Senior Advisor Financing Green

WWF-NL is a professional and dynamic organisation with an informal working culture based in Zeist, the Netherlands. The organisation consists of four departments: Conservation, Engagement, Organization & Talent Development and Finance & Operations. The Green Finance team within the Conservation department at WWF-NL is looking for a Senior Advisor Financing Green (32-40 hours p/w). 

This position will report to the Head of the Green Finance Team, who reports to the Chief Conservation Officer.

Green Finance Team

The Green Finance Team in WWF-NL aims to drive a meaningful shift in finance to achieve WWF’s conservation goals and Global Goals on climate, nature and development. This involves greening finance to reduce investment in activities which drive climate change and nature loss, and scaling sustainable finance as a key enabler that accelerates WWF’s overall conservation mission. WWF-NL is uniquely positioned to work with governments, key financial organizations, global initiatives and many different stakeholders as the world moves from commitments to action. WWF will seek to catalyze implementation and provide expertise to mobilize sustainable financing and to help close climate and biodiversity funding gaps.

To achieve our mission, the Green Finance team has two main pillars:

1. Financing Green: This pillar works on accelerating finance mobilization from all sources to scale private sector action and to support the closing of funding gaps, including by embedding finance in our conservation work on the ground;
2. Greening Finance: This pillar works on influencing global, regional and national financial systems to align with and enable the delivery of WWF’s conservation goals.

This role will lead the Financing Green pillar within WWF-NL, and will do so through:

• Green Finance for Landscapes - Support the acceleration of landscape conservation in places where WWF works, leveraging a full set of complementary financial tools and solutions;
• Green Financial Solutions - Support the deployment of capital to companies, projects, and activities in line with Global Goals through green financial solutions;

WWF-NL hosts two main programs under the financing green pillar, namely the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), and Mobilising More for Climate (MoMo4C). In addition to these programs, the Green Finance team supports both greening finance and financing green interventions in 12 key landscapes around the world.

The role

The Senior Advisor Financing Green will coordinate and support all WWF-NL's Financing Green activities. This includes capacity building, proposal writing, supporting the due diligence on certain deals, and ensuring that WWF-NL is seen as a high quality and impact focused partner in the green/impact finance space. The role also entails supporting the financing green programs (the DFCD and MoMo4C), the financing green elements in other WWF-NL programs and engaging with other WWF offices to align and develop initiatives together.

Responsibilities

• Act as technical expert to identify and support opportunities around various green finance instruments such as Bankable Nature Solutions (BNS), Debt for Nature Swaps, Green / blue bonds, carbon financing, Project Finance for Permanence (PFPs), species bonds and blended finance facilities.
• Support large opportunities in WWF-NL and the network.
• Build organisational capacity and develop proposals that involve Green Finance together with WWF-NL's International Landscape Team, Thematic Team, Public Private Partnerships team and fundraising teams, as well as offices in the global south.
• Ensure that WWF-NL remains a network leader within the Financing Green space, liaise with the WWF network and the Finance Practice.
• Represent WWF-NL in the WWF Bankable Nature Solutions network that brings together all the financing green programs of the WWF network, and manage the BNS Network Coordinator who is based in the Netherlands.
• Support the Head of Green Finance to create a strategy and provide the various program managers with technical expertise to achieve their outcomes.
• Continue to build and maintain a network of organisations relevant to delivering on our Financing Green strategy. Grow WWF's external recognition and position WWF-NL as a strong partner. 
• Support the investable or bankable project identification, due diligence, derisking and investor matchmaking activities.
• Integrate Financing Green and opportunities for leverage in the development and implementation of the new 2030 WWF-NL strategy.
• Work with the Greening Finance Lead to build shared understanding and identify areas where there can be more alignment and Financing Green and Greening Finance opportunities can be developed.

Who are you?

We are looking for someone who brings a combination of green finance expertise and project management experience.

Qualifications and experience

• Bachelors or Master’s degree in the field of Economics, Finance or Business.
• Minimum 7 to 10 years experience in business development, sustainable economic development, landscape finance, conservation finance, project and/or corporate finance and/or impact investment.
• Strong financial and budgeting experience.
• Fluent in English.
• Preferably experience with (development) financial institutions, building bankable or investible pipelines and/or market-based mechanisms for conservation.

Desired Skills and Competencies

• Analytical, strategic; sees the big picture.
• Experience working in the Global South.
• Proven organizational, diplomatic and negotiating skills that yield positive results on the sustainability agenda, especially as it relates to the finance and business world.
• Strong ability to lead the development or implementation of large-sized initiatives, including working with and coordinating funding partners, third parties and users.
• Ability to work effectively as a team member with a wide range of individuals across cultures and time zones and ability to develop strong relationships with stakeholders and partners.
• Independent worker, pro-active in thinking about opportunities to further improve the work.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Strong interest in nature conservation and the mission of WWF.
• Prior experience in assessing financial institutions and climate risks would be an advantage.

Core values

You recognize yourself in the core values of WWF-NL:

• Courage
• Integrity
• Respect
• Collaboration

What do we offer?

• You will be able to work in a sustainable office surrounded by nature;
• Fun colleagues and the chance to build up an international network;
• Vegetarian lunches in our canteen and free after work drinks every other Thursday;
• An employment contract of 32-40 hours. Initially, a fixed-term employment contract of one year with a one-month probation period will be offered;
• Salaries that are in line with the standard in the Dutch not-for-profit sector; The minimum gross monthly salary for this role is 4.644 EUR and the maximum monthly salary is 6.672 EUR (based on a 40-hour contract);
• Staff receive a personal budget that is made up of 8% holiday allowance and 2,08% flexible budget, and receive 6 weeks of holiday per year (based on a 40-hour contract);
• We stimulate flexible working arrangements, the use of public transport and bike for work related travel. Employees receive an NS Business Card for 2nd class travel to and from work;
• We also have a hybrid working model, so staff can alternate working from home and from the office.

Information and procedure

If you are interested in this position, please apply by 8 September 2024, 23:59, by applying via the WWF-NL website.  

Please note that in order to work for WWF-NL, you need a valid work permit.

If you have any questions about the application process, you can contact Babette Vanlancker (Recruitment Coordinator) via bvanlancker@wwf.nl. Questions about this role can be directed to Jaap de Jong (Project Manager in the Green Finance team) via jjong@wwf.nl. Due to the summer period it may take us a bit longer to respond.

We actively strive for our employees to reflect society and the international character of our organization. We therefore especially encourage candidates with backgrounds that are normally underrepresented to apply.

We consider the safety and protection of our colleagues as important. The successful candidate is therefore required to complete an integrity statement and supply a Certificate of Good Conduct (Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag). We may also ask for references.

If you are an intermediary, please do not contact us. We will contact recruitment agencies ourselves if necessary.