Posted on 21 December 2023

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working at WWF could be your opportunity of a lifetime.

All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realisation that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.

Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and wildlife.

What we do

We are an independent conservation organisation, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainable.

1 MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Global Food Practice is a WWF Network Community of Practice, open to all WWF staff who are contributing to or interested in food developments, expertise, and innovation. The WWF Food Practice works to transform food systems by aligning human and planetary health. The three aspirational outcomes that guide our work are:

1. Agriculture and aquaculture production are managed sustainably to ensure biodiversity conservation, resilience to climate change, and benefits to rural communities;
2. Food waste is halved along value and supply chains;
3. Major markets shift towards consumer food choices that are environmentally and socially sustainable.

2 MAJOR FUNCTIONS

Agriculture is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss worldwide, impacting not only terrestrial ecosystems but also freshwater and marine biodiversity. Agriculture is also a major contributor to climate change. To achieve our conservation goals, we must transform key agricultural value chains to become nature-positive and climate-neutral, as well as develop the enabling environment to incentivize and support more sustainable practices.

The Global Manager will work on two levels: (a) with countries in the WWF network and in priority landscapes and (b) with global stakeholders to develop pathways for making agricultural production and food value chains nature-positive and climate-neutral, thus contributing to the overall resilience of the food system.

This position is expected to deliver at two interconnected levels:

Landscapes solutions: Work with WWF offices in countries with priority landscapes where agricultural value chains are driving biodiversity loss and/or are impacting (or being impacted by) climate change to identify nature-positive and climate-resilient alternatives.

Systems solutions: Develop tools and capacity in the network for identifying, analyzing, and proposing nature-positive solutions to key agricultural value chains (global commodities as well as local alternative crops, including orphan crops) that are drivers of biodiversity loss and GHG emissions. Promote feasible solutions for the adoption of nature-positive agricultural production. Propose financial mechanisms with relevant private and public sector actors to incentivize the adoption of nature-positive and climate-neutral agriculture at scale.

3 Major Duties and Responsibilities

Landscape solutions:

The Global Manager will work closely with and provide strategic advice to WWF offices in countries and priority landscapes to:

• Identify the key impacts of agricultural value chains on biodiversity loss and GHG emissions and develop impactful and feasible solutions for farming that deliver climate-resilient and nature-positive value chains (global commodities or alternative crops, including orphan crops).
• Analyse the universe of relevant private sector actors to identify the changes needed to make production more sustainable at scale and what companies and financial institutions would need to do to adopt them, invest in them, and bring them to scale.
• Serve as the focal point for companies and the financial sector to better understand blockages and enablers, in close coordination with the Finance Practice
• Design strategies for engaging more efficiently with the private sector and financial institutions (public and private, in coordination with the Finance Practice), including developing the business case for sustainable production, and supporting the development of partnerships to move toward better production practices.
• Analyse needed policy changes and finance solutions to support the transition to nature-positive value chains.
• Guide and support country office staff as they implement the strategies.
• Coordinate the work of food commodity leads that are currently distributed through the WWF network.

Systems solutions:

The Global Manager will work with the Food Practice core team to:

• Evaluate existing tools and gaps, and as needed design new tools to fill critical gaps to ensure that a robust plan for nature-positive and climate-neutral food production is delivered.
• Build overall capacity within country offices for working on nature-positive production with a learning-by-doing approach to design and implement strategies on how to transition to farming with nature (not against it).
• Document and systematise learning from landscape- and country-level experiences to share with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
• Work with key global organisations representing private-sector agriculture and multi-stakeholder partnerships to transform production systems towards sustainability.
• Work with the Finance Practice to understand how financial instruments, disclosures, target setting, and transition plans for financial institutions and companies can support nature-positive value chain transformation.
• Support strategies, innovations, and analytical products and efforts that contribute to global goals and objectives for nature-positive production.
• Develop thought leadership articles and blogs disseminating solutions and practices that are conducive to nature-positive and climate-neutral production.

4 PROFILE

Required Qualifications.

• Senior professional with at least 15 years of experience, preferably working with the private sector on agricultural production with a focus on sustainability in multiple countries
• A degree in agronomy or related field with a deep understanding of soil health and technical skills to propose possible solutions to farming practices, and an MBA with the ability to develop and articulate compelling business cases for sustainability, including bankable solutions, or equivalent qualifications.
• Proven experience in working with supply chain actors to co-design successful business cases to transform agricultural practices toward nature-positive and climate-neutral
• Strong international experience and the ability to work with individual countries as well as forming multi-country alliances to deliver actionable solutions
• Proven ability to strategically articulate the deep connection between systems thinking and the implementation of actions on the ground.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English including high-quality presentation and report writing skills; other relevant languages desirable.

Required Skills and Competencies.

• Knowledge and understanding of global markets, soft commodity trade, and business dynamics.
• Full understanding of agroecology and other regenerative agricultural practices
• Demonstrated familiarity with the environmental impacts of agricultural production
• Strong project management skills, problem-solving, and organizational abilities; highly developed interpersonal and team-working skills, as well as the ability to operate and provide leadership in a multicultural environment;
• Embraces the WWF mission and values of the organization: Courage, Integrity, Respect & Collaboration.

5 WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Internal.

Working with the other Practices and with countries in the WWF network in priority landscapes.

External.

A range of global stakeholders to develop pathways for making agricultural production and food value chains nature-positive and climate-neutral.

How to apply

Only one single document can be uploaded through our platform. Please upload your covering letter and CV in English as one file. We will not accept applications without CV and Covering Letter.

Deadline for applications: by 21 January 2024.

Work permit restrictions may apply.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

WWF is an equal opportunity employer and committed to having a diverse workforce.