Senior Engagement Manager, Outcome Finance for Restoration

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our WRI Africa office in Nairobi, Kigali, or Accra. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

WRI Africa has supported local partners and African governments for over 30 years, focusing on forest protection, landscape restoration, water-resilient development, and sustainable cities. As a regional office formalized in 2019, WRI Africa’s vision is an inclusive transformation where Africa’s people and landscapes thrive. We operate across four strategic pillars: food, land and water, thriving and resilient cities, energy, and institutional and economic transformation, working with governments, civil society, indigenous communities, and the private sector to foster a people-centered, climate-responsive development pathway.

Aligned with this broader vision, the Restore Local initiative supports locally led restoration efforts with the Greater Rift Valley of Kenya, the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin (Rwanda, Burundi, and DRC), and the Ghana Cocoa Belt as its flagship landscapes.

The effects of land degradation and changes in the local and the global climate are felt in these three landscapes. Loss of livelihoods and food insecurity, water scarcity and disrupted hydrological cycles and increased vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters affect the lives of local people and the viability of businesses.

High-quality and locally led land restoration – concentrated in strategic locations – brings tangible benefits. Revitalized ecosystem services improve biodiversity and water retention, reduce sedimentation in water bodies, and sequester carbon. By bringing damaged land back to life, restoration can also improve social food security, boost rural incomes, and empower women, youth, and other marginalized communities. However, these benefits, the “outcomes” of tree planting and other restoration techniques, are not adequately monetized, leading to a massive underinvestment in this critical and growing sector.

Harnessing technology innovations built with our partners and a growing network of locally led restoration implementers, WRI is embarking on a new strategy to predict, monitor and validate these outcomes through reliable and cost-effective techniques. As a result, “outcome payers,” such as government agencies and private funders, would purchase those results, channel more funding directly to communities.

Job Highlight:

In this role, you will co-develop, structure and coordinate the implementation of Restore Local’s approach to mobilizing buyers of restoration outcomes in its three priority landscapes. You will help build a new alliance of financial institutions, government agencies, and other organizations that will buy verified and measurable “outcomes” of successful land restoration projects. Working with an experienced team of investment, monitoring, communication, and government engagement experts, you will channel millions of dollars of finance to the local organizations that are the backbone of Africa’s restoration movement.

Communicating data from WRI’s mapping and monitoring experts and insights from on-the-ground projects, you will identify which outcomes which buyers would purchase, influence how they outcomes are packaged and sold, and broker transactions. You will also support the Global Restoration Initiative’s senior leadership in fundraising for the initiative’s programming across Africa.

You will also guide the process for developing and improving the theories of change and monitoring, evaluation, and learning approach for each Restore Local priority landscape. You will integrate equity into your work.

You will report to the Senior Manager for Restore Local, based in Rwanda, and the Director, Restoration Finance, based in the United States. You will work with WRI’s Managing for Results team in Africa and the US and with Landscape Managers to ensure that the outcomes of the program are assessed and communicated to WRI’s leadership and external funders.

What will you do:

Outcome Buyer Engagement (65%):

• Develop and implement an approach to manage relationships with outcome buyers, based on WRI’s existing data and team coordination platforms (Asana, Airtable, and Slack)
• Coordinate the mapping of potential outcome buyers with interest or presence in priority landscapes, in close collaboration with local teams
• Lead Restore Local’s engagements with (potential) buyers of verifiable outcomes from restoration projects in the Ghana Cocoa Belt, Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin, and Greater Rift Valley of Kenya. These buyers include government agencies, private investors, landowners, civil society, and corporate funders
• Build and maintain relationships with key potential outcome buyers, and scope the viability of convening outcome buyer alliances in each landscape
• Build and manage project teams around specific workplans, leveraging the diverse expertise in WRI Invest, Monitor, Motivate and Enable teams to develop inspiring, data-rich, landscape-specific communication and engagement materials and strategies for each category of buyer
• Facilitate and support negotiations and agreements between restoration champions and outcome buyers, ensuring transparency, compliance, and shared value for all parties involved
• Coordinate monitoring and verification activities and communications for outcome-based projects, leveraging TerraMatch and other tools to track progress and demonstrate impact to investors

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (20%):

• Support Landscape Managers and Managing for Results team members to complete monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks, ensuring that the project’s Theory of Change in each landscape is clear and that realistic indicators are set that can drive adaptive management of the Restore Local work
• Convene annual Learning and Planning team meetings for the Restore Local program as a whole

Fundraising (15%):

• Develop proposals and business cases for new restoration projects and financial mechanisms that align with funder priorities and the Global Restoration Initiative’s goals
• Support engagement with donors and investors to communicate project impacts, lessons learned, and future funding needs, maintaining WRI’s reputation as a reliable partner.

What will you need:

• Education: You have a completed bachelor’s in finance, public policy, economics, environmental management, or similar
• Experience: You have 8+ years of relevant, full-time work experience in the field of sustainable private sector development, conservation finance, nature-based solutions or climate change resilience
• Experience developing financing partnerships and strategies or brokering deals for environmental projects in Africa
• Experience with fundraising with foundations, corporations, and private investors
• Experience convening stakeholders from multiple backgrounds and with diverse interests around a shared vision and working in a diverse and intercultural team
• Strong written and oral communication skills, especially communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences
• Requires frequent travel regionally and internationally
• Languages: You are proficient in written and spoken English. French skills are desirable
• Requirements: You will need existing work authorization where this position is based.

Potential Salary:

Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by 28 November 2024.

You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary
• 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.

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.