Vacancy #: 7374 Unit: South America - Brazil Organisation: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Location: Brazil Country Office, Brasilia - DF, Brazil Reporting to: Coordinador Regional de Programa Work percentage: 100% Grade: P2 Expected start date: 15 September 2025 Type of contract: Fixed-term (12 months with possibility of renewal) Closing date: 03 September 2025 BACKGROUND IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a union of members primarily made up of government and civil society organizations. It leverages the expertise, resources, and reach of over 1,400 member organizations and contributions from more than 18,000 global experts. Recognized as the global authority on the status of the natural world and the actions needed to protect it, IUCN’s Secretariat is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland, with offices worldwide.
As a leading provider of conservation data, assessments, and analysis, IUCN serves as a trusted hub for best practices, tools, guidelines, and international standards. It offers a neutral platform where a wide range of stakeholders—including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, Indigenous groups, and faith-based organizations—can collaborate on solutions to environmental challenges and promote sustainable development.
IUCN implements a diverse global portfolio of conservation projects that combine scientific innovation with traditional local knowledge to halt habitat loss, restore ecosystems, and enhance human well-being.
IUCN’s Business & Nature Global Team is responsible for developing and delivering a coherent and impactful programme of work that leverages IUCN’s knowledge, tools, metrics, and approaches to accelerate the adoption by companies of practices that deliver nature positive outcomes and societal benefits. This programme is delivered primarily through the development of private sector and public partnerships and action at the corporate, sectoral, supply chain, and regulatory levels. It is implemented through a diverse project portfolio delivered in collaboration with IUCN’s Regional and Country Offices, thematic teams, and members.
IUCN’s Regional Office for South America (UICN SUR) is based in Quito, Ecuador and has been active since 1992; the National Office in Brazil, based in Brasilia, since 2010. In Brazil, most IUCN projects are part of broader global or regional initiatives focused on protected areas, the Green List, Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Nature Positive approaches, Forest Landscape Restoration, and other themes aligned with the IUCN Nature 2030 Programme. IUCN’s partners in Brazil include federal and state government agencies, academia, and NGOs—24 of which are IUCN members. IUCN is also engaged in strategic collaborations with leading private sector actors and intends to expand this portfolio with this position.
This position is based in São Paulo, Brazil. JOB DESCRIPTION SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the supervision of the Regional Programme Coordinator and close coordination of the Business and Nature Senior Programme Manager, the main duties and responsibilities include:
1. Portfolio development and implementation
• Lead the development and implementation of technical proposals to the private sector in Brazil and potentially others in South America, that leverage IUCN’s data, metrics and knowledge products as well as IUCN’s technical support & analytics to deliver Nature Positive outcomes;
• Develop private sector use and application of IUCN standards, metrics, and tools, such as the IUCN’s approach to measuring nature positive, Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric, NbS Standard, and the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) while promoting the application of the mitigation hierarchy and the implementation of IUCN’s relevant policies in Brazil;
• Leverage partnerships with individual companies and sectoral bodies in Brazil to support the refinement of IUCN’s tools & knowledge, providing technical feedback to the relevant thematic teams, with a particular focus on tools and approaches related to Nature Positive measurement and approaches;
• Explore the possible complementarity and combination of IUCN tools (such as STAR) with approaches supported by other actors or in other context (such as, for instance, Life Cycle Assessments) to increase the relevance of IUCN tools in different sectors and extend their outreach;
• Facilitate Independent Scientific and Technical Advisory Panels in Brazil, providing strategic expertise to address complex and controversial issues and build trust amongst stakeholders;
• Develop and submit concepts and funding proposals to donors for projects related to enabling conditions (regulatory…) that could accelerate the sectoral transition to Nature Positive;
• Support the regional team in establishing and strengthening new collaborations with the private sector in the region and lead the preparation of proposals.
2.Project portfolio management, delivery, and quality assurance
• Ensure the provision of technical assistance, capacity building, and contribute to sectoral transformation as part of IUCN’s collaborative efforts with the private sector;
• Ensure high quality delivery of projects and initiatives associated to each partnership with the private sector according to the priorities defined in the annual workplans;
• Ensure effective, efficient, and adaptive management of resources (financial, human, and intellectual) for each project in accordance with IUCN project management standards;
• Engage and manage consultants and external project counterparts where need for portfolio delivery is required;
• Coordinate with project teams in HQ and at Regional and national levels on joint implementation and delivery, including through internal agreements;
• Work with regional (and national) colleagues to ensure effective implementation of monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks for the business lines and project portfolio.
