The Manager Carbon Project Development, Forestry sector within the Nature Based Solutions BU oversees contributing to the current portfolio of projects developed by the Group and contribute to the development of new projects.

He/She will manage consultants within the Project Development’s team and is a key element in Project Development to structure the team’s training, overall structuration & strategy in line with the Group strategy. He/she contributes to develop the projects, the expertise of the team and assists business development teams during the sales process when necessary.

Being the Forestry leader within the Project Development team, He/She will therefore identify, assess potential, perform, and secure the registration and verification of a dedicated Forestry projects portfolio under international carbon standards (GS, VERRA, …). To do so, the Manager Carbon Project Development and therefore must proactively frame the related agenda and tasks, to reach the Group’s goal which is to:

1)   Secure a pipeline of in-house forestry projects

2)   Manage a team of experts in forestry project development

3)   Be recognized as a key player worldwide for forestry development and expertise.

He/she does it in close collaboration with other departments (R&I and Advisory, …) members in line with PD Head of and NBS BU director.

The Senior Manager participates and presents the forestry strategy in regular meetings within NBS and contributes to EcoAct’s Carbon Market Working Groups when relevant and communicates project development’s results, important policy watch, or other important communication issues to EcoAct’s top management.

He/She is involved in the achievement of the projects’ objectives and deliverables (carbon credits or any other environmental asset). He / She follows the necessary Key Performance Indicators and appropriated tools, in collaboration with the Project Development Team. He / She will implement periodic review of reporting and indicators.

Required competencies for the position

·        Experienced in the development of carbon credit projects in the forestry sector (ARR, REDD, IFM) for the voluntary carbon market

·        Technical expertise in fields such as forestry, ecosystems conservation and restoration, forestry inventories, carbon accounting

·        Basic knowledge in remote sensing/GIS

·        Rigorous and organized

·        Collaborative, Expert, Future focused, Engaged

·        Adaptability and flexibility

·        Good verbal and written communication skills

·        Fluent in French and in English, another language is a clear asset

Main responsibilities include:

He/she will work in close collaboration with the Head of Project Development to: 

Contribute to the development & management of a dedicated portfolio

• Steer the designing of forestry projects from the voluntary carbon market perspective and standards

• Steer the complete documentation process through the life cycle of the project

·        Sourcing of projects: explore and study project development opportunities with potential partners, mainly in developing countries

·        Ensure and supervise the achievement of the projects’ objectives and deliverables all along the Carbon “certification life-cycle” (prefeasibility, feasibilities, carbon credits validation, monitoring and verification) of the sectorial portfolio

• Ensure adherence of project development and implementation to the selected forestry, methodology

• Steer the certification standard-mandated public consultation process in the projects under development

• Coordinate the certification standard-mandated third-party validation and verification process in the projects under development

·        Set up partnerships and Business Plans for each opportunity using various models of our offer, contribute to sustainable Business Models set up with partners and stakeholders

·        Follow the necessary Key Performance Indicators and other appropriated tool, in collaboration with the Project Development Team

·        Take part in project development activities: carbon methodologies, feasibility studies, validation, and verification documents, Project Design Documents, Sustainable Development Goals, etc

·        Eventually lead specific projects as project manager, when strategic

·        Respect the group standards and procedures in the development of new projects

·        Continuously develop and enhance standards and procedures for the PDM team

·        Evaluate risks (technical, financial, regulatory…) and set up appropriate mitigated actions for the development of new projects

·        Perform market and methodological watch, especially on the development of new carbon projects methodologies and standards evolutions related to the sector’s projects.

·        Evaluate and propose contracts such as MoUs and partnership agreements

Manage a dedicated team within Project Development

·        The Manager will have management responsibilities: He/she manages a team of project development consultants and ensures the achievement of their projects’ objectives and deliverables.

·        She / he contributes to people appropriate career pathways and competencies development conjointly with the Head of Project dev.

·        She/He implements to its best endeavour a benevolence stance toward managed people and listen to her/his teams contributions.

Support the sales strategy

•             Support to sales and business development: contributing to tenders (including, sometimes and when dedicated teams need support, projects sourcing), defining customized solutions to clients for project development, contributing to partnership agreements with clients, participating in commercial meetings and offers

•             Provide information, insight, and support to account managers on project development

Participation in Project Development positioning, and other projects development

•             Participate in regular meetings related to Project Dev (Project Development Weekly meetings, NBS, Investment committee)

•             Perform market watch

•             Participate and contribute to key advisory duties

•             Participate and contributes at a high level to PD and NBS’s strategy

Requirements

• Over 8 years of experience in developing forestry/AFOLU VCM carbon projects

• Over 5 years of experience in managing technical teams

• Strong understanding of Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo Standard and other ICROA certified standards

• Willingness to travel for work, especially to Africa

• In addition to English fluency, languages desired are French and/or spanish

• Education in forestry or landscape management is desirable

• Knowledge of national AFOLU regulations and policies in sub-Saharan African countries is a plus