Regional Lead for Latin America on Nature Based Solutions for Climate
Reports to: Office WWF Peru / WWF Mexico (depending where the candidate is located)
We are looking to hire a passionate, creative, and dedicated professional, always willing to push the boundaries, a great team player and overall, a good human being, who understands and appreciates the value of leading by example.
We are looking to hire a passionate, creative, and dedicated professional, always willing to push the boundaries, a great team player and overall, a good human being, who understands and appreciates the value of leading by example.
We are driven by the WWF Core Values:
- COURAGE We demonstrate courage through our actions, we work for change where it’s needed, and we inspire people and institutions to tackle the greatest threats to nature and the future of the planet, which is our home.
- INTEGRITY We live the principles we call on others to meet. We act with integrity, accountability, and transparency, and we rely on facts and science to guide us and to ensure that we learn and evolve.
- RESPECT We honor the voices and knowledge of people and communities that we serve, and we work to secure their rights to a sustainable future.
- COLLABORATION We deliver impact at the scale of the challenges we face through the power of collective action and innovation.
Role Context
WWF is looking for an experienced and passionate individual to serve as the Regional Lead for LAC on Nature Based Solutions (NbS) - Climate Mitigation and to spearhead efforts to build and guide our internal capacity to increase the supply of high quality NbS interventions globally, with a particular focus on the Latin American region (LAC).
This role will coordinate closely with the following WWF’s internal teams:
LAC Secretariat Team- Particularly with the Conservation and Policy Cabinet leads, two governance bodies within the Secretariat. This role will ensure proper engagement with country offices in LAC, capacity building, regional representation, while providing technical guidance and support.
LAC Secretariat Team- Particularly with the Conservation and Policy Cabinet leads, two governance bodies within the Secretariat. This role will ensure proper engagement with country offices in LAC, capacity building, regional representation, while providing technical guidance and support.
WWF’s NbS-Origination Platform (NbS OP)- established to originate, structure, resource and implement NbS interventions for both private and public actors in a cohort of a pre-identified forest landscapes (which include the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico; Madre de Dios in Peru; and the Atlantic Forest, Brazil) that will demonstrate and set the bar for high-integrity climate and nature impacts and benefit-sharing.
This role will cover origination and coordination of NBS interventions end-to-end, from ideation through financing through project design and completion. < https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/nature-based-solutions-origination-platform >
WWF’s Carbon Finance and Markets Taskforce (CFMT) - The CFMT has established a WWF’s Technical Expertise Hub to fill critical gaps in skills and capacities required to implement high quality NbS for climate mitigation across the Network and facilitate knowledge sharing and greater WWF Network-wide cohesion through developing an active community of experts from several regions (regional champions).
This role will be supporting coordination of this Technical Expertise Hub therefore providing guidance and leadership to WWF’s growing work on NbS across the LAC region for the Network.
This role will also be accountable to the hiring Country Office and supported by the LAC Conservation and Policy Cabinet Leads as well as the Carbon Markets and Finance Taskforce Lead.
Main Responsibilities
a) Regional Lead for the NbS-Origination Platform (75% time commitment)
- Provide guidance and build capacities to develop high quality NbS interventions in Latin America, particularly in NbS OP pilot landscapes
- Support coordination of the LAC offices in the development of project proposals of inclusive NbS interventions for climate, people and nature related to habitat protection, wildlife conservation, landscape restoration and sustainable management
- Ensuring high project quality in the region, equitable benefit sharing and co-benefits with full participation and ownership by indigenous peoples and the local community
- Supports monitoring the contributions of LAC to climate change mitigation in accordance with our global goals.
- Facilitating fundraising, partnership development and networking to identify new and ongoing funding opportunities for high quality NbS interventions, including private investors (tbd)
- Strengthen existing partnerships, as well as identify and establish new strategic partnerships with relevant NGOs, development partners, donors and implementing agencies, as well as the private sector.
- Implement training programs as an expert and support community engagement efforts
- Assesses and shares regional/subregional needs to strengthen LAC contributions and helps connect with internal/external experts.
- Identifies potential risks on NbS interventions
- Liaises with network partners and positions LAC’s work on NbS solutions.
b) Coordinate the Technical Expertise Hub (25% time commitment)
- Provide strategic leadership and coordination for WWF’s Expertise Hub (supported by existing regional champions from the expertise hub team).
- Support the CFMT through the Expertise Hub to build capability via regular need assessment surveys, curated trainings modules, webinars/seminars and in coordination with WWF’s knowledge management team.
- Provides operational or policy guidance and advice (need-based) to offices in the network to support their NbS for climate mitigation interventions.
- Collaborates with offices within WWF on capacity building and direct project support
- Maintains the existing database on internal expert capacity across the Network and provides active inputs to the regional leaders on streamlining capacity addition in the Network
Required Qualifications and Experience
- Graduate degree in environmental science, sustainability, forestry or any climate change and carbon mitigation-related field, a master’s degree is a plus
- Project designer and manager with 5-10 years experience of designing and managing NbS interventions (with/without carbon elements) with reasonable knowledge of all workstreams in such projects e.g., design, development, certifications, financing, implementation and monitoring
- Experience in conservation of ecosystems particularly in Latin America
- Experience in designing benefit sharing and co-benefits with full participation and ownership by indigenous peoples and the local community
- Desirable experience on carbon accounting, monitoring, biodiversity impact assessment
- Experience in convening and coordinating communities in an international environment (particularly an NGO);
Required Skills and Competencies
- Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills and strong analytical, organisation and communication skills;
- Good training/coaching skills
- Good leadership, team management and coordination skills
- Effective communication in both written and spoken
- Language skills - Spanish, Portuguese (tbd)
- Ability to forge collaborations
- Identifies and aligns with WWF’s core values: Courage, Integrity, Respect, and Collaboration
Working Relationships
Internal – WWF’s Carbon Finance and Markets Task Force Core Team and Task Teams; Country offices in LAC, Practice experts, Network offices developing or with interest in NbS, NbS-related programs within WWF
External – External partners and leaders and experts in the field as required
Contact: Please apply until October 31, 2023, at the following link: https://bit.ly/45iN4Ki