Deadline for applications: 09/06/2022

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. 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: 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

The WBCSD is seeking a highly motivated individual with experience working with the agriculture and forestry (collectively referred to the ‘land use’) sector on nature issues. The primary role is to lead the development of a nature positive roadmap for the land use sector that charts a course, with practical guidance and tools, for companies in the sector to collaborate across their value chain and beyond to contribute to nature positive. The secondary role is to feed relevant inputs from participating companies to on-going processes including the Science-based Targets for Nature (SBTN) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

The Global Goal for Nature has set a trajectory for nature positive by 2030 and nature recovery by 2050. To understand nature positive in a business context, WBCSD has developed six building blocks through a collaborative process engaging more than 70 stakeholders across different sectors. These building blocks form the basis for developing sectoral roadmaps for three priority socio-economic systems: Land use; Built environment; and Energy and Extractives.

The sectoral roadmaps, to be developed in parallel through 2022, will provide a step-by-step approach for companies to adopt nature positive approaches, that includes references to tools, integration of methodologies for measurement on performance and case studies​. Overall, the sectoral roadmaps aim to provide a roadmap to nature positive for companies and a framework for how WBCSD will continue engaging with its members on nature positive.

The process of developing the roadmaps will be highly collaborative, with engagement from member companies, partners and across other WBCSD programs and projects. The development of the roadmaps will be coordinated through the Nature & Nature-based Solutions project, with the land use roadmap to be developed collaboratively with the Scaling Positive Agriculture and Forest Solutions Group projects.

The position is for a fixed-term contract of 12 months with opportunities for extension and based in Amsterdam or London with Geneva also considered.

Responsibilities and duties

The role will involve:

• Project planning and managing the production of the roadmap from conception to publication
• Identify lead companies to guide strategic direction of the roadmap and engage on a timely basis
• Coordinate a series of collaborative workshops with members and partners to validate the roadmap concept, develop the roadmap content and validate the final roadmap
• Identify and engage with key stakeholders to support the roadmap development, which could include contributing content or other resources that add value to the process
• Identify appropriate methodologies and tools and test their applicability and relevance with members to be included in the roadmap
• Identify and validate nature-related Key Performance Indicators for the land use sector to be included in the roadmap
• Identify existing case-studies from members, and develop case-studies where needed, that showcase company action and support application of the roadmap by other companies
• Ensure roadmaps are aligned with emerging frameworks and methodologies, including the SBTN and the TNFD
• Coordinating the input of members of the Scaling Positive Agriculture and the Forest Solutions Group into SBTN and TNFD processes and input to overall WBCSD inputs
• Coordinate on a regular basis with the overall lead of the nature-positive roadmaps and other roadmap managers, to ensure alignment and learnings across roadmap developments
• Collaborate more broadly with the Nature and Nature-based Solutions project team and identify opportunities for connecting content and approaches, as well as on nature-based solutions and particular realms, including land and water
• Contribute to the overall strategic direction of the Scaling Positive Agriculture and Forest Solutions Group projects as necessary.

Qualifications

• Education: Undergraduate level education in a subject related to environmental science and/or related to climate change, land use, forestry, food systems or related topics.
• Experience: Ideally, the candidate should have 5-10 years’ work experience, with broad knowledge of the agriculture, food and/or forestry sectors and its impacts and dependencies on nature / biodiversity. Experience with integrating nature / biodiversity into corporate strategy, including goal / target setting, KPI development and value-chain collaboration, for or with a corporate is desirable.
• Previous experience of working with and leading a multidiscipline project team on an international basis to deal with differing languages, time zones and cultural expectations would be advantageous.
• Conversant with corporate biodiversity / nature tools and methodologies (e.g. Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), Science Based Targets for Nature)
• Project management: Evidence of successful project management and effective facilitation of different perspectives towards a common objective.
• Communication: Engaging communicator both in person and in writing. Ability to adjust style of communication to suit audience (e.g., present technical topics to a non-technical audience)
• Teamwork: Evidence of successfully working across teams and diverse interest groups
• Multi-tasking: Ability to manage own projects and ad hoc demands simultaneously, set priorities, effectively utilize available resources, identify and address problems, and meet deadlines
• Fluency in written and spoken English

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  

Candidates should be available to start by 01 August 2022.

This position is for an initial 12 month period with opportunities for extension.

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