Manager, Built Environment, SBTi Finance

Job Summary:

As the Manager, Built Environment, SBTi Finance, you will join a team of highly motivated individuals, from WRI, WWF, and CDP, working on science-based target setting for greenhouse gases. In this position, you will help lead efforts to refine and expand the SBTi Finance target-setting framework and manage projects to develop various new resources. Your initial focus areas will include developing a standard for financial institutions to set net-zero targets on their portfolios and overseeing the SBTi finance criteria updating process. Additional activities led by other team members include: developing customized guidance for various segments of the finance sector including private equity firms, banks, asset owners and asset managers, and insurance companies, and developing target setting methods and target validation criteria for new asset classes.

This position is remote due to Covid-19, but you will be based at WRI’s office in Washington, DC, or remain remote for anyone living in North America once restrictions have been lifted.

Job Responsibilities:

• Manage the SBTi process to update and supplement target-setting methods for financial institutions to address buildings-related holdings and investments
• Contribute to updating of the SBTi financial sector criteria and framework
• Support in developing communications material related to the research such as case studies, blogs, etc.
• Provide ad-hoc advice and advisory services to financial institutions to support them in developing SBTs Represent the SBTi externally and at conferences, events, etc.
• Deliver training on SBTs to internal WRI, CDP and WWF staff and external stakeholders
• Work in conjunction with SBTi partners to manage the buildings target-setting method development process and complete other financial sector project deliverables

Job Qualifications:

• Master’s in relevant field such as Environmental Sciences, Finance, Business, Environmental or Energy Economics, Environmental Policy, Environmental or Civil Engineering
• Minimum of 5 years of full-time work experience with at least 3 years working in the financial sector
• Work experience related to buildings energy and climate assessment
• Experience communicating with bank executives and other senior managers in the finance sector
• A self-starter with experience working in a loose management environment across multiple organizations
• Strong analytical research skills -ability to communicate complex concepts clearly, both orally and in writing, with fluency in English
• US work authorization is required for this position

Potential Salary:

$79,000 – $106,000. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with cover letter. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

Program Overview:

Science Based Targets is a joint initiative by CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF, in collaboration with the We Mean Business Coalition, intended to increase ambition on corporate climate action by driving the adoption of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Through the SBTi Finance project, SBTi is also working with financial institutions to set portfolio-level SBTs and formally validating the targets that meet the initiative’s criteria. The aim of the project is for portfolio-level SBTs to become standard practice and for these targets to result in emissions reductions in the real economy. The project raises the ambition of the finance sector by defining and promoting best practice in science-based target setting and providing methods, criteria, guidance and tools to reduce the barriers to adoption and implementation (i.e. actions that lead to atmospheric reductions of GHG concentrations). Within the broad ecosystem of organizations and value chains that link financial institutions with GHG emissions in the real economy, the SBTi Finance project is focused on ex ante targets at the asset-class level. The first version of the target setting framework for financial institutions was launched in October 2020 and will be updated on a regular basis as our understanding of how financial institutions can achieve emissions reductions in the real economy evolves. In November, 2021, the SBTi launched a Financial Net-Zero Standard development process to complement and extend beyond the SBTi financial sector framework.