Project Specialist, TerraFund

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You Will be based in our office in Washington DC Office. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. To be eligible for this position, you must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment.

About the Program:

WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative informs, enables, and invests in people that restore degraded land. The team’s flagship investment program for locally led enterprises and community non-profits, TerraFund, currently finances, trains, and monitors 230+ growing organizations across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

The program operates three funding windows: In Africa, TerraFund for AFR100 has made 200+ investments in local organizations through grants, low-interest loans, and equity finance, with a focus on the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda; the Greater Rift Valley of Kenya; and the Ghana Cocoa Belt. In India, Harit Bharat Fund has financed its first cohort of 20 restoration champions in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. And globally, the Priceless Planet Coalition is financing large-scale restoration projects that benefit the climate, biodiversity, and communities. In 2025, TerraFund will launch a new program focused on the Brazilian Amazon. 

To build this pipeline of champions ready for investment, WRI has worked with local service providers to source and train more than 500 organizations in Africa, Brazil, and India on the fundamentals of financial management, pitching, and monitoring and evaluation. 

These portfolios for funding and capacity building are built through the TerraMatch platform, an end-to-end system that hosts open calls for proposals, connects champions with technical assistance, and tracks the progress of funded projects through a standard monitoring, reporting, and verification protocol.

Through its more than 50 core business processes and tested standards, TerraFund shows that targeted investments in locally led champions can build viable restoration economies around the world. 

Job Highlight:

Reporting to Senior Portfolio Manager, TerraFund, Global Restoration Initiative, you will assist the team’s experts in Africa, Brazil, India, and the U.S. during the application, selection, and project management processes for each funded portfolio. You will assist champions that apply for funding and technical assistance, and you will quality-assure data submitted through TerraMatch, working with the team’s data experts. You will also support in donor reporting and relationship management with financial partners, including Realize Impact, Barka Fund, the Vumbuzi Impact Africa Foundation, and Conservation International. 

This is an opportunity to work on the Global Restoration Initiative’s rapidly growing team and to liaise with external and internal partners to improve the efficiency of the evolving restoration sector across Africa, Brazil, and India. You will build critical project management skills, while learning the ins-and-outs of investing in restoration organizations across developing countries. 

You will work directly with the Senior Manager, TerraFund and the initiative’s core project management staff to support program management and stakeholder engagement for the initiative’s portfolios of restoration champions. 

What will you do:

Project Management & Engagement (100%): 

• Support project screening processes during open requests-for-proposals, ensuring that each applicants receives thorough vetting from the knowledgeable team members at WRI and at partner organizations
• Provide support for locally led restoration projects, resourcing their on-the-ground needs with technical support and advice and producing standard training materials
• Quality assure data submitted by projects as they engage with TerraFund
• Analyze the investment readiness of WRI’s pipeline of restoration projects, categorizing their technical assistance and support needs
• Develop, socialize, and improve project management processes for funded projects, aligning stakeholders across WRI and partner organizations
• Work with the Senior Manager of TerraFund to develop individual projects and project portfolios that align with funder and project interests
• Contribute to fundraising, project contracting, and donor reporting, e.g., by consulting the TerraMatch platform for the latest information from funded projects
• Support the team that is operationalizing and managing Vumbuzi Impact Africa Foundation
• Identify areas of synergy across TerraFund’s sister initiatives in Africa, Brazil, and India, building connection across geographies

What will you need:

• Education: You have completed a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, business, forestry, agriculture, data science, or other related field. Relevant work experience in lieu of degree is accepted
• Experience: You have a minimum of 2 years of work experience, including in project delivery in the environmental space
• Understanding of restoration work or sustainable land management issues 
• Ability to manage a complex workload remotely and meet deadlines 
• Experience working with people from different cultures and backgrounds and coaching them to deliver timely results
• Experience owning and managing workplans through online project management tools, such as Airtable and Monday.com
• Languages: Fluent in English, with additional common languages (e.g., French, Portuguese) a plus
• Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

Potential Salary: US salary range is between 57,000 and 64,000

USD. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by the date of 13 November 2024. We are unable to consider your application without a cover letter. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

What we offer:

• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
• The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities. 
• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
• Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
• Generous leave days that increase with tenure
• Medical Coverage, Dental Coverage, Vision Coverage, retirement plan access and employer contribution, Paid Time Off

About Us:

Founded in 1982, World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. WRI has a global staff of over 1,800 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Integrity, Innovation, Urgency, Independence and Respect.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices. We are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment; we embrace all diversity and encourage women, the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply. Recognizing our strong commitment to gender equality, WRI has also been awarded EDGE certification.

Our team in Human Resources carefully reviews all applications.