Senior Specialist/Lead, Business Development and Project Investment Readiness, Climate Projects - Africa

South Pole is an energetic, global company offering comprehensive sustainability solutions and services. With offices spanning all continents across the globe, we strive to create a sustainable society and economy that positively impacts our climate, ecosystems and developing communities. With our solutions, we inspire and enable our customers to create value from sustainability-related activities.

Our Project Development team is at the forefront of developing and managing climate mitigation activities. By working closely with project owners and developers as well as their local communities, we manage the complete registration, verification and evaluation of carbon projects to enable the issuance of emission-reduction certificates, in line with official carbon standards. If you are a smart, ambitious and dynamic sustainability professional with a strong passion to make a real difference in the fight against climate change, the below position may be right for you!

Job summary:

As Senior Specialist or Lead, Business Development and Investment Readiness, Climate Projects Africa, you will focus on development of new business for emission reduction project leads and opportunities in the AFRICA region, especially focusing on derisking of potential projects by building the case for third-party investment. You will report directly to the Regional Manager, Business Development, Climate Projects Africa.

You will mainly support business development and project sourcing activities within the region – primarily related to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as well as the voluntary carbon market, aligned with our regional commercial playbook and ongoing mandates with third-party investors.

As a key member of the Climate Projects team, you will ensure smooth operationalization of project sourcing, including commercial development and risk assessment processes, lead and opportunity origination, document handling, database management, and coordination with different teams on various tasks and activities. You will also be responsible for alignment with the processes put in place by our Investments and Structuring team, supporting in the de-risking of potential project opportunities by building a convincing case for third-party investment (including clear presentation of the technical potential of project, due diligence and risk mitigation, and supporting financial analyses).

Main Tasks And Responsibilities

• Initiate project business development across the region, with a particular focus on selected Article 6-eligible countries.
• Establish and build relationships with project partners via “cold calls” and network approaches.
• Ensure that business development flows and processes (including documentation and interaction with other teams) align with the company guidelines.
• Manage and maintain our global database (i.e., Salesforce), ensuring that information regarding project leads and opportunities are well recorded and updated.
• Coordination and collaboration with other teams within South Pole globally in regard to project leads and opportunities.
• Source new project leads and opportunities for the region aligned to the Certificate’s Commercial Manual and any other guiding document or policy.
• Draft contracts and commercial proposals to advance on opportunity development and deal closure.
• Conduct research relevant to new Sustainable Technologies project leads, project developers, project owners, and applicable regulatory regimes/policies in the region
• Be at the forefront of new technological approaches for climate mitigation that could be supported through carbon markets, both in the voluntary and compliance markets.
• Collect data from Project Partners or other third parties for due diligence, financing plans and budgets, technical, financial, risk assessment and legal documentation.
• When relevant, attend meetings/seminars/workshops/events that are strategic for business development team activities.
• Apply the internal policies and procedures about the correct use of our internal project management tool for keeping general information, milestones, and cash flow, as well as, the general normativity to ensure harmony between all stakeholders involved in the organization (accounting, registries, projects managers, portfolio, HR, commercial and other internal and external stakeholders)
• Participate in the co-creation spaces to develop and provide feedback and offer solutions about the internal process involved in the project management activities.
• Identify and prioritize tasks according to the needs of the project, regarding the schedule and budget.
• Support in the preparation of presentations and reports to management and clients on project progress and performance.
• Keep abreast of relevant policies and regulations related to the carbon market and Article 6.
• Others related to the fulfillment of the role deemed necessary.
  
  
  

Requirements

Essential skills and experience

• University degree in Economics, Engineering, Environmental Sustainability, Business Development and Environmental management or similar (ideally a Master’s degree or above)
• At least 6+ years of relevant experience working in business development, client management or partnership development
• Exposure and understanding of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and its connection to existing carbon markets, standards and regulations.
• Experience with deal origination and evaluation will be a plus.
• Ability to develop, grow and sustain professional relationships for business development.
• Experience and interest in client management and networking — people skills.
• Demonstrated interest or skills in commercial transactions and business acumen.
• Comfortable working with international and multicultural teams.
• Strong presentation, writing, and communication skills in English and Spanish
• Attention to detail and comfortable working on administrative tasks.
• Existing networks in fields related to sustainable development, climate action, sustainable technologies and nature-based solutions will be a plus.
• Ability to work on assignments that are diverse in nature, apply company policies, processes, and procedures to resolve a complex project-related problem and take decisions in an independent way
• Ability to perform multiple activities (coordinate more than one project at a time), according to the company and project requirements, with good performance in terms of time and quality.
  
  
  

Desired Skills And Experience

• Ideally, having managed Article 6-related projects and/or processes
• Experience in business development, relationship management, investment analysis or fundraising is beneficial
• Proficiency in Customer Relationship Management software (e.g. Salesforce)
• Experience in financial analysis tools and concepts for project assessment
• Proficiency with MS Office, especially MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Salesforce, and Google Suite
• Adaptability and versatility to changing conditions and team composition
• Strong analytical skills and problem solving ability.
• Availability to travel within the region (10-15% of the time approx.)
• French language skills are a strong plus.
• Distribution of tasks (%)
  
  
  

What we offer:

At South Pole, we care about our employees as much as we care about the planet. South Pole is not just an employer, we are a Team. South Pole does not just offer people a job, we offer you a career. By joining our team, you will find strong purpose and deep meaning in everything you do. You will have the chance to make a real difference for our clients and for the planet, working alongside a passionate team of like-minded colleagues, while building your knowledge/skills and developing your career in a fun, dynamic, international and fast-growing organisation.

We’re a planet of 7.5 billion unique and different people. We all have a contribution to make; South Pole is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status or disability. Our recruitment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.