Technical Officer (Focus on Forests)

CDP is an international NGO that works to transform the way the world does business to prevent dangerous climate change and protect our natural resources. CDP is offering an exciting opportunity for somebody with an interest in supply chains, environmental reporting, agriculture, and the role of business in tackling deforestation, to support CDP’s technical work (environmental reporting, scoring and data).

Addressing deforestation, which accounts for 10-15% of the world’s GHG emissions, is critical for the mitigation of climate change. Businesses’ production and procurement decisions have the power to alter global demand for the agricultural commodities that are the primary drivers of deforestation and forest degradation: soy, palm oil, leather, beef, timber and pulp.

With the issue of commodity-driven deforestation rising fast up the political agenda, CDP’s forests program was launched in 2009 to remove deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains by providing critical deforestation-risk data from the world’s largest corporations to inform the global market place on investment risk and commercial opportunity, and to catalyze action.

We are looking for someone who is reliable, efficient and passionate and who takes pride in working to a high standard. The successful applicant will work closely with the forests team but will be part of the technical team, which supports the development of questionnaires, scoring methodologies and guidance for companies reporting environmental information to investors and customers. You will report to the Director for Technical Reporting.

Applicants will be responsible for supporting CDP’s technical work in the area of forests, namely:

{  Scoring company responses and leading CDP’s scoring processes on forests;

{  Working in collaboration with several teams and stakeholders to develop CDP’s annual forests questionnaire and forests scoring methodology;

{  Producing guidance documentation for companies disclosing to CDP’s forests questionnaire, with detailed examples;

{  Preparing presentations and presenting information to colleagues and companies;

{  Inputting questionnaires into CDP’s Online Response System (ORS), the IT system used by companies to respond to CDP;

{  Conducting rigorous IT testing of the ORS to ensure the system is ready to go live;

{  Writing and proof reading technical documents;

{  Supporting the Director for Technical Reporting with other technical projects in the areas of forests, climate change, water and supply chain.

The successful candidate will have:

{  Academic and/or professional experience in the area of deforestation and supply chains (desirable);

{  An interest in environmental issues and deforestation and familiarity with CDP’s Forests program: https://www.cdp.net/en/forests;

{  Academic and/or professional experience in the Agricultural sector (desireable).

{  The ability to understand, organize and analyze qualitative and quantitative data;

{  Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint Microsoft (essential);

{  Strong analytical skills;

{  The ability to learn quickly;

{  Exceptional attention to detail;

{  Strong prioritization, time management and organization skills, with an ability to work effectively under pressure;

{  The ability to work independently while aligning work with other team members;

{  Strong verbal and written communication skills and an excellent standard of written English;

{  The ability to thrive in a dynamic and innovative organization, with the flexibility to adapt to a changing work environment.

The successful candidate will work full time (5 days per week) on a Fixed Term contract until the end of June 2017 and must be able to work legally in the UK.

Benefits: A pro-rated salary of £21,000 – 25,000 per annum, depending upon experience, and annual leave for the term of the contract accumulated at a rate of 2 days per complete calendar month.

Interested candidates should send a copy of their resume along with a cover letter outlining their suitability for the role to Tony Rooke at recruitment@cdp.net with "Technical Officer Forests" in the subject line.