Program Manager, Market Development and Partnerships

ROLE PURPOSE

Gold Standard’s Market Development and Partnerships team is responsible for the organisation’s engagement with partners across government, project development, investors, companies and other stakeholder groups, and plays an important role in the organisation’s mission to enable and encourage high-impact approaches to climate security and sustainable development.

The team is responsible for multiple projects and initiatives funded by governments and other partners. Both the number and value of these projects is likely to grow in the years ahead, as the need for climate action scales and as Gold Standard dedicates more resources to the role it can play building capacity for high-impact climate action globally.

In this context, Gold Standard is recruiting for a Programme Manager, Market Development and Partnerships, to support and programme manage the set-up and implementation of many of Gold Standard’s funded projects and initiatives, as well as to support work-planning, budget and risk management and the tracking of progress and impact of the wider work of the Market Development and Partnerships team.

This is a remote position, the role holder can be based in the UK, Germany or internal candidates.

WHAT WE DO

Gold Standard is a standards body and thought leader that promotes the best that can be achieved in climate and sustainable development projects. It was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions under the UNs Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) also delivered sustainable development benefits. Today, our standard, ‘Gold Standard for the Global Goals’, can be used to measure, manage and maximise climate and sustainable development impacts in carbon markets, across corporate supply chains, and through sustainable finance investments to meet the Net Zero ambition of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Certification against the standard provides the confidence that sustainable and climate impacts are achieved, measured, and verified, enabling credible impact reporting. ISEAL Code Compliant and backed by a broad NGO Supporter Network, Gold Standard has 2000+ projects underway in over 90 countries, creating billions of dollars of shared value from climate and development action worldwide.

OUR VALUES

• PIONEERING

For almost 20 years, Gold Standard has shown how carbon finance can achieve its highest potential. We’ve created innovative new standards, programmes and tools that raise the bar for quality across a broader range of applications than carbon markets. We focus on those that have the most promise to contribute to our vision and mission, bringing them to market with the requisite planning and resources.

• RIGOROUS

We build on our reputation for quality and rigour with more robust measurement of outcomes, stronger safeguards and greater impact across the Sustainable Development Goals. Our objective is to make rigour simpler and more achievable at scale.

• COLLABORATIVE

We work with key partners who share our goals and complement our strengths. Our partnership strategy aims to move beyond working opportunistically as a delivery partner in favor of collaborating in long-term strategic synergy.

• TRANSPARENT

We were established to bring confidence, trust, and accountability to carbon markets. We will continue to take strides to improve transparency in our own processes, in the broader market and in non-market mechanisms.

The Gold Standard Foundation is looking to build our team with exceptional people who are excited and driven to shape and deliver this ambition and uphold our values.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE:

• Programme and process set up: Manage the initiation of new programmes and projects, ensuring an initial brief is in place and working with the relevant Project Lead to ensure responsibility for activities is distributed, establishing filing and reporting processes that build into existing infrastructure, and ensuring effective time tracking.

• Manage the programme schedule including financial reporting: Be responsible for the programme schedule, managing the timely delivery of outputs, ensuring monitoring and delivery deadlines are kept for each project task, and establishing a process for capturing and storing learnings from programmes to support future work. Work closely with the financial team for financial reporting.

• Donor Reporting: Ensure deliverables are submitted to donors/clients on time and of a high quality, while effectively managing the relationship between Gold Standard and the relevant donor(s).

• Subcontractor Management: Oversee management of all relevant subcontractors, temporary contracted team members and other partners, ensuring alignment with Gold Standard procurement policies and taking responsibility for contracting, due diligence, time tracking and invoicing.

• Activity management: Activity management of a Project Officer, providing guidance and other support as required, while ensuring consistency in approach and quality of project management work within the team.

• Document Management: Ensure version control is maintained and all documents are stored appropriately.

• Risk Management: Identify, report and manage any potential issues or risks that could impact programme delivery. ensuring risks are effectively communicated and working to identify potential solutions.

• Team workplanning: Be responsible for the Market Development and Partnerships team’s workplanning and risk/budget management process and documentation, leading regular progress, budget and risk reviews and working with the Senior Director, Market Development and Partnerships, to identify any issues that need addressing.

• Team Capacity Building: Identify and proactively act on areas where the Market Development and Partnership team, or Gold Standards as an organisation, can improve in their process, deliver and operations management.

YOU WILL BRING TO THE ROLE:

Programme Manager Skills

Core skills (essential):

• At least five years of project management experience
• IT literate, with an ability to adapt to use new IT tools for project management and other purposes as required
• Ability to work independently and autonomously, and comfort taking proactive steps to achieve your goals and those of your team and organisation
• Ability to manage upwards and to lead meetings as required
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure, trouble-shoot, and to meet short- and long-term deadlines
• Comfort working within a fast-moving and evolving organisation, where flexibility is sometimes required to work outside of core responsibilities
• Demonstrable experience in budget and financial management with large donors/investors or key accounts
• Experience managing and complying with complex donor requirements, and a keen attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent critical and creative thinking and analytical skills

Advanced skills (desirable):

• Relevant academic qualifications for programme or financial management
• Prince2, APMP or equivalent project management qualification
• Experience working in a non-profit organisation
• Experience working on environmental issues, in particular a working understanding of carbon markets and/or climate standards
• Experience working internationally, with team members and consultants based across countries and time zones

WHAT WE OFFER:

The salary range for this role will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Other benefits to working and collaborating with Gold Standard include:

• A mission-driven organisation working at the leading edge of climate and sustainability
• Rewarding work in a dynamic non-profit environment
• A collaborative workplace within a multicultural team
• An ambitious, agile, and flexible environment

CLOSING DATE:

Applications for this role will close on 21st July, 2023. Successful candidates will be contacted for an interview.

APPLICATIONS

Please submit a 1-page cover letter explaining why you want to work for the Gold Standard and a CV through our recruitment portal.

If you have already applied for this position,  there is no need to reapply.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Gold Standard provides equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees and is committed to providing a work environment free of discrimination. We are dedicated to an inclusive culture and we strive to create a workplace where teams of people with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, perspectives, ideas and experiences work together.

We welcome applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, background, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.