President

World Resources Institute has secured the services of the executive search firm of

Phillips Oppenheim for the recruitment of WRI's next President.

Nominations and applications may be submitted to Mark J. Tarnacki at

WRI@PhillipsOppenheim.com  

FURTHER DETAILS MAY BE LOCATED AT

http://www.phillipsoppenheim.com/current_searches.html#WRI 

The President will provide the leadership, strategic direction and vision for WRI and its programs, analysis and engagement efforts throughout the world.  The President will ensure that WRI continues to play a leadership role as an environmental think and “do” tank, while maintaining a commitment to the organization’s core values and the quality and integrity of its programs.  It is critically important that the President be able to speak clearly, credibly and passionately about environmental issues, sustainability and global development, both to U.S.-based and international stakeholders and funders.

The President will be expected to serve as an external presence and spokesperson – strengthening current funding, developing new and more diverse sources of revenue, representing WRI’s mission and purpose, and raising the visibility of WRI through partnerships and collaborations with existing programs and by creating opportunities for new partnerships and initiatives.  Therefore, the President must be able to convey WRI’s importance to current and potential stakeholders worldwide and to persuade them to contribute resources to advance the organization’s goals.

Reporting to and working closely with the Board, the President will ensure that WRI remains clear and ambitious about its strategic intent, as reflected in its current five-year strategic plan.  The President, while respecting WRI’s internal culture, will ensure that WRI is fiscally sound and that clearly defined metrics continue to support the organization’s goals and objectives.  The President will provide ongoing leadership and direction around institutional growth and brand identity, articulating a strategy for taking WRI to next level.  Additionally, this person will ensure that communications and relationships among WRI offices and institutions – particularly in China, India and Brazil – are well coordinated, while cultural differences are respected. 

PRIORITIES

The President will provide strong and inspirational leadership, with the capability to listen carefully but also diplomatically and forcefully place his or her own stamp on WRI.  Additionally, during the first year, he or she will be expected to:

• Become thoroughly familiar with WRI – its history, mission, culture, programs, operations and funding; quickly get to know staff; invest significant time upfront to meet and create or sustain trusting relationships with key constituencies internally and globally;
• Assume leadership of WRI’s fundraising strategies, immediately establishing personal and effective relationships with key donors in order to facilitate renewal of major grants and individual contributions; identify opportunities to continue the expansion of the organization’s donor base from institutions and individuals; cultivate, solicit/re-solicit donors on an ongoing basis; increase effective affiliations with existing government, corporate and program funders;
• Foster a cohesive and collegial working relationship with the Board Chair and individual Board members, finding ways to use effectively their individual expertise to benefit WRI; keep the Board engaged; identify and tap into underutilized talents and connections of various Board members as appropriate; be strategic in the development and recruitment of new Board members; work with the Board and others including WRI staff and potential funders to identify areas of potential new strategic opportunities to make a difference and strengthen WRI’s work in the programmatic areas in which it engages in the United States and other countries;
• Strengthen WRI’s sphere of influence in Washington and expand it internationally, seeing that the Institute’s concerns are given a voice and are heard at all appropriate levels and venues; lead effective advocacy efforts, while ensuring that such efforts support the interests and concerns of WRI’s global agenda and partnerships; 
• Ensure institutional growth strategies are in line and reflective of available short- and long-term funding sources and commitments; prioritize and balance institutional ambitions against realistic funding projections;  
• Using WRI’s current “managing for results” framework, continue to advance institution-wide priorities; seize opportunities to extend WRI’s leadership and influence in the field; assess roles and responsibilities internally to ensure the right structural model and talents are in place to sustain WRI’s vision and direction.

The President will have responsibilities for:

• Understanding the national and international funding community; initiating and strengthening relationships and collaborations with organizations and leaders who are connected to WRI’s mission and programs; providing compelling leadership for WRI’s public, corporate, foundation and individual fundraising; seeking out and attracting innovative and new funding sources from national and international sources, both private and public; 
• Heightening WRI’s visibility and influence, and serving as a principal spokesperson, building relationships with other NGOs and the media; participating in conferences, seminars and the like; keeping abreast of external factors that might affect WRI’s analysis, programming and fundraising; ramping up communications, including social media, as appropriate; 
• Reviewing WRI’s portfolio of nearly 50 projects; strengthening segments of WRI’s programming that are not as well known or as strong as others; establishing organization-wide metrics for success; encouraging a more aggressive approach to sharing and promoting the work of WRI externally; 
• Working with the Executive Team and Management Team, ensuring that there is strong internal communication and coordination among program and administrative areas; ensuring that there are well-defined goals, clear responsibilities and levels of accountability for all staff.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

The President should have global reach and perspective, with the ability to drive effective ideas to a close, as well as the following experience and qualifications:

• Leadership, vision and strategic capability to run a consensus-oriented institution focused on external results and enabled by analytic excellence and effective partnerships; ability to form solid relationships with Board and staff; working knowledge of current environmental and international development issues of importance; comfort overseeing multiple engagement strategies in a highly collaborative environment; ability to foster big ideas; respectful of the Institution’s unique grounding in evidence-based, practical strategies, tools and policy proposals; committed to change on the ground; 
• Proven experience as a dynamic fundraiser with the ability to frame the vision and concepts to secure financial support from diverse sources – major individual donors, foundations, corporations and government, particularly in a climate of increasing financial constraints, fewer resources and competition for funds in WRI’s programmatic areas; ability to access government funding from bilateral donors such as USAID and European development assistance ministries, multilateral institutions, and other international donors would be desirable;  
• Experience in environment issues, development and issues at the intersection of the two, with a track record of quality and work around environmental policy issues, or other credibility in the sector; 
• The skills, experience and cultural awareness to bring significant global weight to the position and effectively move WRI forward; able to operate in a global context; respected by policy makers, funders, and environmental and development leaders; ability to work comfortably with Capitol Hill, the White House and similar halls of power in other countries;    
• Respect within the corporate community to be able to engage with business leaders as WRI partners in a way that retains WRI’s independence and integrity; 
• Ability to communicate passionately, clearly and concisely, both in writing and verbally; comfortable with both formal and extemporaneous presentations; 
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively; good exposure to foreign countries and diverse cultures (language fluency would be desirable).

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The President will be a person of the highest integrity, and should also be: 

• Committed to the mission and values of WRI; a passionate, intellectually nimble, articulate and informed voice for environmental and development issues; a student of the subject who constantly wants to learn; having a global perspective with significant international exposure is critical; influence in the U.S. policy arena is a plus; 
• A diplomatic leader and visionary who is motivated to take WRI to the next level; able to build consensus, effect change and work collaboratively to maximize the contributions of the staff and Board, and impart credibility, good judgment, trust and enthusiasm, and motivate others in a similar vein;  
• Able to manage multiple priorities ranging from the broad and strategic to the narrow and tactical without loss of focus; must be able to simultaneously think strategically and communicate with passion;   
• A confident decision maker; someone who is entrepreneurial; able to take risks as appropriate; 
• A good and active listener; able to balance diverse agendas and points of view and delegate responsibilities as appropriate, while maintaining on all fronts a sense of continuity and common purpose; 
• Able to subordinate ego, without impacting or impinging on the ability to take concerted and definitive action; capable of unilateral decision making as appropriate; 
• Energetic, hardworking and able to travel; comfortable in any cultural setting;
• Mature, with a sense of humor, and able to maintain balance and perspective.