Director, Special Projects

This position can be based in any of WRI Offices Worldwide.  It will require regular in-person work.  Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission. WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

**About the Program:
**

WRI is a growing organization, working in a dynamic environment in the midst of a strategic transition. This requires significant and ongoing adjustments to the design and implementation of the structure, governance, and strategy of many of our platforms, projects, programs, and country operations. To support these adjustments requires change management expertise for temporary periods. Since this expertise is not always available given employees’ existing workload, we have designed this role to put in place a staff member with broad experience who can step in to provide such design and implementation support for 2-4 projects at a time over specified time periods during times of significant change. The majority of the funding will come from the projects to which support is being provided. To maximize strategic alignment, the role will sit in the Strategy, Learning, and Results directorate, be part of its management team and report to the MD of that directorate. You will have a dotted line to the relevant program or country director for the assignment.

**Job Highlight:
**You will bring senior leadership and strategic support to WRI programs or countries by stewarding initiatives through critical moments of launch, alignment or transition, including reorganizations, rapidly scaling up or down, closing out, or spinning off. You will do this by being an advisor to, or on occasion, line manager for projects. This includes multistakeholder partnership initiatives that typically implement in more than one country with multi-year budgets exceeding $10m+ and delivering results within one or more impact targets and outcomes.

**What will you do:
**For time limited periods for specified strategic initiatives you will:

• Manage change depending on the scope of work (Launch, Align, or Transition)
• Provide strategic direction and management of initiatives, ensuring timely and effective delivery of outputs
• Provide expertise in organizational and multi-stakeholder initiatives design, governance, fundraising, and management
• Engage funders and partners to co-develop fundraising strategies and materials in collaboration with WRI Programs, Centers, Offices, and Development, to support the scope of work
• Lead after-action reviews of engagements o Collaborate closely with WRI’s Program, Center, and/or Country Office management teams
• Support the line manager or on occasions manage the staff based on need on a case-by-case basis
• Represent WRI at external meetings and discussions with key stakeholders related to the given assignments
• Building on knowledge and opportunities from this work, explore and identify broader opportunities for WRI to improve operational efficiency and maximize impact
• Utilize and share best practices internally and externally on designing and managing multistakeholder initiatives, including critical levers of scale (e.g., public-private partnerships, innovative finance, ICT4D, and equity)

What will you need:

• Education: Master's degree in business management, law, sustainable development, or other related fields or comparable work experience or other vocational qualification

• Experience: Minimum 15 years of relevant full-time work experience across multiple international development and programmatic areas related to WRI’s Global Goals (climate, nature, and people)

• Significant and broad experience in a programmatic and organizational capacity, awareness of and sensitivity to global differences

• Evidence of effectiveness in an advisory, consultancy and/or temporary capacity

• Experience designing, reporting into, and participating in various forms of governance, including nonprofit (charitable) organizations, joint ventures, and informal coalitions

• Demonstrated expertise in designing, brokering, delivering, and scaling $10m+ projects, programs, and organizations in OECD and non-OECD countries, including fundraising, legal structuring, and organizational development

• Knowledge and senior-level work experience to credibly engage and lead across WRI’s work on three Human Systems—Food, Land and Water; Energy; and Cities—and three Enabling Systems—Economics, Finance and Governance

• Demonstrated expertise in multiple levers for scale, e.g., public-private partnerships, innovation and technology for development (ICT4D), and levers for economy-wide transformations (e.g., new economic paradigms, blended and innovative finance, and governance)

• Highly responsible, self-motivated, with an ability to work in an ambitious and fast-paced environment, both independently and as part of a team

• History of effectively motivating and connecting people to fulfill their potential and achieve results

• Ability to travel as needed

Potential Salary:  Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with cover letter by the date of 10 September 2023.  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, 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.