Programme Director - Financial Services - Climate Governance Initiative
An exciting opportunity for an experienced programme director to join the Climate Governance Initiative - a unique and growing global platform to drive climate action on boards run in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
Job Title: Programme Director, Financial Services Programme
Department: Climate Governance Initiative, Centre for Climate Engagement, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge
Reporting to: Director, Climate Governance Initiative
Contract Type: Full time to 31 March 2026 (role extension dependent on funding)
Probation Period: Six Months
Salary Range: Grade 10, SP 59-60 (£61,823 to £63,029)
Hours of Work: 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Blend of office and home-working; pattern to be agreed.
Annual Leave: Annual paid leave of 25 days plus public holidays.
Medicash Healthcare Plan: All staff members have access to the College's Medicash Healthcare Plan
Mental Health Peer Support Programme: All staff members have access to the College's Mental Health Peer Support Programme, supporting Mind's Mentally Healthy Universities initiative
Pension Eligibility: The College offers membership of a contributory pension scheme. Subject to your age and earnings level, you may be eligible for auto-enrolment into the scheme and you have the right to opt out at any time.
Hughes Hall - Hughes Hall is one of the 31 Colleges of the 800-year-old University of Cambridge, and one of just four of these Colleges dedicated to undergraduates aged 21 and over and postgraduates. A mission of the College is to use academic learning to bring about real change and growth in the world.
Hughes Hall hosts a number of Bridge Centres, which aim to bridge academic, policy and professional worlds. The Centre for Climate Engagement is one of these centres, along with Cambridge Digital Innovation, Oracy Cambridge, and the Digital Education Futures Initiative. These centres are focal points for the wider development and application of a number of special research activities and projects.
The Hughes Hall website contains further information about its history, people, work, and values.
Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Engagement - The Centre for Climate Engagement (CCE) plays a unique role in bringing leading academic research to a targeted audience of chairs and non-executive directors to accelerate climate leadership on boards in the private and public sectors. The Centre is uniquely placed to develop insights drawing on academic expertise from across the University of Cambridge and the wider research community, together with independent expertise from the business sector.
The Centre was set up in 2018 as part of the Bridge initiative at Hughes Hall which leverages the College's multi-disciplinary perspective, international nature and external focus to bring the research and expertise of its academic community to solve real world problems.
Climate Governance Initiative - The Centre for Climate Engagement has the role of 'host' for the Climate Governance Initiative. The World Economic Forum established this Initiative in 2019, in response to climate change and the challenge that brings to business, together with a set of guiding principles to help boards and senior management consider the quality of climate governance at the organisations they oversee and identify aspects in need of development. The Climate Governance Initiative continues to work in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
The Climate Governance Initiative supports the growth of groups of board Directors around the world to form networks, known as Chapters. There are now over 30 such Chapters, including Chapter Zero in the UK, which is also hosted by Hughes Hall. The Climate Governance Initiative plays a significant role in both maximising the impact and collaboration of the existing Chapters and accelerating the development of new ones.
Climate Governance Initiative - Financial Services Programme - The CGI has been awarded a programme of work from which focuses initially on investors and will enable broader development of engagement across the finance sector. The programme proposes to establish a capacity building program within the Climate Governance Initiative (CGI) network, focusing on engaging independent directors and trustees in the financial services sector. Over two years, it will offer tailored content, peer learning opportunities, and research into challenges related to financing the net-zero transition. Key activities include creating a sector-specific hub, collaborating with major investor initiatives, and conducting workshops across jurisdictions. The goal is to enhance understanding of financial services-specific issues, legal obligations, and promote better decision-making on sustainability, aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.
Job Purpose
The Programme Director, Financial Services Programme will manage and support the Financial Services Programme of the Climate Governance Initiative. The Programme Director will work under the leadership of CGI's Director and will manage the dedicated team for this stream. In particular, the role holder will be responsible for ensuring the programme's successful creation, management of programme deliverables, and for the development and growth of engagement and partnerships with key investor groups.
The role-holder will have management responsibility for the delivery of the CGI's Financial Services Programme and will work with the Director to define and implement the funded programme of work. They will be responsible for maintaining a detailed overview of the status of activities, for identifying and facilitating opportunities for collaboration with our partners and others, and for preparing periodic and ad-hoc status reports for internal and external governance bodies. They will represent CGI at internal and external meetings and be expected to act independently and on their own initiative.
The role holder will represent CGI as required on academic, government and business working groups and meetings. In addition, the role holder may sit on other committees, task groups and working groups, as CGI's representative.
The role holder is expected to act with a high degree of independence, to work proactively and on own initiative. They will work collaboratively with other team members, at times leading activities and managing the Investor Programme team, but also working under the leadership of other CGI team members.
The Programme Director will ensure that all activities identified in the funded programme are delivered in a timely manner. The role holder will ensure that reporting requirements are met, expenditure is managed well, and required financial and funder reporting is completed promptly and accurately. They will work collaboratively across the CGI team, to ensure that the Financial Services Programme aligns with and supports other CGI programmes and projects, and that opportunities to leverage and amplify CGI's work are optimised. They will oversee the work of external organisations working on the Programme, including that which sits within the wider CGI network and Chapters.
The role holder will ensure that accurate data capture processes are in place that demonstrate engagement and take-up of climate action strategies, and will maintain a detailed overview of the status of activities within the programme as a whole.
Main Duties
Strategic Support:
• Support the development and growth of partnerships with key investor and finance sector groups.
• Work with the current Finance Sector Hub Steering Group to maximise opportunities to build on their current activities in line with the build out of the broader programme.
• Work with Chapter Zero in the UK to support alignment of the UK Financial Services Programme with the Global CGI Programme.
• Work with other CGI Chapters providing input and deliverables to the Programme to identify opportunities with additional local programmes.
• Provide written and verbal status reports to the Director for use at internal and external meetings, ensuring that CGI's messaging, mission and aims are delivered consistently.
• Produce clear reports on CGI's Financial Services Programme activities for senior management, government, funders and various audiences as requested. Provide evidence, use cases, reports etc, to show the effectiveness progress of the investor programme
• Provide a review of the programme to understand the next stages to develop, based on a better understanding of reach and impact from this programme.
Project Management:
• Manage the development and implementation of a survey of directors and investors to gain insight into the use of information gained through programme.
• Work with the Financial Services Programme team to design, lead and run workshops with investors and board directors. These workshops will be aimed at delivering the programmes' agreed deliverables. Capture and analyse feedback from project events, suggesting strategies for future improvements.
• Liaise with the Financial Services Programme team, the CGI Director and other relevant stakeholders in order to maintain an understanding of the aim and status of CGI activities.
• Develop appropriate strategies for the delivery of the programme and provide overall day-to-day leadership of multiple, simultaneous projects.
• Work with CCE's operation team and the Hughes Hall finance team to provide financial management and administration. click apply for full job details