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we would love to hear from you.

Please submit your application through our careers’ site by the closing date. We review and interview applicants on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply by way of CV via our careers site at the earliest.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role and candidates must have a pre-existing right to work in Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Pakistan or the UK for their application to be considered.

Oxford Policy Management is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of the business. Should you require adjustments to make the application process more accessible please inform us through completing this form or scan the QR code below.