Country Policy Manager- Philippines

FESSIA is a new organisation set up by Climate Breakthrough 2025 award winner Liming Qiao to accelerate the energy transition in Asia. The FESSIA mission is to enable the energy transition through analysis, consensus building and policy advocacy to speed up delivery of grid flexibility and system integration.

Role Overview:

The Country Manager- Philippines leads the FESSIA's regional policy advocacy strategy and implementation across Philippines, driving regulatory engagement, shaping market industry positions, seeking consensus, and supporting members in navigating the fast-paced evolving energy market frameworks as well as actively shaping these. This role oversees policy research, government relations, strategic communications, and stakeholder partnerships, ensuring the Alliance is a trusted voice on energy issues. This role is also the key Philippines stakeholder liaison and face the of FESSIA to the industry in Philippines and therefore is critical to developing a representative local membership alongside the Head of Industry Engagement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the country strategy and policy agenda for Philippines, working closely with the Policy Directors, CEO, Chief Strategy Officer on policy conceptualisation, brainstorming and formation of important concept;

• Act as FESSIA lead with Philippines government and energy system stakeholders;

• Lead the Philippines Working Group to generate industry consensus;

• Develop FESSIA policy agenda for Philippines events (FESSIA own and 3rd party events) plus contribute to regional or global events;

• Develop project concepts grounded in national issues, activities and stakeholder engagement including for grant funding, aligned to FESSIA strategy, manage project to successful outcomes and manage funder reporting,

Detailed Responsibilities

1. Country Policy Strategy & Development

• Working closely with the FESSIA regional team lead the formulation of the Alliance's country strategy and policy agenda aligned with stakeholder and member priorities and wider FESSIA regional strategy.

• Identify relevant emerging regulatory trends, risks, and opportunities in the Philippines energy markets

• Develop evidence-based policy positions, white papers, consultation responses, and regulatory briefs.

• Lead and develop an annual Philippines multi-stakeholder market energy storage and system integration event.

2. Government & Regulatory Engagement

• Serve as the primary liaison with national government agencies, energy and other ministries, regulators.

• Build constructive relationships to influence energy policy and foster regulatory harmonisation in country.

• Represent FESSIA in national policy dialogues, roundtables, and public consultations.

3. Industry Engagement & Support

• Developing and implementing a membership growth strategy for Philippines.

• Lead and facilitate the Philippines industry policy Working Group and lead or contribute to other thematic task forces as assigned, ensuring members' perspectives are captured and aligned to consensus.

• Help define workshop's scope, goals and deliverables into a term of reference to guide participants.

• Draft working papers, position papers and other intellectual products for the Working Group and Task Forces as relevant.

• Provide ongoing regulatory insights, updates, and analytical support to members.

• Lead capacity-building initiatives such as workshops, policy briefings, and regulatory training.

4. Research & Thought Leadership

• Contribute to FESSIA regional policy studies, market assessments, and strategic reports from a Philippines perspective.

• Ensure sufficient evidence from Philippines market and industry contributes to a strong evidence base to support advocacy positions.

5. Stakeholder Collaboration

• Foster partnerships with national industry associations, NGOs and CSO present and local offices of international organisations.

• Develop joint statements, MOU's, cross-organisational initiatives, and regional cooperation projects.

6. Communications & Representation

• Serve as the FESSIA Philippines spokesperson for policy topics, including local media interviews and conference presentations.

• Ensure messaging aligns with the Alliance's values and strategic objectives and regional messaging.

7. Project Leadership & Delivery

• By engaging with members, identifying gaps in national laws, policies and regulations, and design projects to address these issues.

• Develop strategic project needs into fundable concepts for Grant funders (or core funding) working closely with the COO (lead for Grant Fundraising) and CEO.

• Manage Project Delivery, always leading on Philippines aspects, including where relevant other FESSIA team members ensuring milestones and stated outcomes are met.

• Support grant management, including preparing all required reporting content relevant to Philippines projects.

Essential Person Criteria:

• Right to work in Philippines and fluency in written and spoken English and Filipino.

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's in Public Policy, Energy/Environmental Studies, Economics, International Relations, or related fields preferred.

8+ years of professional experience in policy, regulation, energy markets, or government affairs. Experience in a Philippines industry association, think tank, government agency, regulator, utility or energy company is a strong advantage.

• Strong understanding of energy systems, energy transition pathways, and regulatory structures, ideally in the Philippines, with a passion for shaping the energy transition through advisory excellence and stakeholder impact

• Project planning, change management, risk management, time management and other project management skills

• Excellent analytical writing, written and verbal communication skills, stakeholder engagement, and public speaking skills, with the ability to present complex concepts clearly to diverse stakeholders.

• Commercial acumen to align recommendations with stakeholder Industry drivers and Funder expectations.

• Ability to be flexible in workload, remote work, job activities (FESSIA is a new organization and small so job description will evolve over time).

• Willingness to travel 1-2 times/month and at least quarterly to Singapore and to key annual global events such as COP.

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and multitasking abilities.

• A self-starter who can work with limited oversight and navigate uncertainty.

• Strong diplomatic and relationship-building skills, with political and regulatory acumen.

• Leadership and team management experience.

• Aligned to FESSIA values - see