Position title: Biodiversity and climate policy officer

Reports to: WWF Adria Director of Conservation

Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Engagement: Full time position, fixed term contract 

 

WWF is one of the world’s leading non-governmental and non-profit organizations for nature conservation. WWF has been established in 1961, and has representative offices in over 100 countries across the globe and approximately 7000 employees. The organization is proud of its supporters of over five million people.

WWF Adria is representing WWF within the countries of Western Balkans with approximately more than 60 employees. It operates through a WWF Adria office in Zagreb (Croatia), WWF Adria-Serbia office in Belgrade, and partner organizations and consultants within the rest of the region. To implement its conservation goals WWF Adria operates in the structure of different programmes (Marine, Freshwater, Protected Areas & Governance and Wildlife) which are contributing to protection of different ecosystems or to the improvement of governance of protected areas within the Protected Areas & Governance Programme.

As an international organization, we support a working environment of diversity based on justice and mutual respect. We therefore welcome every application - regardless of ethnic, social and national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status and political views.
 

WWF Adria aims to drive a paradigm shift in biodiversity and climate sector in the Western Balkans towards nature conservation and long-term sustainable management that are built on principles of inclusion, transparency, fairness and equity. To achieve that, enabling policy systems need to be in place that support nature conservation, sustainable management and use of natural resources, and green recovery. 

WWF is seeking a Biodiversity and Climate Policy Officer to join our team in Croatia, in order to: i) develop and lead policy advocacy efforts in Croatia related to nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, and ii) implement specific actions related to mainstreaming bio-economy for green recovery and enhanced resilience to climate change.

 

1) Develops and implements policy advocacy program of WWF Adria that supports achievement of the overall conservation strategy in Croatia;

2) Supports integration of WWF Adria program into relevant WWF Network goals and initiatives;

3) Supports fundraising in accordance with WWF Adria conservation strategy;

4) Responsible for development and implementation of relevant policy and advocacy positions and integration across the units;

5) Supports WWF Adria development by building partnerships and managing relationships with stakeholders relevant for the conservation program’s strategy;

 

• Leads policy advocacy of WWF Adria in Croatia; develops policy priorities and relevant advocacy strategies; identifies milestones and impact indicators to monitor progress; 

• Monitors relevant policy developments on global, EU and national levels, seeking opportunities to influence them for our benefit, or making use of those developments to further our work;

• Plans, drafts and edits policy research, drafts policy reports, briefs, summaries and other forms of written communication, as aligned with WWF Policy Development Guidelines;

• Maps key stakeholders and targets on regional and national levels; develops and implements stakeholder engagement plans to develop relationships and secure opportunity to influence; 

• Advocates best practices and increased policy dialogue, and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with relevant national stakeholders;

• Proposes development of strategic partnerships with variety of partners (e.g. CSOs / NGOs, government, business) that would further our work and increase impact; develops partnerships for change, in alignment with WWF guidelines and WWF Adria Strategy; 

• Implements and monitors programs of work involving the development of the approach, evidence based strategies, and related tools and methodologies, monitoring and reporting frameworks;

• Develops required input for internal monitoring systems, and participates in the progress monitoring, and results evaluation and mid-year / end-year reporting following the WWF monitoring timeline;

• Initiates adaptive management to Strategy based on external developments, identifies and implements adaptive management strategies in work plans;

• Leads the implementation of projects assigned to their supervision, including monitoring and reporting; carries out specific tasks in projects as identified in projects implementation and work plans and monitoring / reporting plans; manages partners and subcontractors;

• Ensures coordination and alignment of WWF Adria’s positions and approaches with relevant WWF Network positions; coordinates with and supports WWF European Policy Office in relation to EU policies;

• Represents WWF Adria at expert meetings and conferences as well as in WWF Network platforms;

• Responds to media enquiries and provides interviews when needed;

• Adheres to WWF Adria quality assurance framework, operational guidelines, and administrative procedures;

• Supports WWF Adria fundraising by identifying new donor opportunities, providing content for technical development of funding proposals and identifying / building relations potential project partners;

 

• University degree in the broad area of political science, public policy, international policy, environmental or climate policy, environmental science, environmental law or related fields, and at least 5 years of professional experience. 

• Demonstrated lobbying and advocacy experience, networking and partnership building. Experience with project management and Monitoring & Evaluation systems at both impact and outcome level is essential.

• Excellent analytical, lobby, advocacy and presentation skills.

• Proven ability to act as organizational spokesperson and interact effectively with government representatives, experience in interacting with business would be a strong advantage.

• Strong networking and team building skills appropriate for a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Croatian and English, and an ability to authoritatively and clearly communicate complicated messages to various audiences.

• A firm commitment to WWF’s values: courage, integrity, respect and collaboration, and WWF’s behaviors: strive for impact, listen deeply, collaborate openly and innovate fearlessly.

 

 

Are you interested in this position and do you recognize yourself in the above profile? Then we invite you to express your interest until July 13th 2022 by sending an e-mail with motivation letter and CV in English with list of two references to jmarkovic@wwfadria.org and titled „WWF Adria Policy Officer“. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted, and for selected candidates interview will be held virtually.