• Project management including planning, budgeting, reporting and coordination, following IUCN´s tools and policies (Smartsheet, project portal, risk managements, among others) and adequate documentation filing, including on project budget and reporting.
• Lead internal project coordination with external collaborators, partners and IUCN units involved;
• Support the organization of project workshops and meetings in consultation with the IUCN staff, and project partners.
3.Capacity building, Knowledge generation and Communication
• Ensure key results and lessons learnt are communicated in insightful knowledge products and promoted through various media channels and networks, to reach both external and internal audiences. Coordinate with national, regional and global communication focal points for this purpose.
• Strengthen IUCN's capacity, influence and external visibility on work with the private sector, including by developing new training programmes to promote IUCN’s tools and approaches for the private sector and support their uptake (in collaboration with the IUCN Academy);
• Participate in meetings, conferences, and platforms of relevance to the work program described above, to advance and showcase IUCN technical and thought leadership to drive sector-wide transformation, and to influence and mobilize new networks, partners, and stakeholders.
• Nurture working relationships with existing partners and establish new partnerships in Brazil and in the region, including resource mobilization.
4. Collaborative Work with IUCN SUR, Brazil Team and IUCN Business & Nature team
• Participate in events and meetings, with a special focus on (but not limited to) strengthening relationships with the private sector, while also engaging with other key stakeholders as needed.
• Collaborate with the IUCN Regional team and the one in Brazil on a periodic basis on relevant projects, communicating with members and partners in Brazil and the region.
• Attend technical meetings with the IUCN Business & Nature team and/or the Centre for Science and Knowledge and other global technical Teams to stay abreast of new tools development relevant to the position.
• Provide technical input to other projects, products and deliverables, including reviewing and reference.
• Contribute to the review of communications materials and translations.
The above job description contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in a small organization such as IUCN, staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them, but which are not part of their regular job description. Where any task becomes a regular part of an employee's responsibilities, the job description will be changed in consultation with the employee and the Human Resources Management Group. REQUIREMENTS • Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology, Natural Resources Management, Environmental Policy, Sustainability Management, or another relevant field required. Strong grounding in biodiversity, conservation, sustainable development and social science concepts and theory, beyond immediate field of expertise.
• • Minimum 10-14 years of experience, and minimum 7 required in engaging and working with the private sector on biodiversity themes, for instance as a consultant, with a preference for experience on the ground in Brazil (environmental and/or biodiversity assessments, biodiversity net gain reviews or monitoring, certifications…).
• Technical understanding of IUCN key standards, tools and metrics (in particular IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Species and of Ecosystems, Nature-based Solutions global standard, STAR metrics, IBAT) or other scientifically reputable equivalents. Some experience with Life Cycle Assessments would be an asset.
• • Minimum 8 years of experience in developing, managing and coordinating projects, including planning, execution, monitoring & evaluation, technical and financial management and reporting.
• Experience in supervising staff and coordinating consultants.
• Proven ability to operationalise concepts, from idea to ground implementation and to socialise and mainstream scientific concepts and approaches in order to encourage their appropriation by non-specialist stakeholders.
• Experience in planning and developing messaging in terms of effective knowledge uptake, understands and can adapt to target audience.
• Ability to take initiative, exercise good judgment, think laterally and resolve complex issues in a dynamic and changing environment.
• Works well under pressure, with the ability to prioritise and successfully optimise the allocation of time, people, and other resources and to manage multiple deadlines and competing demands (must be very organised).
• Skilfully prioritizes, manages, and balances operational task flows and can identify, anticipate and address critical operational dependencies. Successfully manages competing demands and deadlines.
• Professionalism and diplomacy in communicating cross-culturally and with diverse audiences.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
• Fluency in written and spoken Portuguese and English is required. Proficiency in written and spoken. Spanish is desirable.
• Ability to deal with very diverse audiences and publics from high-level management to community based teams
• Ability to manage different opinions, be respectful of different points of view and have a team player spirit;
• Relevant IT skills, in particular with online communication platforms for video conferencing and other collaboration;
• Ability to deal with sensitive information;
• Availability for some travel required in Brazil, in South America and perhaps internationally. APPLICATIONS
Applicants are requested to apply online through the HR Management System, by opening the vacancy announcement and pressing the \"Apply\" button.
Applicants will be asked to create an account and submit their profile information. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date. The vacancy closes at midnight, Swiss time (GMT+1 / GMT+2 during Daylight Saving Time, DST). Please note that only selected applicants will be personally contacted for interviews.
Other job opportunities are published in the IUCN website: https://www.iucn.org/involved/jobs/
About IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 16,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.
Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.
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