Corporate Programme Manager, Nature

The Corporate Programme Manager at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change will manage initiatives focused on combating deforestation and nature loss. Key responsibilities include supporting the NA100 and FSDA initiatives, tracking engagement progress, and collaborating with financial institutions. The role requires experience in corporate sustainability or finance, strong project management skills, and the ability to engage with various stakeholders. This position is based in London and is initially fixed-term for 24 months.
The Role

You will join us as one of the programme managers of IIGCC's Corporate Programme, specifically focused on supporting the FSDA and NA100 initiatives. The role is focused on expanding the reach of investor corporate engagement to combat deforestation and other drivers of nature loss thereby helping investors better manage the nature-related financial risks (and opportunities) across their portfolios.

NA100 is a global investor engagement initiative designed to drive greater corporate ambition and action to combat nature loss. Participating investors call on companies to achieve six key asks, including assessing and disclosing their nature-related issues and setting science-based targets. NA100 now has over 200 participating investors representing over £21 trillion in assets under management or advice (AUM/A).

Launched at COP26, FSDA brings together over thirty financial institutions with more than £7 trillion in AUM/A who are working toward eliminating agricultural commodity-driven deforestation (for palm oil, soy, beef, pulp & paper) from their investment and lending portfolios. The commitment letter signed by each of these financial institutions is available here. FSDA was initiated by the UN High Level Climate Champions together with efforts by the UK Government and other NGO members. FSDA’s work is exemplified by this case study with Storebrand.

As a programme manager, you will contribute to the development and implementation of the strategy of these two pioneering initiatives. One broad and far-reaching with the scope to support multiple engagement strategies and one nimble and highly ambitious specifically targeting commodity-driven deforestation. You will be responsible for tracking the progress of engagements, managing initiative databases and responding to participating investor inquiries, among other tasks.

There will also be opportunities to work across workstreams, including stewardship, specific sector work and transition research, while working collaboratively with the Investor Strategies and Policy programmes.

While this role is initially offered on a fixed term basis for 24 months, we hope that the contract can be extended.

Main responsibilities

The work will comprise the following key activities:
• Support the management of the NA100 and FSDA initiatives
• Manage databases to track and report on engagement progress
• Work closely with IIGCC members to facilitate effective collaborative engagement; for example, convening working groups, producing tools and guidance, and providing technical assistance
• Assist with the overall project management and research needs of the Corporate Programme to support investor engagement with companies on deforestation and nature loss
• Collaborate with partner networks, data providers and other third parties.

Skills and capabilities

Essential:
• Experience of working in stewardship, corporate sustainability or in the financial sector AND/OR experience working on issues relating to deforestation and nature loss
• Proven motivation to lead and deliver on a workplan, demonstrating flexibility where required
• Proven ability to work as a team and successfully manage internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent project management, coordination and organisational skills
• Strong stakeholder engagement and management capabilities
• Excellent data management skills, including mastery of Excel
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a high level of attention to detail
• Competency in routine IT tools including Microsoft Office (e.g., Word, Power Point and Adobe PDF)
• Written and spoken fluency in English.

Desirable:
• Understanding and demonstrable interest in financial markets, the investment industry and their role in sustainability
• Knowledge and understanding of best practices in corporate nature reporting (e.g., TNFD, SBTN)
• Experience working on a specific issue related to nature loss (e.g., deforestation, water use, pollution)
• Fluency in other European languages.

Why work at IIGCC?

People join IIGCC because they care deeply about making a difference in supporting our mission that brings the investment community together to make significant progress towards a net zero and climate resilient future by 2030. In return, IIGCC offers its employees a competitive salary with a wide range of benefits and supportive ways of working.

Applications

Interested applicants should submit a Curriculum Vitae and a cover letter detailing their relevant skills, capabilities and experience for the role by completing the application

Please note that as part of the Nature work, we are currently recruiting for three roles – one each in our Investor Strategies, Corporate Engagement and Transition Research teams. In your application, please indicate your interest in being considered for either one or more roles.

If you have any queries, please email vacancy@iigcc.org.

Recruitment timeline

The deadline for applications is Sunday 23 February 2025. We reserve the right to extend the deadline or close this vacancy early depending on the applications we receive. We recommend that you submit your application as early as possible.

Please note that we aim for the first round interviews (online, via Teams) to take place in the week of 3 March 2025.