Senior Principal Consultant, Biodiversity & mining

Location: Hybrid, with travel to our Cambridge office

Salary:Circa £65,000, depending on experience.

In this role, you will be working with leading mining companies, industry organisations and financial institutions on the integration of nature into decision-making. You will be responsible for managing and delivering projects, line managing and mentoring junior members of the team and working with our business directors to expand our portfolio of market-leading clients. The role will also involve working across a broader range of sectors including linear infrastructure, ports and agriculture through the application of lender safeguards, notably the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6.

As a senior principal consultant, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with key clients and designing and implementing projects to meet client's needs. For this role, we are particularly interested in candidates with experience in protected area management and/or offset design and implementation, and with advanced French language skills.

The Biodiversity Consultancy’s mission is to integrate nature into business and finance decision-making through science-based approaches. Your work will also include collaborating with industry bodies, sustainability initiatives, academia and civil society to share experiences, build capacity and help accelerate progress towards a nature-positive future.

Responsibilities

Project delivery

• Manage the delivery of complex projects for your clients, ensuring timely delivery of on-budget projects to the required level of quality and technical substance.
• Interpret and apply a range of frameworks and business drivers, including global goals, corporate policies, evolving supply-chain customer expectations and financial lending criteria.
• Monitor client satisfaction to ensure our approaches, metrics and tools for assessing and mitigating biodiversity impacts align with our client's needs.

Business development

• Developing strategic and innovative proposals of work with new or existing clients.
• Expand the business through networking and relationship building with global business forums, academia, NGOs etc.

Customer relationship management

• Establish and nurture relationships with clients and other stakeholders relevant to mining, infrastructure and agriculture sectors, including industry, government, NGOs and academia, to discover and capitalise on new business opportunities.

Mentoring and leadership

• Line manage and mentor members of the mining team, supporting technical design of projects, providing critical review, and supporting their professional development.
• Support in the team to continuously improve our work, driving innovation and providing technical leadership in specific sectoral or thematic areas.

Communication and innovation

• Elevate the visibility of The Biodiversity Consultancy globally as a trusted brand for businesses, including by writing and delivering presentations, attending events, and leveraging digital networks.
• Write and review material for business press, our website, and publications.
• Work with colleagues to develop approaches, metrics and tools for assessing and mitigating biodiversity impacts of complex, large-scale projects in areas of sensitive biodiversity.
• Other duties commensurate with the role.

Essential attributes

• At least 5 years’ experience in a relevant field, such as biodiversity conservation, protected area/natural resource management and/or experience of working with good international industry practice for biodiversity management for development projects.
• Experience or in-depth working knowledge of project and portfolio level approaches to assessing biodiversity risks and impacts and preparation in strategies to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities.
• Experience of working in / with the mining, and ideally other infrastructure sectors
• Proven ability to work in French (written and speaking).
• Experience working in Africa.
• Demonstrable active listening, client empathy, and client problem-solving skills.
• Substantial project management and project accountability experience.
• Line management and people skills.
• Excellent communication skills, including public speaking, workshops and writing.
• Ability to provide intellectual leadership, creativity and simplicity to problem solving.
• Honours degree in a relevant subject.

Desirable attributes

• A postgraduate qualification or a PhD in a relevant discipline.
• Willingness and enthusiasm to travel globally when necessary.
• Experience within a consultancy context – leading client engagements and managing projects.
• Experience working in Latin America, or Asia.
• Experience of applying IFC Performance Standard 6 or similar lender standards to international infrastructure/development projects