JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – Bio-economy Lead, British Embassy Lima – Maternity Cover

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)

Job Subcategory

Climate Diplomacy

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

The successful applicant will play a key role in delivering against the UK government’s climate and nature priorities in Peru by guiding our strategy to scale up innovative anchor bio-business models that keep the forest standing and benefit Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC), integrating Amazonian products into UK supply chains. The aim is to create economic incentives to halt deforestation in the second largest extension of the Amazon, help Peru accelerate its transition towards a low-carbon, nature-positive economy, and deliver the country’s ambitious Joint Declaration of Intent, Nationally Determined Contributions and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan – backed by policy reform, multilateral development banks, and global climate and nature funds.

This is an exciting maternity cover within the Embassy’s Climate, Nature and Infrastructure (CNI) section (13 staff), which works towards mobilising flows of accessible, quality climate and nature finance, including clean power investment, and promoting market access for products derived from Amazonian superfruits to keep 1.5C alive and reverse biodiversity loss. Our work is divided into three priority themes: (1) green finance, (2) energy transition, and (3) bio-economy, with policy advocacy and tackling environmental crime as foundation and a gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) approach based on improving access to finance and decision-making for IPLC. We tackle the climate and nature crises not separately from promoting economic growth, but intrinsic to it.

The post holder will shape Peru’s national strategy for the development of the bio-economy as an important pathway for economic diversification. They will strengthen our partnership with Peru’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) when it comes to setting a joint vision for the Amazon. An important aspect of the role will be to direct the Embassy in how to align centrally managed programmes and other initiatives to deliver the UK’s strategic objectives related to the bio-economy. They will also seek to showcase success stories and challenges of IPLC accessing finance and markets.

This role will report to the Head of Forests and Climate and will be expected to actively contribute to the Embassy’s broader work on climate and nature, supporting analysis, communications and events.
The post holder will also collaborate closely with other colleagues in the Embassy, UK embassies throughout the Amazon region and officials from the UK’s International Forests Unit and other parts of the British government (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business and Trade). They will report on developments on the bio-economy in Peru and the region, bringing together the big picture on politics, programming and policy to analyse trends.

Roles and responsibilities:

Strategy Leadership – 50%

• Plan, manage and follow up on the third Bio-economy Taskforce in February 2026 by demonstrating progress and partnerships on market access, finance, regulation, and innovation.
• Champion policy dialogue and improve coordination across a couple of priority value chains via a bio-business working group under MEF’s Executive Board for the Development of the Amazon.
• Oversee the work of an expert deployed by the UK’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) programme to shape Peru’s national strategy for the bio-economy, applying the concept of “Smart Technical Assistance” (i.e. process of change, not just outputs).
• Act as private sector engagement lead and strengthen the Embassy’s relationship with: MEF on the Amazon (with the Green Finance Lead), MIDAGRI, SERFOR, MINCETUR, PromPeru, PRODUCE.
• Work closely with Embassy colleagues from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on the promotion of new consumer products from the Amazon in the UK and inward investment.
• Contribute to the regional bio-economy community of practice and integrate Peru in relevant conferences, exploring concepts such as “circular economy”.

Programme Management – 30%

• Guide the inception phase of the Investment in Forests and Sustainable Land Use programme (IFSLU2), with an emphasis on mobilising private sector action and investment to protect forests.
• Oversee one to two UK PACT projects, including a consortium led by Rainforest Alliance to break down international market entry barriers (e.g. novel foods regulation) for products derived from the superfruits “aguaje” and “camu camu” in the regions of Loreto, San Martín and Ucayali.
• Seek strategic alignment between the AIM4Forest programme and the enabling conditions needed to drive our bio-economy work and implement the Joint Declaration of Intent (e.g. investing in Measurement, Reporting and Verification and supporting carbon markets).
• Make sure lessons are learned from the “Indigenous Economy” project of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Amazon Multi-donor Trust
• Fund and widely disseminated.
• Liaise closely with the Coordinator for the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund on strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of coffee, cocoa, banana, and bio-business value chains.
• Pro-actively identify opportunities to raise the visibility of the UK’s work on the bio-economy via tailored communications and targeted stakeholder engagement.

