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Position summary:

The Global Programs department is responsible for supporting Rainforest Alliance's strategy through global initiatives, regional projects, and partnerships. It ensures consistent programmatic design and delivers services in a synergistic manner. The Director, Climate, leads all aspects the Climate unit within the Global Programs department, activating the full potential of the organization's climate work. The Director leads strategic positioning, communication with external stakeholders, engages in alliances, and ensures a comprehensive programmatic expertise portfolio. The Director ensures effective collaboration across Rainforest Alliance departments and is committed to providing clear direction and supporting teams in driving impact. The Director contributes to a data-driven and conscientious culture by defining clear priorities and enabling creative solutions to complex problems. Identifying critical cross-departmental and external alliance growth opportunities and having the expertise and communication style to positively influence these collaborations are key to the success of this role.

Responsibilities:

  • The Rainforest Alliance’s Core Values are Impact, Change, Collaboration;
  • Openness and Trust and as such they form the basis of the behaviours we demonstrate;
  • Proactively lead and support the organization in achieving its 2030 Strategy with respect to climate issues, promoting speed, scale and simplification in design, implementation and impact creation;
  • Complete organization and effective operating of the Climate unit, in close collaboration with the Sr Director Global Programs and team members;
  • Promote Rainforest Alliance’s climate impact to stakeholders and partners in a compelling way that resonates with their interests, activating its full potential, and supporting the organizations’ fundraising efforts;
  • Represent Rainforest Alliance at key events, presentations, policy forums and roundtables;
  • Maintain a continuous assessment and solid management of Rainforest Alliance’s climate work, ensuring the unit provides thought leadership, programmatic expertise into proposal development and select program implementation, input on the requirements for tech and data platforms, and interpretation of dashboards;
  • Ensure consistency, coordination, accountability, and continuous learning between expertise areas, overseeing Rainforest Alliance’s interests as a whole, rather than from a single programmatic expertise area only;
  • Ensure seamless, effective and service oriented processes for collaboration cross functionally;
  • Guide program design and implementation using research, learnings, impact data, and qualitative feedback to make data driven decisions;
  • Cultivate a culture of positive and proactive collaboration, engaging widely and inclusively across the organization, clearly demonstrating having taken broad perspectives into consideration, and embed continuous learning and simplification into all aspects of programmatic work;
  • Ensure an effective embedding of a producer centric approach in all climate work;
  • Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies applicable laws and corporate behavioural framework- responsibilities include hiring; mentoring and evaluating; guiding professional development opportunities; and addressing employee relations issues; and;
  • Other duties, as assigned.


Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree in Climate Change, Natural Resource Management, Environmental policy, or Sustainability related field AND a minimum of 8 years work experience in climate change or corporate sustainability;
  • Strong knowledge of the SBTi guidance and standards, GHG Protocol, and climate regulatory reporting frameworks (such as the EU’s CSRD and CSDDD, EUDR, Canadian laws, UK laws and California’s laws), especially guidance for forest and land sectors;
  • Experience or familiarity with carbon markets, credits and offsets;
  • Knowledge and experience with GHG accounting methodologies for the agricultural and forest sectors;
  • Experience developing joint workstreams with or working within agribusiness companies on climate mitigation and adaptation;
  • Experience applying the climate mitigation standards and guidance (desired);
  • Knowledge and understanding of climate finance as well as international and national climate policy in the agriculture, forestry, and land sector;
  • Experience in the coffee, tea, or cocoa sectors (desired);
  • Communication Skills: Excellent English writing, editing and verbal communication skills; foreign language proficiency preferred (Spanish, French, Portuguese);
  • General: Strong organizational skills to manage multiple priorities in a time-sensitive manner; strong attention to detail; quick to learn and adapt in fast-paced settings.

Level: 1

Deadline: 19 September 2025

Salary: For USA based candidates only:

  • National Salary range (Excluding NY and DC) -$95,746 - $136,780
  • New York Salary Range -$104,278 - $148,969
  • Washington DC Salary Range -$102,448 - $146,355


Notes: Only candidates legally authorized to work in locations where the Rainforest Alliance is registered will be considered.

If you have any questions about the job vacancy, please contact the HR department: recruitment@ra.org

The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability and any other protected group.