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50L Home

at WBCSD
Published 31 July 2020
Location Genève, Switzerland
Category Permanent  
Job Type Director  

Description

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a global, CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. We help make our member companies more successful and sustainable by focusing on the maximum positive impact for shareholders, the environment and societies.

Our member companies come from all business sectors and all major economies, representing combined revenues of more than USD $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees. Our global network of almost 70 national business councils gives our members unparalleled reach across the globe. WBCSD is uniquely positioned to work with member companies along and across value chains to deliver impactful business solutions to the most challenging sustainability issues.

Together, we are the leading voice of business for sustainability: with a vision of a world where more than nine billion people are all living well and within the boundaries of our planet, by 2050.

Job Overview

As cities and rapidly growing urban hubs feel an increasing risk of “Day Zero” scenarios – where water taps are turned off for all its citizens – there is an urgent need for innovations in partnerships, policies, and approaches if we are to protect the world’s most cherished natural resource.  Responding to this, sector champions have started to mobilize behind the “50L Home Coalition” to seek to contribute to global water security (as expressed in SDG6) by catalysing systems-level change in domestic urban water management. By creating the enabling environment for the next generation of urban water management solutions, the 50L Home Coalition will positively disrupt urban domestic water use (and re-use), making 50L feel like 500.

To deliver on this ambition, the 50 L Home Coalition will serve as a global platform for leading companies, policy makers, public sector and civil society to advance responsible water consumption in the home, as a strategic lever to influence this broader systems change through innovations in policy, technology & collaboration that improve household water and energy efficiency – for both residential and commercial buildings.

The Coalition will seek to:

  • Advance solutions that address water and energy efficiency in kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and other household uses;
  • Recreate a responsible relationship of people with water, inspiring and enabling daily behavioural lifestyle choices in households and beyond;
  • Provide evidence that support changes to policy, regulatory and industry frameworks enabling the transition to 50L Home systems;
  • Collaborate on pilot projects, mobilizing local actors and the necessary financing. The learnings from pilots will in turn inform the path to global scale implementation.

WBCSD, together with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and 2030 Water Resources Group (2030WRG) are collaborating and supporting the launch of this ambitious multi-stakeholder collaboration.

We are looking for an experienced leader with excellent project development/ management and multi-stakeholder facilitation skills, with an ability to lead and innovate. The position requires strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, with a track record in developing and coordinating partnerships that deliver impact on the ground.

The Director will have responsibility for overall project management covering all Coalition activities across governance, institutional engagement, strategic communications and operations.

Responsibilities and duties

Governance

The Director will be responsible to ensure that the Coalition is governed according to its Charter and has the necessary support from the secretariat organisations. Specifically, the Director will focus on:

  • Reporting to the 50L Board and Steering Group on the activities of the secretariat and ensure that the decisions of the Board are implemented.
  • Ensuring the governance structure is fully operationalised and evolves as necessary as the Coalition matures.
  • Work closely with the 50L Home secretariat organizations to ensure that appropriate secretariat hosting arrangements are established for the secretariat staff and any other support functions are provided.
  • Develop and oversee the Secretariat Team based on needed capacities to build out the Coalition and available funding.

Institutional Engagement

The Director will be responsible to ensure that the Coalition grows in a balanced way, with good private and public sector engagement and high-value partnerships established. Specifically, the Director will:

  • Further develop, in collaboration with the Board, the value proposition for institutional engagement in the Coalition.
  • Spearhead outreach and managing relationships with existing and potential Coalition Board members (both public and private sector), as well as credible and relevant knowledge/advisory partners (primarily NGOs, academic institutions, and research institutes) that will advise the secretariat and Steering Board.
  • Oversee engagement of a broader community of innovators, solution providers, financial institutions, and governments contributing to the Coalition/platform activities.
  • Identify and lead outreach efforts, working with Coalition members, to build the pipeline of potential pilot cities.
  • Lead donor outreach efforts to both public and private entities to ensure the Coalition’s work is sustainable over the next 5+ years.

Strategic Communications

The Director will be responsible for developing and implementing an integrated communications strategy to support the aims of the Coalition and position it as an effective multi-stakeholder platform contributing to water security. Specifically, the Director will oversee:

  • Development and implementation of an internal and external communications strategy and plans that effectively tap into the channels and constituencies of the Coalition’s co-hosted secretariat organizations, as well as its partners and members.
  • Development of a 50L brand and supporting communications collateral to support engagement efforts with potential stakeholders/collaborators as well as general public.
  • Development of a vision for the Coalition website that inspires engagement and enables collaboration through knowledge exchange, and compellingly showcases the 50L brand and value proposition.
  • Secretariat presence at key international events to increase visibility of the Coalition and its activities among target audiences.
  • Media relations plan, including the regular production of content and messaging to be published on traditional and social media platforms that target the Coalition target audience, and the placement of interviews and articles.
  • Management of communications vendors/consultants or short-term staff.

Operational

The Director will be responsible for developing strategic plans, annual workplans and budgets, for the approval of the Board, and ensuring that they are implemented according to KPIs. Such strategic plans and workplans would cover a combination of global engagement and local (city- and/or country-level) activities. Specifically, the Director will focus on:

  • Preparing and presenting strategic plans, annual workplans and budgets for the approval of the Board.
  • Ensuring all necessary resources are secured for delivering workplans to budget, including financial and human resources.
  • Preparing regular written updates for the Coalition Steering Group and secretariat partners on progress, obstacles, and achievements.
  • Preparing an annual report of the Coalitions work, achievements and future plans.
  • Establishing a roadmap for initiating pilots to translate the Coalition’s objectives into concrete actions.

Qualifications

Qualifications

  • A master’s degree in a relevant discipline – economics, sustainability, business, international relations, environmental science, or equivalent experience.

Experience

  • More than 10 years of senior level leadership experience including strategy development, influencing and advocacy in the domain of sustainable development, with specific experience in urban water an advantage.
  • Excellent project management skills. Experience managing multi-stakeholder projects to successful completion, on time and within budget.
  • Experience in supporting the development of new initiatives from incubation to implementation.
  • Experience in systems change, multi-stakeholder facilitation, corporate social responsibility, non-profit leadership and the various issue areas of water, energy and urban development.
  • Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills and well-established networks among public sector and private sector in particular; ability to develop an open and inclusive space to collaborate and manage productive relationships with partners, consultants, and others who contribute to the success of the Coalition.
  • Proven ability to contribute to fundraising, including cultivating relationships and generating interest and support for a cause that results in significant funding for the Coalition.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including an ease in briefly summarizing the essence of issues and means to address them. Strong oral, presentation, facilitation and written communication skills such that complex ideas, thoughts and concepts are clearly articulated for a general audience.
  • Outstanding organizational and time management skills including a strong capacity to track details.
  • Seasoned judgment, able to make decisions, justify recommendations, and be responsive, clear and firm with colleagues and partners.
  • Travel for this position is estimated to be approximately 15-25%.

The position is full-time and based in Geneva, Switzerland, but will also require international travel.

WBCSD is a purpose driven, forward-thinking and action-oriented organization, characterised by diversity of gender, nationalities and work experiences.

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT:

WBCSD offers a competitive, modern, and flexible working arrangement:

  • Geneva-based organization with offices in London, New Delhi, Singapore and New York City
  • Competitive compensation and benefits
  • State-of-the-art facilities and ICT-enabled working tools
  • Flex-time and part-time possibilities
  • Dynamic working atmosphere
  • Open culture encouraging interaction and sharing of ideas and opinions
  • International relocation support
  • Sustainable commuting incentives

Please also note that WBCSD will only respond to candidates selected for the interview process.