Consultant, Corporate Engagement_4 month contract

Context

Gold Standard is a civil society NGO and a standards body that promotes the best that can be achieved in climate and development projects. It was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to ensure that projects which reduce carbon emissions also deliver credible, high-integrity sustainable development benefits. In close collaboration with its network of partners (civil society, governments, and private sector), Gold Standard leads several global innovation programs and supports 3000+ climate and development projects in over 100 countries worldwide.

Purpose and tasks of the consultant

Following a strategic planning update, Gold Standard is seeking a consultant to define a corporate engagement strategy to help bring our corporate best practice frameworks for climate and nature to market and secure adoption of the associated guidance and tools.

Towards this end, the consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Review Gold Standard 2030 strategy and interview internal stakeholders, potentially core partners
• Assess landscape of corporate climate + nature initiatives, consortia, platforms, and competitors
• Define Gold Standard’s USP within this landscape
• Highlight new product opportunities and outline product development process
• Recommend partnerships
• Define operational model for corporate engagement, including team structure and cross-functional SOPs

The consultant will be expected to communicate virtually (via email, telephone, and video conference) with Gold Standard and any other individuals or organisations, and travel as needed, for example to Climate Week NYC and/or other corporate sustainability focused events.

The consultant will be expected to provide regular progress updates to Gold Standard, and either party may request a meeting with the other where this is required.

Outputs and timeline

The approximate timeline for preparation of the required outputs is estimated at 16 weeks as of the contract start date (we are seeking a consultant available for an immediate start). For further details please see the Terms of Reference published on Careers (goldstandard.org).

Competency requirements

To carry out this assignment effectively, the implementing partner should have the following profile:

• Strong expertise in corporate sustainability, specifically in climate and nature strategies
• Exceptional capacity in business development
• Strong familiarity with environmental attribute certificates, including but not limited to carbon credits a plus
• Ability to communicate complicated technical concepts in a simple, clear, and easy-to-understand manner.
• A strong professional background with experience of successful project delivery
• Excellent writing and speaking skills in English

Proposal structure

Applicants should submit proposals relevant to the purpose and description of the assignment including all elements outlined below. Proposals must be no more than ten pages[1], and should include:

1. Description of the applicant: An overview of the applicant’s experience relevant to this consultant assignment and references as appropriate.
2. Workplan: A workplan for the term with a timeline, describing the approach towards delivering the outputs under each of the phases outlined above.
3. Budget: The budget must include day rates, person days, the total price of the assignment inclusive of applicable taxes[2], and payment terms. All figures should be presented in USD ($). An example template is provided in Annex 1 – Example budget and payment schedule template.

Candidate evaluation will consider price as one of the key factors.

The successful applicants may be invited to a second round of evaluation through (online) interviews. Information will be provided in advance to the interviews, if held.

Evaluation criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on, but not limited to, the following formal criteria:

1. Timeliness. The proposals must be submitted on or before the stated deadline in order to be considered for further evaluation.
2. Proposal Format. The proposals shall follow the requested format and include all of its elements.
3. Proposed Scope of Work. Gold Standard will assess to what extent the proposal clearly addresses the needs of the assignment.
4. Qualifications and Team. Gold Standard will assess whether the proposed team possesses expertise and relevant experience to assure successful completion of the work and delivery of good quality outputs.
5. Work plan. The proposed work plan and approach will be assessed for efficiency, relevance, risk management and technical feasibility.
6. Gold Standard will assess if the budget is reasonable, adequate for the proposed work and provides good value for money.

Confidentiality

Proposals should not include proprietary or confidential information. Each recipient of this Request for Proposals should treat the contents of the solicitation as confidential and should use and disclose the contents of the solicitation only for the purposes of preparing and submitting a proposal.

Privacy

Gold Standard is compliant with all applicable data protection and privacy laws and regulations especially EU General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) and Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection in respect to any personal data (as defined under GDPR) received, collected, or processed in connection with this Request for Proposals.

Ownership of Proposals and subsequent Products

Ownership of all work products and work processes produced and delivered by the implementing partner in connection with this Request for Applications will remain with Gold Standard after the conclusion of this assignment and will not be returned.

Non-binding agreement

This Request for Applications is not a binding agreement and shall not be interpreted as such. Rather, this serves only as the instrument through which proposals are solicited. Gold Standard will pursue negotiations with the highest scoring applicant. If, for some reason, Gold Standard and the initial applicant fail to reach consensus on the issues relative to a binding agreement, then Gold Standard may commence contract negotiations with other applicants. Gold Standard may decide at any time to start the recruitment process again.

Applications and closing date

Please submit your application on our HR jobs portal by Friday, 6th September at 17:00 CEST

[1] Any information that exceeds the 10-page limit will not be considered during the evaluation process. This does not include project references and CVs.

[2] Gold Standard is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Keywords

Corporate EngagementSustainabilityClimateNatureBusiness DevelopmentEnvironmental CertificatesCarbon CreditsProject DeliveryEnglish