Country Office CEF Director
World Resources Institute
Mexico City, Mexico
Posted on Feb 1, 2025
Country Office CEF Director
About the Program:
All countries need to adopt ambitious climate, nature and people commitments if we are to achieve the world’s Paris, SDG and Kunming/Montreal goals. They also need to turn these commitments into reality by shifting onto a low carbon, climate resilient, nature-positive and inclusive growth pathway. Such ‘Country Transitions’ will take changes in enabling systems (economics, finance and governance) and ‘human systems’ (from the ways we produce and use food and energy to how we design cities), at both the country and global level.
WRI Mexico seeks to support this ‘country transition’. The Climate, Economics and Finance (CEF) team in WRI Mexico is responsible for driving the shifts in economics, finance and governance systems. This includes raising the ambition, driving forward new green and inclusive economic pathways, and aligning finance and corporate incentives with this. It does this drawing on WRI’s capabilities in research and analysis, data for impact, being a trusted partner for change and first practice demonstration. We bring change-makers together from governments, businesses, non-profits, and others to advance rigorous, evidence-based solutions and learning.
Job Highlights:
Reporting directly to the WRI Mexico Country Director and in a dotted line to the Global Climate, Economics and Finance Director, you will be responsible for developing CEF’s program, fundraising, and delivering results. You will also be a member of the Country Management Team and CEF’s Program Management Team, helping guide the overall strategic direction, ensuring effective delivery and a great working environment in both WRI Mexico and CEF.
You will bring knowledge and expertise across climate, nature and development-related economics, finance and governance (policy, political economy, institutions) issues. You should understand policy making processes at the national and sub-national government levels, and the barriers and enablers to Mexico, making more ambitious commitments and moving onto a more inclusive, climate resilient, low emission and nature positive development pathway. You should understand how to shift economic incentives in line with a people, nature and climate-oriented country transition, and how to ensure the financing system (across national and international, public and private finance) can support this transition. A background in climate finance or economics, including related to mitigation, adaptation and resilience, loss and damage, and international processes (UNFCCC, G20 etc.) would be useful.
You must be familiar and comfortable with working with a wide variety of partners – from government, private companies and financial institutions to community–based, civil society and academic organizations. You should be comfortable fundraising and communicating and discussing complex messages, academic findings and concepts with a wide range of expert and non-expert audiences. You should have a strong understanding of research principles and methods.
What will you do:
Leadership and Management (25%):
- Provide strategic direction, oversee delivery of results and promote WRI’s culture, through membership of WRI Mexico’s Country Management Team and CEF’s Program Management Team.
- Articulate and develop WRI Mexico’s Climate, Economics & Finance strategy, program, and activities, such that the portfolio has a compelling vision, clear priorities, and is coherent within itself, and with WRI Mexico’s Country Strategy and WRI’s global CEF strategy.
- Promote close collaboration on climate, economics and finance across the different pillars within the Mexico team and across WRI
- Build and manage a CEF team, attracting, motivating, and retaining world-class staff and ensuring staff members are supported and mentored, with high morale, well-being and a culture of diversity and inclusion in the team
External engagement and influencing (25%)
- Build a strong understanding of how to drive change to achieve WRI Mexico CEF objectives, identifying and taking influencing opportunities grounded in WRI’s comparative expertise and value addition, and using this to inform and link to WRI’s global perspective on systems change, including on how Mexico can help drive ambition and action in the region and internationally.
- Develop strong relations with policymakers and other key stakeholders, as a basis for understanding interests and objectives and helping to drive system change
- Liaise with and develop collaborations with external partners on advancing CEF objectives
- Cultivate relationships that expand the audiences for the team’s knowledge products and the uptake of tools and research produced by the team and partners
- Working with communications professionals, develop and deliver a strategic communications strategy to help deliver WRI Mexico CEF’s objectives, including through representing WRI in external events and traditional and non-traditional media
Research and Program Development and execution (25%):
- Develop and execute current and new programs of work, to deliver on WRI Mexico’s CEF strategy.
- Ensure WRI Mexico’s CEF team achieves planned deliverables and results. Work with the Managing for Results team to design and roll out a simple and actionable monitoring and evaluation plan to track, learn from and demonstrate the impact of WRI’s CEF’s work in Mexico
- Oversee overall program and risk management and budgetary performance of WRI Mexico’s CEF portfolio
- Identify knowledge gaps where our research and practice can produce meaningful improvements in achieving people, climate and nature goals. Identify the data and methods needed to produce robust, unbiased research that addresses knowledge gaps and informs the WRI Mexico CEF’s program.
- Author, review, and provide constructive feedback on knowledge products, blogs, press releases, and other research and communications materials as necessary.
Fundraising (25%):
- Based on WRI Mexico’s CEF strategy, develop robust offers, backed by a fundraising strategy.
- Actively cultivate and manage relationships with new donors to secure funding
- Write, develop, and review fundraising proposals with staff from the WRI Mexico team and other parts of WRI to support our CEF portfolio
- Leverage existing relationships with foundations, governments, and individual donors to contribute to WRI Mexico’s CEF agenda
- Ensure strong donor reporting and relations.
What will you need:
- Education: You have completed a master’s degree in a relevant field, such as climate, environmental or development finance or climate, environmental or development economics.
- Experience: You have a minimum of 15 years of experience in climate, environment or development economics or finance and related issues, with at least 3 in a supervisory and people management role.
- Significant and demonstrable knowledge of economics, finance and climate policy, including national and international processes.
- Strategic thinker with demonstrated ability to build and grow a program related to climate, environment or development finance and economics.
- Experience leading, managing and mentoring direct reports and a wider team (experience with matrixed teams is a plus).
- A track record of program leadership and management, with experience prioritizing and juggling multiple, competing priorities and managing several projects at different stages simultaneously
- Prior experience of working, building partnerships with and influencing international organizations, national governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders in Mexico is essential. Experience engaging with key stakeholders at the global and local levels also an advantage.
- Excellent fundraising skills at a multi-million-dollar scale, from demonstrable success in proposal writing to donor engagement
- Strong analytical skills and demonstrable research record (e.g., track record in publishing high-quality quantitative research and analysis)
- Excellent writing and oral communication skills, synthesizing complex data and information in accessible ways
- Ability and willingness to travel approximately 15% time
- Commitment to WRI’s mission and values
- Languages: Fluent English is a must.
Potential Salary: Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.
Profiles for this vacancy will be received until, Monday, February 17th 2025.
We are committed to the principle of Equal Employment Opportunity for all employees, regardless of gender, marital status, nationality, religion, age, sexual orientation and any other characteristic not related to job performance. Selection will be made according to objective job-related criteria and the appointment will be based on the merits and abilities of the applicant.
Regarding the application, interested persons are invited to write a letter explaining why they are qualified for the position and what is their motivation for working at WRI Mexico.