BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership. Through our unique local-to-global approach, we deliver high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.

We are looking for someone to will act as BirdLife’s focal point for the design and development of conservation finance mechanisms and instruments in collaboration with BirdLife Partners and allies across the western hemisphere. They will lead efforts to secure investment and financing deals to advance our organization’s goals for these mechanisms. This is a cross-cutting role that will serve as a resource on conservation and sustainable finance issues across BirdLife’s distinct programmes in the Americas.

This position will focus on building sustainable financial mechanisms and instruments for three principal areas of work: the Forest Programme in the Americas, the Conserva Aves Initiative, and the Americas Flyways Initiative (AFI). The position will report directly to the Senior Conservation Manager and will coordinate with BirdLife’s global Conservation Finance Team to ensure cohesion with global initiatives/priorities.

The jobholder’s primary responsibilities will be to assess opportunities for conservation/sustainable finance at organizational, programmatic and landscapes scales, and support the development of instruments or mechanisms targeting “non-traditional” sources of finance and market-based approaches within BirdLife’s portfolio in the Americas region. The jobholder will likely be engaged in supporting fundraising from philanthropy, corporates and multi-laterals where it is linked to development of sustainable finance mechanisms.

Education, Skills and Other Requirements

• Relevant undergraduate degree e.g. Ecology, Economics, Finance, International Relations, Business Administration, SustainabilityRelevant undergraduate degree e.g. Ecology, Economics, Finance, International Relations, Business Administration, Sustainability
• Advanced degree in Finance, Business Administration or Economics desirable

Job Specific Knowledge:

• Deep knowledge of trends in sustainable, impact or conservation finance, applicable tools, instruments, or methodologies that NGOs of different sizes and capacities could access.
• Successful experience in the design and/or implementation of financial mechanisms that generate social, environmental or biodiversity impact. These could include environmental funds, carbon finance projects, conservation endowment funds, green bonds, and/or social and environmental impact investments.
• Specific knowledge of the function and structure of a variety of market-based mechanisms such as nature-based carbon projects, conservation enterprises, green bonds, trust funds, etc.
• Preference for candidates with strong knowledge of regional political, socio-economic and cultural issues, and how these influence the conservation and restoration of ecosystems in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean

Experience:

• A proven track record of applicable work experience, with a focus on sustainable, impact or conservation finance. Experience in a mix of NGO, private sector and/or public sector desirable.
• Demonstrated experience on the design and structuring of financial mechanisms to channel funds to conservation or other environmental or social impact-related projects and initiatives.
• Experience with strategic and project planning and management tools.
• Experience coordinating a wide range of concurrent activities and prioritising effectively to meet deadlines.
• Experience delivering projects/results with stakeholders and collaborators of varying types and capacities. Experience in capacity development related to conservation finance or related technical topics highly desirable.