Location: Switzerland (regular work in Zurich and across Switzerland)
Are you interested in working with business and government stakeholders to support their use of ambitious and impactful sustainability systems? ISEAL is hiring an Associate Manager to join our team responsible for business and government engagement as well as the tracking and response to policy developments. This is the perfect role for someone who enjoys developing relationships and engaging with stakeholders to influence change.
ISEAL supports ambitious sustainability systems and their partners to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges – from the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis to human rights and persistent poverty. ISEAL Community Members cover many sectors and include many of the leading standards and certification schemes worldwide such as Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance, Marine Stewardship Council, Forest Stewardship Council, Better Cotton Initiative, and others. Read more about us on our website www.iseal.org.
ISEAL has a goal of supporting governments and businesses to understand, identify and use credible sustainability systems. The Associate Manager, Government and Business Engagement, will lead organisational efforts to reach these stakeholders in Switzerland, and will provide support to the organisation’s global outreach efforts.
The preferred candidate will be familiar with the topics of sustainability, and market-based approaches to sustainability, and will bring experience engaging stakeholders across the Swiss business, NGO and government landscape. They will be a proactive self-starter, able to represent ISEAL in meetings and relevant forums and have a proven ability to build strong relations. Strong writing skills and the capacity to think about engagement in a strategic way will round out the profile.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead on engagement with Swiss government, businesses, and business platforms. Proactively identify key individuals, companies and organisations for outreach and information sharing, including direct engagement, speaking at workshops and events, etc. Support ISEAL's global engagement with business platforms
- Respond to information needs from Swiss businesses and government officials, bringing in other ISEAL colleagues as needed
- Develop communications strategies for reaching businesses. Identify information needs, develop business-focused messaging. Write blogs, case studies, website text, and reports, and coordinate with Communications team
- Monitor and analyse strategic developments, initially focusing on corporate reporting and disclosure requirements and climate policy
- Facilitate organisational thinking on how to best target and engage with key stakeholders, including businesses, NGOs, governments and multi-lateral institutions across the globe
- Contribute to content planning and stakeholder outreach for major external-facing ISEAL events
- Lead on organisational use of ISEAL’s CRM (Salesforce) for tracking key stakeholder engagement
- Coordinate with the Operations team and colleagues to ensure that CRM is fit for capturing key information about stakeholder engagement; provide guidance and support to colleagues to ensure that the organisation is maintaining adequate records of engagement targets and history.
Other
- Participate actively in team and organisational planning and activities
- Participate in internal staff management processes such as performance reviews, supervisory meetings, etc.
Experience, Knowledge and Attributes
- Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant subject (e.g. sustainability or environmental studies, international development, political sciences, business management, etc.) and/or equivalent work experience
- Understanding of sustainability, market-based approaches to sustainability, and regulations addressing corporate sustainability efforts
- Strong interest in and familiarity with Swiss politics & business environment
- 3-5 years’ experience in a role focused on business engagement, public affairs, stakeholder relations in a non-governmental or corporate sustainability or ESG setting
- Experience initiating and managing stakeholder relationships
- Understanding of the details of how sustainability systems work in practice, or ability to learn quickly based on similar foundational knowledge
- Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to work collaboratively with people across cultures and time zones
- Confidence in written and verbal communications to a wide range of individuals at all different levels, and in public speaking
- Full proficiency in (Swiss) German and French; excellent written and spoken English (ISEAL’s day to day office language is English)
- Experience working independently in a remote work environment
- Confidence in using IT systems, familiarity with virtual meeting tools (e.g. MS Teams, Zoom, etc), use of contact management databases (e.g. Salesforce) and proficiency in MS Office
Desirable
- Existing network of NGO, businesses and/or government based in Switzerland
Other relevant information
Term: Initial 12-months fixed term contract, with a view to extend beyond original term
Salary: CHF80,000-CHF92,000 gross p.a. depending on experience
Working Hours: Flexible between full time (37.5 hours per week) or 80% (30 hours per week)
Location: This position will be home-based in Switzerland, with flexibility on location. Applicants will need to provide evidence that they are entitled to work in Switzerland and willing to travel frequently across Switzerland.
International Travel: The post holder will be required to undertake frequent travel within Switzerland and occasional international travel.
Annual Leave: 25 days / year for a full-time position (including office closure between Christmas and New Year), plus local statutory holidays
Ideal Start Date: asap
Specific enquiries about this role and the application process can be sent to the recruitment@isealalliance.org.
Deadline for applications is 14 June 2023 (17.00 CET).
Please note that we will only contact shortlisted applicants.
