Overview
- position
Full time, permanent
- location
Office-based, London, UK (The role will involve hybrid working, with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office)
- salary
Competitive
- benefits
Pension Benefit, Private Medical Insurance, 25-days holiday (plus Bank Holidays); Dental Insurance
- Closing Date
- Wednesday, 17th Aug 2022
This is an enormously influential role that will enable FAIRR’s Investor Members to drive better engagement and stewardship outcomes in their investments in the food sector. This role is crucial in FAIRR’s work to influence both investor and corporate strategies and related policy outcomes.
Background
The FAIRR Initiative was established in 2015 by the Jeremy Coller Foundation. It is the fastest-growing ESG investor network and raises awareness of the material ESG risks and opportunities in global food supply chains.
The FAIRR Initiative works with over 300 investors representing more than $50 trillion in combined assets to use their power and influence to help global food companies (retailers, brand manufacturers, livestock, fish and dairy producers) build a more sustainable and equitable global food system. We produce expert research and practical tools for institutional investors across overlapping pillars: ESG Thematic Research, ESG Sector Benchmarks. Collaborative Investor Engagements and Policy. Our aim is to provide leading financially relevant data and information to enable a transformation of global protein supply chains, ensuring that we can enable investors to meaningfully assess risk and opportunities in order to safeguard the long-term value of investment portfolios. You can learn more about FAIRR and its recent research and engagements at www.fairr.org
Our Culture
We are passionate about our work and our impact. We are an international, multidisciplinary, and diverse group of people who collectively believe in the potential for a more sustainable and equitable food system.
About the Role
The senior candidate will develop ESG research and lead collaborative investor engagements with global food companies on Climate, Biodiversity and Aquaculture. They will foster external engagement with industry experts and stakeholders to enable better policy outcomes on these issues. In addition, they will be a strong people manager and strategic thinker who can contribute to the overall direction of our research and engagement priorities.
Responsibilities
- Driving investor and corporate engagement across specific ESG themes: Climate, Biodiversity and Aquaculture. The candidate will drive FAIRR’s market-leading engagements with the global protein value chain (which may include producers, pharmaceutical companies, food retailers and manufacturers).
- Overseeing the management of workflow of their team on their specific research and engagement projects
- Leading on direct dialogue with companies at the senior level – being the spokesperson and presenting.
- Responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with investors, and other relevant stakeholders. This includes taking a lead role in ensuring the successful delivery of investor engagements and FAIRR’s mission.
- Representing FAIRR at relevant conferences in the responsible investment and sustainable development space.
- Responsible for contributing to the strategic vision of the Thematic Research and Engagement pillar, including producing annual work plans and ensuring team KPIs align with FAIRR’s Theory of Change.
- This role will be part of the FAIRR Senior Management Team and will have the opportunity to feed into FAIRR’s longer-term strategic vision and growth plans.
Skills & Experience
- Minimum 7 years of professional experience in a relevant role
- Demonstrated industry experience (prior knowledge of corporate engagement and investor stewardship dialogues extremely beneficial). General experience/understanding of working with investors and/or industry is essential.
- Excellent research and analytical skills – both qualitative and quantitative – with strong attention to detail.
- Ability to manage and motivate a team to successfully deliver strong research and ambitious engagement outcomes.
- Strong project management skills, including an ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines. Evidence of scoping and tracking projects and managing resources to time constraints. You will need to demonstrate you can lead a team to deliver projects in a timely manner.
- Demonstrable experience of interacting and working with senior business professionals and the ability to engage and influence a wide range of stakeholders.
- Experience in working with or understanding corporate sustainability issues, especially in the food and beverage sector. Knowledge of reporting frameworks, such as CDP, SASB, SBTi, TNFD etc., would also be an advantage.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence and communicate both verbally (this role will involve presenting with impact) and overseeing the production of written outputs (the candidate will need to be able to review and edit written materials to ensure that they are of a professional standard).
- Proactive attitude and a confident and professional manner in dealing with senior business professionals internally and externally.
- Ability to build and maintain trusted relationships across all levels of the organization.
- Accountability and willingness to take initiative to independently learn and continuously improve output.
- Willing to attend meetings occasionally in different time zones, outside normal working hours.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should email their CV and cover letter to [email protected]. Please note that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.
As part of the application process, you will be required to provide documentary evidence of your right to work in the UK.