Deadline for application: 14 June 2023

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (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 share a vision of a world in which more than 9 billion people are able to live well, within planetary boundaries, by 2050. To achieve this vision, we must collectively accelerate the required transformation of businesses, their value chains, and the systems in which they operate to limit the impact of the climate crisis, restore nature and tackle inequality.

How our community works

Our community leads positive change through our imperatives work by building the infrastructure of a better world through climate, nature and equity action. In our distinct pathways, we outline the critical transitions required in some of the significant areas of business activity to profoundly shift the systems we work in and transform them towards a better future. Together we succeed when our collective effort is rewarded through a lower cost of capital, which is the scope of our redefining value work; helping companies measure and manage risk, gain competitive advantage and seize new opportunities by understanding environmental, social and governance (ESG) information.

WBCSD’s contribution

WBCSD stimulates progress by ideating & level-setting new best practices and trends from different expertise & sectors. By improving performance, we enable standards and protocols supported by tools and technology to solidify businesses’ sustainability competence. We build partnerships by bringing together members and external partners to create coalitions and partnerships and build scale into change. Finally, we drive the policy agenda by amplifying the voice of positive business and shaping policies collaboratively to transform the systems we work in.

Our work aims to empower business leaders to raise their ambition to achieve a better world, deliver action at speed and scale in their operations and value chains, and sharpen the accountability of their performance.

Job Overview

Apply strategic thinking, coupled with capacity for project management and implementation, to help support ongoing projects and to position and profile WBCSD as the leading action platform of business for systems transformation in the Imperatives (Climate Action, Nature Action, and Equity Action), Pathways (Food & Ag, Built Environment, Mobility, Energy, Products & Materials) and in Redefining Value.

WBCSD Education cuts across WBCSD’s Imperatives, Pathways and Redefining Value to help ensure actionable learning insights are readily available to all levels of a company and across its functional divisions. We develop Board-level and C-suite executive education programs, leadership and mentorship programs for management and online learning content to bring sustainability to the heart of mainstream business and executive education, training and learning.

WBCSD Education is seeking an Intern to support the development of learning materials and the curation of academic research to provide business leaders and practitioners with relevant, meaningful and actionable learning to raise ambition, drive action and sharpen accountability around sustainability goals. This is an opportunity for a young professional to gain experience in developing sustainability learning journeys and to contribute to the development of the talent and skills we need in the business community to secure a net-zero, nature-positive and equitable future.

Responsibilities and duties

The selected candidate will:

• Support the development of creative and innovative learning materials, including online course content; professional presentations to use in trainings and workshops with members, other companies and partners; etc.;
• Conduct regular review of business-relevant research published by leading universities and business schools for dissemination to WBCSD members and incorporation into learning materials;
• Facilitate the engagement of members, prospects, and key stakeholders, including support in the organization of virtual meetings, workshops and trainings;
• Participate in calls and meetings with members, other companies and partner organizations to learn more about WBCSD, how we work, and our relationships with other organizations;
• Support development of communications and marketing materials for WBCSD Education;
• Present insights and recommendations to internal stakeholders

Qualifications Skills and Experience

• Bachelors university degree in sustainability or learning & development  or other relevant area with a Masters degree a plus
• Minimum 1 year experience
• Collaboration and Cooperation:
  • Relates well to people at all levels. Adapts to the team and enhances team spirit
  • Capacity to work independently, proactively address problems and meet deadlines
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and ad hoc demands simultaneously
  • Thrives when working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and understands that the ebb and flow of team priorities may require “all hands on-deck” at times
• Writing and Reporting:
  • Writes clearly, succinctly and correctly in a convincing and engaging manner
  • Avoids the unnecessary use of jargon or complicated language
  • Structures information to meet the needs and understanding of the intended audience
• Communication and events management:
  • Listens, consults others and communicates proactively
  • Knowledge of, and demonstrated skills in, communication (tools such as PPT and social media); database management (software such as Salesforce) and excellent organisational skills
  • Expresses opinions, information and key points of an argument clearly
  • Makes presentations with skill and confidence and has strong facilitation skills. Responds quickly to the needs of an audience and projects credibility
  • Excellent verbal and written communications skills in English are critical, fluency in additional languages is an advantage
• Project Management:
  • Plan and lead day-to-day project activities to deliver the agreed work
  • Monitor progress against plan

The position is a full-time, summer internship position based in our Amsterdam office but may 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 Amsterdam, Beijing, London, New York and Singapore
• 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.