Program Coordinator, Cities4Forests

Job Summary:

As the Program Coordinator, you will support the team’s Director and project managers to ensure successful and effective delivery of projects in the areas of program management, administration, operations, events, financial management, and communications. This is a cross-cutting role, providing operational support across multiple projects and initiatives. In this position, you will work with an interdisciplinary and cross-programmatic team to advance nature-based research, financing approaches, and strategies that leverage restoration, protection, and sustainable management of natural and working landscapes to provide water, climate, and human well-being benefits globally.

You will work closely with staff and leadership located WRI offices in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Ethiopia, Central Africa, India, and Indonesia, as well as WRI’s Urban Development team, the Global Forest Watch team, the Global Restoration Initiative team, and will be part of a growing team of Program Coordinators within WRI’s Food, Forests, Water and Ocean Program.

This position is remote due to Covid-19, but you will be based in Washington, DC once restrictions have been lifted.

Job Responsibilities:

Program and Project Management (65% of time required)

• Support the Initiative’s Director across all relevant program management tasks
• Capture detailed notes and key-take-aways from internal and external meetings, and organize follow-up steps
• Assist Director and project managers with research, writing, synthesis, etc. related to delivering project tasks, outputs, and outcomes
• Support preparation of progress reports for donors in coordination with Grants & Finance and project leads and other team leaders
• Help prep Director with background and talking points for key meetings and pitches
• Draft email correspondence for Director to review and send to key partners and funders
• Liaise with external partners and WRI colleagues across programs and countries as needed
• Support Director and other project managers with fundraising and development efforts Administration,

Operations and Events (25% of time required)

• -Support Director to accomplish priority “to-do” list
• Organize internal and external meetings, workshops, conferences and other dissemination activities
• Manage the process to collect and distribute weekly internal team updates
• Update event trackers and support coordination and planning of events
• Draft event abstracts and session proposals in collaboration with other team members
• Develop and update a systematic and organized file-sharing system and keep project documents updated and centralized
• Book travel, hotels and meeting spaces and provide planning support for external partners to attend events
• Schedule meetings (and occasionally travel) for the Director and respond to ad-hoc requests as needed

Communications (10%)

• Assist with research and drafting of blogs, articles, and other outreach materials
• Assist with preparation of presentations, pitches, and other internal and external communications needs

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is desired, relevant work experience in lieu of a degree is accepted
• Minimum of 1 year of full-time work experience in project management and/or operations
• Demonstrated strong written and oral communication skills
• Detail-oriented and organized thinker with an interest in program operations
• Excellent computer skills in MS Office Suite (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint, etc.), web-based communications (e.g., Teams, Skype, Zoom, etc.), and internet research
• Strong interpersonal skills and interest to work with diverse teams of colleagues
• Must be adaptable to rapidly change priorities and have the ability to manage multiple projects with varying deadlines
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and demonstrated strong work ethic
• Comfort working with remote managers
• Entrepreneurial nature
• An interest in the environment or development
• US work authorization is required for all WRI US opportunities

Potential Salary:

$46,000 – $60,000. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with cover letter. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. 

Program Overview:

Program Overview Over the past decade, WRI has been at the forefront of increasing investment in well-designed nature-based solutions (NBS) for water security, disaster risk reduction, and climate and community resilience. We have developed guidance on best practices for evaluating enabling conditions for NBS and appraising NBS projects. We have pioneered an economic method for analyzing NBS investment opportunities and applied it with utilities in several watersheds around the world including in Portland (Maine, USA), Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Bogota (Colombia), and other locations. We have supported the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank with their NBS strategies. We have advanced the first green bond standard for water infrastructure and worked with a utility to issue the first-ever green bond for forest-based water infrastructure. And we have developed and piloted a multi-stakeholder finance platform, known as the Forest Resilience Bond, resulting in an unprecedented pipeline of blended finance NBS deals.

Our Learning Guide on Social Equity Considerations supports cities to advance inclusive and equitable NBS projects and our work with Caterpillar Foundation, L’Oréal, FEMSA, and Danone has resulted in significant investment in watershed stewardship as well. Building on this progress, we now aim to scale up our work on NBS through the Cities4Forests initiative. Cities4Forests Overview Cities4Forests is a cross-programmatic effort – involving WRI’s Water, Forests, and Cities programs – that aims to catalyze political, social, and economic support from city governments and urban residents to integrate inner, nearby, and faraway forests into city development plans and programs. Participating cities share an aspiration to reduce commodity-driven deforestation, restore forests and trees, and manage forests more sustainably. Cities4Forests’ goal is to amplify current best practices and extend the deliberate city-forest relationship to the global scale on which cities and forests interact. It is a voluntary coalition involving mayors’ offices — and supported by other subnational agencies such as public water utilities and offices of sustainability — from more than 75 cities around the world. We encourage peer-to-peer inspiration and learning, and members receive technical support from WRI and partners with expertise in forests, climate change, water, communications, finance, and policy.

WRI Overview:

World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean.

We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills, and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include: integrity, innovation, urgency, independence, and respect.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years, and our operating budget is now $150 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of 1,000+ people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.  

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.