Senior Program Officer, Forest Carbon Accounting - 23000

Overview

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, seeks a Senior Program Officer, Forest Carbon Accounting.

Major Function

The Forest Carbon Accounting Senior Program Officer (SPO) collaborates closely with multiple landscape focal points and the WWF-US Forest team in the design, impact assessment and monitoring, reporting and verification of land-based climate change mitigation interventions in tropical forest countries. Works closely with WWF-US Forest team and WWF country teams and partners in the design, evaluation, elaboration and incorporation of ex-ante and ex-post forest-associated emissions estimates as needed for programmatic work planning, proposal elaboration, and impact assessment. Liaises with WWF country teams and their technical counterparts in government on alignment of methodologies with national forest monitoring systems and/or greenhouse gas reporting. Elaborates and delivers forest carbon-related guidance and products as needed for WWF-US and partners’ programmatic work. Contributes to building WWF-US, WWF country teams, and partners’ capacities for delivery and improvement of estimates of forest-based contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Responsibilities

• Team with WWFUS-based landscape focal points and WWF country program staff in the ideation and development of forest-based climate mitigation activities with a focus on carbon and biodiversity impacts and their measurement.
• Deliver ex-ante and ex-post emissions and removal estimates as required for WWF programmatic work; including production and use of input data towards generation of activity data and emissions factors as needed (including GIS and Remote sensing data processing as well as carbon data production and use).
• Identify, contact and/or work in collaboration with potential partners (e.g., from Academia, other NGOs, support agencies, national teams, etc.) to access/produce and deliver relevant datasets and capacities.
• Collaborate with WWF country teams and partners in defining and developing methodological approaches to be used in forest related monitoring and accounting.
• Provide technical expertise, guidance and feedback in forest related climate mitigation estimation design, implementation, and assessment for key projects and partnerships.
• Deliver critical assessment and expert review of proposed state-of-the-art approaches to carbon accounting, data, and analysis in line with the latest science and policy developments (e.g., academic research, GFOI, UNFCCC/IPCC, carbon accreditation standards, other reporting frameworks).
• Build the capacities of WWF staff to replicate/apply the methods used.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Forestry, Ecology, Biology, Remote Sensing, Computer Science, or any forest carbon accounting relevant field and a minimum of 6 years of professional experience OR an advanced degree in the afore-mentioned fields and a minimum of 3 years of professional experience required.
• At least 2 years of experience in forest carbon accounting related work streams for national and/or project level estimates.
• Relevant experience in elaboration and delivery of carbon estimates for mitigation action design (e.g., REDD+ projects and programs) and implementation at either national, subnational or project scales.
• Familiarity and understanding of carbon accounting frameworks and standards/guidelines: UNFCCC, IPCC 2006 guidelines, GFOI methodological guidance, FCPF methodological framework, ART-TREES, Gold Standard, Verra-VCS, CORSIA, etc., including legal and political contexts.
• Solid capacity in processing, use and interpretation of remote sensing data for the estimation of emissions, including coding in relevant languages/statistical packages and platforms such as Google Earth Engine-Java Script, AWS, Python, R, etc. Ideally with both active (e.g., SAR, LiDAR) and passive optical data use and processing.
• Use of geospatial data processing software and online platforms and code repositories: e.g., Google Earth Engine, Amazon Web Services, Jupiter Notebooks, QGIS, ArcGis, GitHub, Jupiter, GDAL, ERDAS, ENVI, IDL, etc.
• Understanding of use of field data, including permanent plots, forest mensuration, allometric models, forest inventory techniques.
• Experience in field data collection and processing, preferred.
• The candidate will need to be willing to/be able to learn from colleagues and partners, be very pro-active and self-motivated and able to design and implement solutions to problems.
• Solid foundation in statistics.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary/multicultural environment.
• Excellent written and spoken communications skills.
• Fluency in at least one additional language: Spanish, French for country interactions preferred.
• International work/research experience preferred.
• Experience in delivery/facilitation of technical training to others preferred.
• Committed to building and strengthening a culture of inclusion within and across teams.
• Identifies and aligns with WWF’s core values: Courage, Integrity, Respect, and Collaboration:
  • Demonstrates courage by speaking up even when it is difficult, or unpopular.
  • Builds trust with colleagues by acting with integrity, owning mistakes, and holding oneself accountable.
  • Welcomes other points of view and ideas, recognizing and embracing different and contrary perspectives with kindness, curiosity, and encouragement.
  • Makes conscious efforts to promote cooperative practices, behaviors, and ways of working across many groups and individuals.

WWF is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace and requires all US-based staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.  WWF will consider requests for accommodation from the vaccine requirement based on disability, medical contraindication, sincerely held religious belief, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.

To Apply:

• Submit cover letter and resume through our Careers Page**,  Requisition #23000**
• Due to the high volume of applications we are not able to respond to inquiries via phone

As an EOE/AA employer, WWF will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status. WWF values diversity and inclusion and welcomes diverse candidates to apply.