Research Analysts – Nature and Biodiversity

This vacancy has now closed

Are you passionate about the role of the private sector in safeguarding biodiversity and nature? Are you a strong analytical thinker who is comfortable researching, interpreting corporate disclosures, handling data and writing clear conclusions? The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) is now recruiting:

Research Analysts – Nature and Biodiversity

WBA is building a movement to measure and incentivise business impact towards a sustainable future that works for everyone. The private sector has a crucial role to play in advancing the SDGs, but to boost companies’ motivation, there needs to be real change in the way that their impact is measured. That’s why we are assessing the progress of companies through publicly available benchmarks on corporate performance on the SDGs. Our benchmarks are publicly available and used by investors, civil society, governments and companies to accelerate a race to the top. We are now recruiting Research Analysts to join our global organization. We are looking for candidates to join our WBA Research Team, and that will start with supporting the development of WBA’s first Nature Benchmark, commencing April 2022. You will be responsible for collecting and analysing company disclosures, evaluating performance against scoring guidelines and engaging companies in the benchmark process. You should have strong attention to detail and thrive in an agile and purpose-driven work environment that promotes minimum oversight and maximum responsibility.

What you will do:

  • Retrieve and interpret relevant corporate information from publicly available sources (e.g. CSR/sustainability/ESG reports; policies etc.) and analyse the findings to produce scores of company performance;
  • Engage with stakeholders, including companies, as part of the benchmark process (e.g. company calls to explain methodologies and scoring decisions);
  • Translate data and research into clear, understandable insights on companies and industries through written scorecards that will be published and used by investors, policy-makers, companies and WBA Allies;
  • Input into our annual cycle of reviewing methodologies, indicators and scoring guidelines;
  • Support our wider engagement to ensure different stakeholders are aware of our benchmarks, participating in external events and sharing learnings about the impact of business on the SDGs;
  • Contribute to organisational development as part of the wider WBA Research Team, helping to improve our research capacity and processes.

What we are looking for:

  • 1-5 years of relevant experience in research-related roles that involve handling and analysing company data, as well as interpreting the economic/social/environmental impacts of companies;
  • Proven knowledge and interest in sustainability/ESG/CSR issues. We are particularly interested in candidates with a proven interest in biodiversity, ecological sciences, including ecosystems and environmental impacts and the links to community. More details of the content are published in the Draft Methodology.
  • Strong academic qualifications and qualitative and quantitative analytical skills – the ability to evaluate data and explain your conclusions. Experience with Excel, survey tools, databases and statistics are an advantage;
  • Excellent verbal and written English communication skills, able to write clear and concise findings. Additional language skills (particularly Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, French, Arabic or Russian) are an advantage;
  • Passion for making a difference with a ‘can do’ mentality and professional attitude;
  • Ability to work across different virtual teams and global cultures, comfortable in an environment that promotes flexibility whilst able to meet tight deadlines.

Our offer

A challenging role with room to grow in a driven team focused on impact, ambition and teamwork. We stimulate personal growth, believe in flexible working arrangements and you will receive market-based employment benefits. We have a physical presence in Amsterdam and London, alongside many employees who work across the world. You can be based anywhere for this role as inclusivity is one of our values. We particularly welcome applicants in the global South.

Interested?

Please send a brief cover letter explaining why you want to join the WBA Research Team and the Nature Team in particular, alongside your resume, to Research.Careers@worldbenchmarkingalliance.org. Successful candidates cover letters set out how they meet ‘What we are looking for’. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible but not later than 6 February 2022 and first interviews are conducted in the week of the 14th of February. For more information about us and our benchmarks, visit our website at www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org or follow @SDGBenchmarks.

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