Position summary:

The Senior Associate, Corporate Partnerships will join a team focused on growing the Corporate Engagement and Partnerships (CE&P) revenue source. CE&P is the commercial face of RA. The team holds and grows relationships with strategic market actors in global commodity sectors (tea, coffee, cocoa, bananas, amongst others), creating opportunities for our corporate partners to invest in our mission, driving transformation and impact at scale through market forces. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Public Private Partnerships, the Senior Associate will work closely with strategic and key account managers in CE&P to secure corporate funding for projects, leading the engagement and coordination of cross-functional teams to co-design projects with companies, in alignment with RA’s strategic priorities and impact.

The Senior Associate will also contribute to the development of a corporate partnerships pipeline by proactively identifying funding opportunities, with the goal of meeting short-term team revenue targets as well as adding to the long-term pipeline of corporate funding for future years. They will take ownership of a subset of opportunities in the pipeline and manage the process from ideation and concept development all the way to the submission of compelling project proposals in a timely manner, coordinating the inputs of internal and external stakeholders into project design.

Responsibilities:

• Work with Strategic and Key Accoung Managers on the identification and generation of new funding opportunties with the objectives of growing the relationship with accounts and building the corporate projects' pipiline.

• Research corporate funding opportunities (e.g. requests for proposals – RFP) from companies in our key commodity sectors and landscapes, in particular coming from their nature and sustainability funds.

• Lead the proposal development process for prioritized corporate funding opportunities:

-Define and deliver a timeline and process for each opportunity.

-Coordinate the process from concept development to full proposal submission, ensuring internal processes are followed;

-Contribute to project design;

-Organise and lead robust internal Go/No-Go decision making processes for each funding opportunity;

-Convene a cross-functional proposal development team for prioritized opportunities, ensuring the right internal stakeholders are included in the process, and that corporate partners are sufficiently engaged in the co-design of the project;

• Co-manage with the Senior Manager the Corporate Partnerships Pipeline, strategically prioritizing opportunities, inputting and tracking detailed pipeline information to maintain RA’s CRM system (Salesforce) up to date;

• Contribute to the development of menus of standardised corporate projects to be offered to companies, in alignment with RA’s certification offerings;

• Collaborate with colleagues in Institutional Relations to identify opportunities for public-private-philanthropic partnerships;

• Develop collaborative working relationships with colleagues across functional areas and in different geographic locations with whom proposals will be produced jointly and under tight timelines; and

• Other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications: 

• BA or Master’s degree in business administration, international or sustainable development, or other relevant discipline;

• 3 years of progressively responsible work experience in sustainable development, business development or corporate partnerships;

• Knowledge of key sustainability topics, as well as market and policy trends related to sustainability. Strong knowledge of conservation and/or community development/forestry/agriculture preferred;

• Proven track record of securing corporate grants and contracts, with donor fundraising experience a plus;

• Must be detail oriented, with excellent writing, editing and verbal communication skills in English;

• Experience in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, work environment – preferably within a global organization;

• Excellent interpersonal skills, professional and mature in their approach, with ability to interact culturally, linguistically, and diplomatically with diverse internal and external individuals;

• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM system a plus; and

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally on occasion.

Job Level: 4A

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

Deadline:  May 5th 2024

Notes: Only candidates authorized to work in London or Amsterdam will be considered.

If you have any questions about the job vacancy, please contact the HR department: recruitment@ra.org

 The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests   and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.

As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.

Why

To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.

How

Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.

The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability and any other protected group.