Senior Strategist – Corporate Engagement

Tara Climate Foundation is a new and rapidly expanding philanthropic initiative focusing on South, Southeast, and East Asia. With a vision of a just and thriving Asia powered by renewable energy, Tara Climate supports think tanks, civil society, research organisations and other non-state actors to accelerate Asia’s energy transformation.

Tara Climate plays three main roles in the region: providing grants to a diverse group of partners in the region, constantly developing and assessing strategy, and convening partners within and across borders. Tara was incubated by the European Climate Foundation and is now an independent regional climate foundation headquartered in Singapore, with the full backing of the ECF and other funders.

About the role:

The Senior Strategist – Corporate Engagement will build a program to drive a rapid increase in corporate renewable energy demand in Asia. Leveraging sophisticated investor strategies and technical analysis coupled with staff engagement, media, public campaigning and a range of other strategies, we aim to rapidly escalate pressure on and by Asia’s largest corporations to drive the transition to clean energy. This role will require working with Tara’s already-established corporate renewable energy alliances and civil society partners to develop a multi-faceted strategy for encouraging corporates to make stronger commitments and undertake policy advocacy to ensure renewable energy procurement options are available.

Key responsibilities:

As Senior Strategist – Corporate Engagement your key responsibilities will be to:

Strategy

• Lead the development of Tara’s regional corporate engagement strategy in consultation with Tara Country Leads and external partners.
• Develop resources requirements and budget plans for Tara’s corporate engagement program, and develop and track key performance indicators for the program
• Proactively review developments that may impact the program and continuously adapt and revise strategies and tactics
• Develop funding proposals and report to funders on progress

Partnerships and Coordination

• Build and maintain strong relationships with influential corporations, corporate associations and networks, NGOs and corporate renewable energy alliances
• Network with various stakeholders including existing grantees, potential partners, national, regional and international organisations working in the space relevant for the program’s implementation.
• Facilitate coordination among partners to ensure Tara achieves outcomes that are larger than the sum of the individual partners’ efforts.
• Coordinate with other philanthropic funders and regranters in this space to ensure coordination of efforts within the region.

Grantmaking

• Manage a program budget and partner grants, including developing and incubating new partnerships and organizations at the regional level. Work closely with Tara country leads to manage grants in key countries.
• Guide and advise grantees, partners and prospective partners in the field to ensure activities achieve their intended objectives and results.
• Monitor deliverables and submissions from grantees/ partners and provide general oversight to their timeliness and quality.

Miscellaneous:

• Promote a culture of excellence, service orientation, high performance, and continuous improvement
• Demonstrate Tara Values in every action
• Actively participate in Program Team activities
• Abide by Tara’s policies, procedures and practices
• As and when required other responsibilities and projects will be allocated by line management in consultation with the post holder.

Excited by the prospect of working for a dynamic and fast-growing international organisation with a mission to solve the climate crisis, the ideal candidate will have:

Skills & Experience:

• Demonstrable enthusiasm and commitment to work on transitioning to clean energy; with a deep understanding of the energy transition and the drivers and barriers to renewable energy adoption.
• At least 7+ years of relevant work experience in corporate engagement or advocacy with a demonstrated understanding of how advocacy can create systemic change;
• Demonstrated ability to develop a multi-faceted strategy to achieve change;
• A working knowledge of corporate decision making and the drivers of corporate climate action;
• Strong political savvy and excellent strategy development capabilities.
• Intrinsic motivation, excellent organisational and self-management skills.
• Sharp written and verbal communication skills, fluency in English a must.
• A collaborative mindset and a track record of working effectively in alliance with diverse stakeholders.
• Impeccable ethics and experience working confidentially and operating with high security.
• Flexibility over working hours to accommodate global time zones and international travel as required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and an Asian language would be an asset.
• Reliable computer skills with standard applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Used to working flexibly at a fast pace in remote settings with multi-cultural teams across multiple time-zones and to travel as and when is required
• Embraces Tara’s mission and identifies with and is committed to living the Tara Values

Education

• Master’s degree qualification or relevant expertise in a relevant field such as renewable energy, environmental management, business administration, economics, or sustainable development.

What Tara can offer you:

• The unique opportunity to work as part of a highly dynamic, international team who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to work
• A flexible work environment
• Opportunities for career develop and challenge yourself
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• A collaborative, fun and thriving team, driven by our mission and live our values