Deadline for application: 09 February 2023

WBCSD is the premier global, CEO-led community of over 200 of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net zero, nature positive, and more equitable future. 

We do this by engaging executives and sustainability leaders from business and elsewhere to share practical insights on the obstacles and opportunities we currently face in tackling the integrated climate, nature and inequality sustainability challenge; by co-developing “how-to” CEO-guides from these insights; by providing science-based target guidance including standards and protocols; and by developing tools and platforms to help leading businesses in sustainability drive integrated actions to tackle climate, nature and inequality challenges across sectors and geographical regions. 

Our member companies come from all business sectors and all major economies, representing a combined revenue 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. Since 1995, WBCSD has been 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, united by our vision of creating a world in which 9+ billion people are living well, within planetary boundaries, by mid-century. 

Job Overview

If we want to ensure the Earth’s climate system continues to offer a safe operating space for humanity, and that we avoid devastating impacts to people and nature from climate change, we must keep the temperature from increasing past 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The current emission path will lead to an approximate 3-4°C global temperature increases by 2100, resulting in massive economic devastation, with an estimated 30% fall in GDP per capita. Consequently, corporations are under ever-increasing pressure from employees, investors, regulators, customers, and the broader society to decarbonize.

Our WBCSD Climate Action program – SOS 1.5 (Safe Operating Space for 1.5°C) – supports 90+ leading global companies from all sectors as they make progress on their mitigation, removals and adaptation journey.

The overall program aims to accelerate corporate decarbonization implementation by:

• Accelerating Climate Action and strengthening Climate Accountability along the full net zero journey: through developing practical, “how-to” guidance to help companies build a decarbonization strategy, and building corporate capacity to operationalize it across businesses and value chains.
• Professionalizing Climate Accounting and Standard Setting: through working on collective climate standards development with a focus on the GHG Protocol and improving its related delivery and accreditation services.
• Advancing Action on Climate Adaptation and Resilience: Assessing climate risks and opportunities and building resilience within and beyond the value chain.

Due to the further member growth of SOS 1.5, we are seeking a Director to lead the work on Accelerating Climate Action and strengthening Climate Accountability. Within this role:

• Capacity building and how-to guidance are delivered through working with leading companies to undertake masterclasses and engage in workstreams on the fundamentals of decarbonization, inventory accounting, supply chain decarbonization and mitigation beyond the value chain, including raising awareness on guidelines for Avoided Emissions
• This knowledge is shared and scaled, and action is accelerated, through leading the build of The Climate Drive, a digital platform that incorporates learning, best practice exchange and collaboration with suppliers along the full decarbonization journey.

This role will report into the Director, Climate Action.

Responsibilities & duties

• Strengthen and grow the Climate Action & Accountability offer for SOS 1.5 members. Be responsible for the strategy and delivery of all related workstreams, ensuring they create impact, deliver value and attract high member engagement. Secure ongoing member engagement, monitor the effectiveness over time and win new program members to maximize our impact.
• Curate and deliver a bespoke “how to decarbonize” capability-building offer that takes the corporate user through all stages of the carbon accountability framework as set out by WBCSD, based on science and leveraging the recommendations of the UN HLEG on net-zero targets. Support members to unlock corporate stumbling blocks through both high-level strategic as well as actionable technical decarbonization insights.
• Enable The Climate Drive team to go to market with its digital platform, including securing funding for scaling the platform, together with our partnering organizations.
• Build out and position the concept of Avoided Emissions to accelerate societal decarbonization efforts by delivering additional solutions that are compatible with a 1.5°C pathway
• Work with other leaders and teams across the WBCSD Imperatives, Pathways and Redefining Value programs, and our member companies, to engage internally to mainstream the corporate carbon accountability work, including the Climate Drive and Avoided Emission guidance. Work with external partners and stakeholders to help strengthen the corporate carbon accountability framework, the uptake of Climate Drive and the Avoided Emissions Guidance, with the objective to offer a much-improved user journey for companies to strengthen their carbon accountability and, having done so, a gateway to a broader strategic offering of goods and services that accelerate the net zero transition.
• Set objectives for the Climate Action & Accountability team and manage reports of WBCSD staff as well as overseeing the relationships with external partners and secondees to WBCSD
• Represent WBCSD’s wider Climate Action team within the business community and among other key stakeholders in this space

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

• Master’s Degree in business, engineering, environmental science, or related field.
• 15+ years of relevant, full-time work experience with significant corporate and/or strategy consultant background.
• A deep understanding of the current “state of play” of corporate decarbonization and the implementation challenges within global companies.
• An action orientation with evidence of mobilizing internal and external stakeholders to find effective solutions for topics that are volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
• Capacity to ensure the design and implementation of long-term strategic plans. Ability to translate strategy into success factors and into concrete actions.
• The position should possess a clear vision of where the organization should be heading and how it should influence this direction. Has capability and responsibility to convince others of the how and why.
• Evidence of successful project steering & delivery and effective facilitation of different perspectives towards a common objective. Capacity to work independently by setting priorities within own workstreams, identify and proactively address problems and work to deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, ability to connect and interact with senior decision-makers within organizations, multi-stakeholder management and facilitation of different perspectives towards a common objective. The position has a key role towards the most sophisticated audiences, on the most complex matters. Those actions have a critical impact on the activities and development of the organization and its image.
• Authentic leader with the ability to further build & nurture the team and work effectively in a matrix organization as well as well with a variety of external partners.
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple priorities in a time sensitive manner.
• Excellent analytical, writing and presentation skills.
• Fluency in written and spoken English, other languages welcome.

The position is full-time and based in either Amsterdam, London or New York, but will also require occasional 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 Amsterdam, Beijing, 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. 
• Sustainable commuting incentives. 

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