Senior Manager Climate Project Accounts, Africa at South Pole

Job summary:

South Pole is working with a series of strategic partners in Africa to develop substantial emissions avoidance projects, including the NGO African Parks. The Senior Manager - Climate Project Accounts is responsible for managing the commercial relations with South Pole’s most important 1-2 project partners on the ground.

The role is service-oriented, including active relationship management, reporting, development of additional opportunities, and updating commercial terms of existing South Pole contracts with the project partners, where necessary.

The Senior Manager reports to the Regional Director of Africa within the Climate Projets Regional team for Africa. This position will work very closely with the Regional Director of Africa and the Senior Director, of Regions due to their existing relationship with the key partners.

Main tasks & responsibilities:

• In coordination with the Climate Project Partnerships team and the African Development and Implementation team and the Portfolio team, become the leading commercial relationship manager of key project accounts and establish active communication with those project partners on matters including commercial and technical
• Take accountability related to all work plans, deliverables and processes agreed upon with African Parks
• Proactively think through upcoming challenges and opportunities for projects developed with Partners, including upcoming project revalidations, transitions to jurisdictional REDD+ schemes, the addition of project activities such as around carbon removals or additional community engagement
• Setting up an efficient communication and workflow with regular meetings and information sharing with our key project partner African Parks
• Help to develop, discuss, and get approval for any additional contracts, proposals of cooperation agreements with key project partners
• In addition, actively engage with current project partners for additional future joint project implementation and development opportunities in close collaboration with the Sourcing team
• Support (as required) the Legal team in developing relevant updated templates such as Investment contracts, and updated MOU and Cooperation agreements

Requirements:

Essential -

• University degree in Environmental Sciences, Business, Engineering, Law, or other relevant disciplines
• Several years of relevant work experience, including several years of experience in business development and account management roles specifically in the topics of voluntary or compliance carbon markets and carbon project development
• Experience in establishing clear performance targets and metrics, with a proven track record of meeting or exceeding challenging targets
• Strategic mindset
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to structure and negotiate deals that are commercially sound and profitable for South Pole
• Outstanding interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills to partner effectively with key internal and external stakeholders
• Outstanding financial and planning skills, with experience leading strategy and budgeting processes
• Strong quantitative skills and the ability to use data and metrics to inform decisions
• Demonstrated skills and experience managing cross-functional, high-performing, diverse, remote, and global teams. Including recruiting, hirings, onboarding, supervising, guiding, and developing global professionals
• Outstanding leadership skills, with the ability to inspire action and get the best out of people
• Professional proficiency in English language skills, both oral and written

Desirable -

• Ideally a Master's degree
• Knowledge of French or Portuguese
• Technical Know-how in carbon project development
• Professional competence in additional languages.