Programme Officer

About the role

We are seeking a Programme Officer to join our growing Nature Economy team, working at the junction between biodiversity and the economy.

This role will predominately be within our Finance for Nature focal initiative, focused on helping mobilise more sustainable private investment for restoration and sustainable agriculture, to the benefit of nature. The successful candidate will initially serve as UNEP-WCMC’s focal point to the Good Food Finance Network – GFFN, supporting the Secretariat, the High Ambition Group, and its Metrics Catalyst Groups.

Job Description

Job Title: Programme Officer

Job Reference No: AD1400

Programme: Nature Economy

Grade: D

Line Manager: Senior Programme Officer

Main Purpose of the Job

The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) strives for a sustainable world for biodiversity and people. One of the impact areas in UNEP-WCMC’s strategy is Nature Economy, where we enable and empower leaders across all sectors of the economy?to act for nature.

We support businesses, financial institutions, and governments, to ensure they have the knowledge, tools and capacity to measure and account for their impacts and dependencies on natural capital so they can implement actions towards a nature-positive future. 

This position is expected to contribute to projects under our Finance for Nature focal initiative, focused on helping change the business case for action on biodiversity loss by addressing unsustainable short-term financial behaviours which incentivise the depletion of natural capital. Particularly, it will support the further development of our work on sustainable land use finance, promoting better environmental and social risk and impact management in private investments in ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable agriculture/forestry. The successful candidate will support technical delivery and project management within the wider Finance for Nature project portfolio. Initially, they will be expected to support the Good Food Finance Network – GFFN, in close coordination with UNEP-FI and other GFFN partners.

The role is expected to involve activities such as:

-             Working with financial institutions and business, for example in coordination with GFFN partners, to secure and onboard new members of the High Ambition Group and supporting them to set targets for how they will develop innovative finance solutions to support the transformation to sustainable food systems

-             Plan and delivery of workshops and events, for example, event planning and support to the Metrics Catalyst Group

-             Providing project management and technical support to other projects in the Finance for Nature focal initiative, for example, working with impact funds to develop their capacity on managing environmental and social risks and impacts

-             Developing capacity and organising training, knowledge exchange and learning opportunities to help financial institutions understand and mitigate their nature-related impacts and dependencies

Key Areas of Responsibility

Act as the UNEP-WCMC’s focal point for the Good Food Finance Network - GFFN, coordinating closely with GFFN partners at UNEP and UNEP-FI and our Senior Programme Officer overseeing this work.

Contribute to and develop other projects in the Finance for Nature focal initiative, helping various financial institutions and other stakeholders to develop robust risk and impact management systems relating to sustainable land use finance.

Manage projects from inception through to completion to time and to budget, with effective internal and external communication and reporting, delegating task-level coordination and management as appropriate.

Contribute to robust financial reporting and management by regularly reviewing project budgets, expenditure and income and by accurately tracking and reporting time spent on projects.

Supervising the inputs of UNEP-WCMC staff, interns, and consultants as necessary in support of project implementation and the delivery of activities and outputs.

Provide support for the programme's key partnerships by managing individual relationships and overseeing the development of clear communication materials.

Organise and facilitate workshops, trainings and webinars with partners, and other events in the UK, overseas and remotely.

Other Duties

•            Promote project work and represent the Centre externally at meetings, conferences, and events, building a network to facilitate project delivery.

•            Line manage members of the Nature Economy team to continuously develop their technical, project management, and communication abilities.

•            Develop good working relations across the Centre, establishing an internal network, and extending your knowledge of scientific and policy issues relevant to the work of the organisation as a whole.

•            Ensure project and other deliverables are of high quality, in line with the Centre's quality assurance process.

•            Contribute to the operation and administration of the Nature Economy team as required.

•            Undertake other duties as appropriate to the grade and relevant to the needs that may be determined from time to time by the Line Manager.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Education

Essential:

•            Undergraduate degree in a field related to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, economics, or international business.        

Desirable:

•            Postgraduate degree in a field related to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, economics or international business.

 

Experience

Essential:

•            Proven experience working in an international context on business and biodiversity-related         topics

•            Demonstrable experience managing projects to time and budget, working to important deadlines, and supporting ambitious team goals.

•            Experience working in partnership with a variety of stakeholders, such as governments, NGOs, businesses, and financial institutions.

•            Experience in leading, drafting and delivering high-quality written outputs

•            Experience facilitating and communicating project results face-to-face or via virtual platforms.

 

              Desirable:

•            Experience in working with financial institutions on biodiversity or food system sustainability related topics

•            Working with businesses in the finance, agriculture or other commodities sectors

•            Experience of environmental and social risk/impact measurement; sustainability certification schemes,  and/or sustainable commodity sourcing, including deforestation-free supply chains.

•            Experience delivering capacity-building and workshops events virtually and/or in-person

•            GEF project reporting and management

•            Proposal development and fundraising experience in the international conservation sector

•            Experience in managing and coaching staff

 

Skills

•            Strong project management skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage and motivate staff to deliver high-quality outputs on time and within budget

•            Strong in-person and remote meeting facilitation skills

•            Excellent writing and proofreading skills to produce concise, compelling and clear information for a range of technical and non-technical audiences

•            Strong critical, analytical, and innovative thinking skills, particularly related to the impacts and dependencies of financial institutions on biodiversity and natural capital

•            Excellent IT skills (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, familiarity with Sharepoint would be helpful);

•            Ability to work to tight deadlines, balance competing demands and seek support or delegate, as appropriate

•            Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively within a team in both face-to-face and remote settings, and give and receive constructive feedback

•            Fluency in written and spoken English is essential to this role. The ability to work in other languages (e.g. Portuguese, Indonesian, French, and Spanish) is desirable.

 

Type of person required

The successful candidate will be a confident, engaging, and organized individual with an appetite for working within a world-class biodiversity institution. They will have successfully worked on a variety of biodiversity projects with international relevance and impact at a variety of scales. They will also understand the importance of working with businesses and financial institutions to find solutions to global biodiversity challenges.

They will be sensitive to the needs of partners and understand the importance of seeing projects to completion. The successful candidate will have the willingness to take on new challenges and acquire new knowledge. It is important that they are an excellent writer and that they value attention to detail.

They will also be a great verbal communicator, be able to project their knowledge and passion for their work in presentations and be skilled at steering and facilitating meetings towards the desired outputs and outcomes for the Centre.

The successful candidate will be a team player with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. They will have a keen interest in providing practical support and solutions to address real-world challenges

Other relevant information

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