About Tara

Tara is a new philanthropic initiative in Asia. Tara’s vision is a just and thriving Asia powered by renewable enery. Our mission is to support a diverse group of partners to accelerate Asia’s energy transformation. Tara funds think tanks, civil society, research organizations and other non-state actors, and our mandate includes Southeast Asia, East Asia excluding China, and South Asia excluding India. Tara has a team of 15 people working across the region, including country leads in most of our key focus countries.

Tara is currently hosted at the European Climate Foundation, but with a mandate to localise into an independent regranting foundation in the future, with the strong backing of the ECF and other philanthropic foundations.

The European Climate Foundation (ECF) was established in 2008 as a major philanthropic initiative to help Europe foster the development of a low-carbon society and play an even stronger international leadership role to mitigate climate change. The foundation works through several sectoral, cross-cutting and regional initiatives and collaborates with a wide network of partners to advance progress towards this shared goal. The ECF also hosts a number of initiatives with a global outreach.

About The Sunrise Project

This is a unique role that cements a partnership with The Sunrise Project to shift global finance out of fossil fuels and into clean energy. The Sunrise Project is an Australian-based foundation that grows social movements to drive the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as fast as possible.

Key responsibilities

Strategy

• Lead the development of Tara’s finance strategy in consultation with Tara Country Leads and external partners including The Sunrise Project.
• Incubate new strategic areas for the finance programme and work with Country Leads to implement these strategies at the country and regional level.
• Develop resources requirements, budget plans and reviews for the finance programme, and develop and track key performance indicators for the programme.
• Proactively review developments that may impact the programme and continuously adapt and revise strategies and tactics.

Partnerships and Coordination

• Network with various stakeholders including existing grantees, potential partners, national, regional and international organisations working in the finance space.
• Lead coordination among partners in the finance field to ensure Tara achieves outcomes that are larger than the sum of the individual partners’ efforts.
• Coordinate with Tara counterparts in the region to ensure coordination of efforts within the region.

Grant-making

• Manage a multi-million dollar programme budget and partner grants, including managing existing grantees at the regional level and developing and incubating new partnerships and orgaisations at the regional level.
• Guide and advise grantees, partners and prospective partners in the field to ensure activities achieve their intended objectives and results.
• Monitor deliverables and submissions from grantees/ partners and provide general oversight to their timeliness and quality.

Others

• Develop board level memos or strategic analysis as may be needed to make the case for fundraising or business planning for Tara.
• Report to funders on progress meeting our finance objectives.
• Perform other related responsibilities including but not limited to preparing reports to funders, expenditure and grants forecasting, responding to evaluations requests and other related activities.

Key Relationships

• The position reports to the Tara Director of Regional Programmes but would work closely with Tara Country Leads/Directors and the Managing Director to ensure that the regional finance programme is well integrated with national financial strategies.
• The position will be line managed and accountable through Tara but is a part of a joint partnership with The Sunrise Project and will have regular strategy meetings and communication with their global staff.

Experience and competencies

In line with our organisational commitment to empower and amplify the voices from across this region, we will prioritise candidates who hail from Asia. The ideal candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Enthusiasm and commitment to work on transitioning finance from fossil fuels to clean energy.
• At least 7+ years of relevant work experience in regional or international programs/ initiatives with a demonstrated understanding of how advocacy campaigns can create systemic change.
• An innate grasp of campaign strategy, systems thinking and the ability to articulate strategies in a clear and compelling way.
• Finance sector literacy and a good understanding of the drivers and dynamics of capial markets, including ESG principles and practice, would be an advantage.
• A good grasp of energy policy and energy system transformation or related issues is desirable but not essential.

Skills:

• Strong political savvy and excellent strategic capabilities.
• Intrinsic motivation, excellent organisational and self-management skills.
• Sharp written and verbal skills, fluent English language skills is a must; fluency in at least one other language of Tara countries is an asset.

Others:

• A collaborative mindset and a track record of working effectively in alliance with diverse stakeholders.
• A deep commitment to solving the climate crisis and enabling systemic change.
• Flexibility over working hours to accommodate global time zones.
• Willingness to travel both regionally and internationally when circumstances allow.
• Impeccable ethics and experience working confidentially and operating with high security.

What we can offer you

• 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 and a space to develop and challenge yourself.
• Competitive compensation commensurate with experience and country benchmarks.
• Initial one-year contract with possibility for renewal.

Location

The candidate must have a legal permit to reside and work in one of the countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Start date

As soon as possible

How To Apply

Please upload your CV and cover letter (both in English).

All applications will be treated confidentially. We will store your information in our internal database unless you specifically request otherwise.