Other – 20%

• Effectively line manage the Forests and Climate Associate, helping them to achieve their goals and providing direction, building her capability, and supporting wellbeing.
• Play an active part in the corporate life of the Embassy, including contribution to committees and to any crisis response.
• On-going tasks: summarise meetings, missions, correspondence, reports, and compile written documents.

These responsibilities will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation. The above is an indicative outline of responsibilities required of the role. The FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require. This could include engagement on Peru’s OECD accession process (e.g. on corporate governance or agriculture), the management of Ministerial and official visits from the UK related to climate and nature in Peru and/or supporting embassy events.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• One staff member: Forests and Climate Associate
• Oversight of projects and programmes worth several millions (GBP)

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Bachelor’s Degree and/or Masters in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, Environmental Science or related field.
• A minimum of 4+ years of experience working for an organisation in a relevant field, for example, working with government or international organisations on climate and nature.
• Strong understanding of the forest and land use sector, anchor companies, and regulatory frameworks that can support conservation and bioeconomy development at scale in Peru.
• Knowledge or experience of project and programme design, management, and monitoring.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills:
  – Proven ability to write fluently and persuasively in English about technical and policy issues for a senior audience.
  – Ability to communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm, while respecting the needs, responses and opinions of others.
• Team player with a track record of creating and maintaining positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people.
• Responsive, innovative and willing to seek out opportunities to create effective change, suggesting ideas for improvements to the way things are done in ‘smarter’, focused ways

Language requirements:

Language: English and Spanish
Level of language required: High level of fluency and professional proficiency required in both

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Experience of working either in or with the private sector, especially bio- or eco-businesses.
• Deep expertise related to forests and land use in areas such as:
  – Bioeconomy-related value chains, green finance and sustainable business development
  – Sustainable forest management, livelihoods and forest stewardship by IPLC
  – Supply chain impacts on forests (e.g. agriculture, agroforestry)
• Previous line management experience
• Experience of managing budgets

Required behaviours

Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together

Application deadline

21 September 2025

Grade

Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

Type of Position

Fixed Term

Working hours per week

37

Duration of Post

6 months

Region

Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean

Country/Territory

Peru

Location (City)

Lima

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

PEN

Salary

13,971 PEN

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

24 November 2025

End Date

24 May 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Applicants must be eligible to live and work in Peru in their own right at the time of application.

The successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance and professional reference checks

Learning and development opportunities:

The British Embassy is strongly committed to learning and development (L&D), with a ring-fenced budget for these purposes and all staff are encouraged to set aside time for L&D. The jobholder will receive training according to the role, have full access to the UK Diplomatic Academy and online training resources and will be encouraged to take full advantage of both formal and informal learning events as and when available and relevant.

The FCDO also has mandatory training that all staff members need to complete. Given this role is a maternity cover, mandatory training will be the priority.

Working patterns:

Standard working hours from Monday to Friday. Applicants should be aware that the role might require occasional evening work. The Embassy has core hours during which staff are expected to work from the office, but it is normally possible to accommodate up to two days remote working in coordination with the line manager.

Any other information:

Our British Embassy values are respect, innovation, collaboration, and enjoyment.
Occasional national and international travel will be required.

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, e.g. some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list. If during the reserve period of 12 months the same or largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

Additional information

Closing date of receiving applications is before 23:55 (Local Time) on 21st September 2025

All applicants must fully complete the online application form, including the sections for employment and educational details, experience, and behaviour-based questions. Only those applications that contain all required information will be considered. To ensure the sift process remains anonymous, please do not include any personally identifiable information in your application form.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements