Nature-based Solutions Associate, African Cities Climate Resilience Program

This position is hybrid requiring a few days per week in office in Johannesburg, South Africa; WRI Africa Regional Office. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission. WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

WRI is spearheading the African Cities Climate Resilience (ACCR) Program, a major initiative to build urban resilience in African cities by promoting the use of nature-based solutions (NBS). The ACCR Program will work with 5+ African cities to reduce climate-induced heat and water risks and shocks, boost social equality, and protect biodiversity by improving the health and coverage of ecosystems that provide resilience benefits to communities.

This program builds on the ongoing work of WRI’s Urban Water Resilience Initiative and Cities4Forests Initiative.

• Cities4Forests is an alliance of 95 cities, representing more than 297 million residents, acting to conserve, restore and sustainably manage nature for human well-being. Cities4Forests supports local champions to influence policy, prepare projects, and unlock finance for nature across the world. The initiative has developed world-class guidance on NBS project preparation, social equity plans, and financial analysis approaches, and has piloted new financing models and institutional structures to advance NBS on the ground. It runs NBS project accelerators in three world regions.
• The WRI Urban Water Resilience initiative works with city stakeholders to help address their water risks and vulnerabilities through research, technical assistance, and capacity building to undertake strategic planning, identify place-based interventions, and secure funding and financing resources to implement solutions. It champions the Africa Cities Water Adaptation Platform (ACWA Platform), a partnership of 25 organizations dedicated to supporting cities to achieve water resilience.

Together, these initiatives and teams bring ample experience in creating accessible, equitable, healthy, and resilient urban areas for people, businesses, and the environment. We work with governments, financial institutions, and civil society to ensure a climate-resilient future by harnessing the multiple benefits nature provides in and around cities. These initiatives provide:

1.Technical assistance and capacity building for city leaders and partners, including:

• NBS opportunity identification and planning, utilizing cutting-edge geospatial analysis and technical feasibility analytic approaches
• Gender, social inclusion and equity plans to maximize the benefits of water resilience and NBS projects to vulnerable and marginalized communities
• Spearheading multisector partnerships that engage city leadership, civil society, business, government, communities, and researchers to move on large-scale NBS and water resilience opportunities
• Business case development and financial strategies to unlock investment in NBS and water resilience
• Plans to institutionalize NBS and water resilience in city planning and development, including development of policy agendas, and the improvement of relevant regulations and incentives.

2. Implementation projects, orchestrating and managing NBS and water resilience implementation projects at the city and basin level in priority cities and attracting scaled finance for city-wide deployment

3. Regional peer learning, knowledge products, and trends analysis to set enabling conditions in place and to prime a pipeline of investment projects

4. Funding instruments for investments in NBS and water resilience that includes facilitation of dialogue on NBS and water resilience across projects and investors, and work to scale up resources for the ACCR cohort of projects

Job Highlight:

Reporting to South Africa- Lead, you will be part of the Cities4Forest and Urban Water Resilience teams for Africa. You will provide technical advice and ensure operational effectiveness during the planning and implementation of urban water resilience and nature-based solutions for climate resilience for South Africa. This involves implementing projects and formulating key proposals for multilateral funds, thus ensuring sustainable urban development in the face of climate change impacts.

You will work on the three key outputs from the Urban Water Resilience and Cities4Forest, with a greater focus on the Scaling Urban NbS for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA) Project in Johannesburg.

SUNCASA will support enhancement of climate adaptation, gender equality, and biodiversity protection in urban communities in three cities: Dire Dawa, Johannesburg, and Kigali. The project is responding directly to locally identified needs and priorities of the tree cities to increase their resilience to climate-induced flooding and other water-related risks by adopting and implementing gender-responsive nature-based solutions. In Johannesburg, the project is focusing on the improved riverine management with interventions including removal of alien invasive plants, rehabilitation of riverbanks, development of a transformative riverine management programme, and greening of urban spaces.

What will you do:

Implementation of NBS Projects (80%): -

• Monitor the delivery of planned project components, outputs, and activities to ensure that they adequately address identified climate vulnerabilities and barriers, and lead to the achievement of expected results
• Provide technical advice when required
• Develop progress reports to the donor on the scope of activities included in the project work plan
• Ensure integration of gender mainstreaming in project activities and social and environmental safeguards throughout the proposal
• Participate in the day-to-day coordination of the project, ensuring the timely and successful delivery of all project deliverables
• Follow up on the cooperation agreements established with local partners for the implementation of project activities in Johannesburg and Gqeberha
• Advise and support the communication team in the updating and ongoing maintenance of the Urban Water Resilience and Cities4Forest communications materials
• Prepare and monitor the signing of agreements with implementing partners for project implementation
• Organize and participate in face-to-face consultations workshops with key stakeholders to share and collect information and ensure alignment between project activities and local needs
• Manage stakeholder relations and engagement
• Help engage member organisations of the ACWA Platform

Fundraising for NBS and Water resilience Opportunities (20% )

• NBS and water resilience opportunity identification and planning
• Collaborate with UWR and Cities4Forest team to prepare funding requests for project proposal development
• Support business case development and financial strategies to unlock investment in NBS

What will you need:

• Education: You have a bachelor’s degree in water resources management, environmental management, or related fields
• Experience: You have a minimum of 7 years of relevant, full-time work experience in climate adaptation including urban nature-based solutions and water management
• Demonstrated knowledge of different approaches to climate change adaptation and development, including ecosystem-based adaptation approaches
• Demonstrated experience in project management, donor reporting, and management of implementation partners
• Experience in the design, preparation and formulation of adaptation to climate change projects
• Experience in collaborating with South African cities and national governments
• Strong written and oral communication skills, particularly when it comes to communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently as well as part of a team, including actively contributing to team discussions
• Willingness to work effectively under pressure and take on new challenges as required
• Extremely well organized, a detail-oriented, independent thinker, effective at organizing tasks
• Flexible, responsible, and self-motivated
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with teams of individuals and colleagues
• Languages: Written and spoken proficiency in English
• Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

Potential Salary: Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with cover letter by the date of 18 February 2024. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary
• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
• The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities.
• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
• Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours.
• Generous leave days that increase with tenure

About Us:

Founded in 1982, 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 to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. WRI has a global staff of over 1,800 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

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.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Integrity, Innovation, Urgency, Independence and Respect.

Our culture:

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. We are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment; we embrace all diversity and encourage women, the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply. Recognizing our strong commitment to gender equality, WRI has also been awarded EDGE certification.

Our team in Human Resources carefully reviews all applications.