Position: Director for Strategy and Impact
Program/Departament: Diretoria Executiva
Location: Sรฃo Paulo
You will be joining WRI Brasil during an exciting moment of organizational change. We are shifting our strategies and structures to enable a system-wide Country in Brazil. As the Director of Strategy and Impact, you will report directly to the Country Executive Director and serve as a key strategic leader in developing and implementing WRI Brasilโs Country Transition Strategy. You will align WRI Brasilโs vision, programs, and operations to deliver transformative, measurable results for People, Nature, and Climate. This role positions you to oversee strategic initiatives, strengthen organizational alignment, and amplify WRI Brasilโs leadership at the global stage during pivotal moments such as COP30. In this role, you will establish and manage key internal and external strategic relationships, including with WRIโs Board of Directors. You will actively engage with WRIโs Global and other Country/Regional Offices to leverage WRIโs global network to foster collaboration, adapt cross-country learning, and enhance WRI's impact toward Country Transitions. By engaging staff across WRI Brasil, you will drive alignment between strategic goals, operational priorities, and measurable outcomes, fostering a learning-oriented and results-driven culture and helping teams deliver impactful solutions at scale. You will oversee and guide strategic, high-impact special projects critical to advancing Brazilโs Country Transition and promoting systems change. You will be a prominent thought leader, cultivating big ideas, helping shape WRI Brasilโs agenda and engagement in key policy arenas, and representing the Program internally and externally.
๏ถ Main activities and/or responsibilities:
Country Transition Strategic Leadership (50%):
- Work with the WRI Brasil Country Director to shape and execute an ambitious strategy for WRI Brasil to support Brazilโs Country Transition to an inclusive and responsible socio-economic development model that leads to less inequality and more quality of life, natural ecosystems that generate wealth and prosperity, and carbon neutrality by 2050 move onto a path to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions in line with current science, leveraging high-quality research and high-impact engagement with key stakeholders and decisionmakers. Adapt that strategy over time to meet evolving political and economic realities
- Provide high-level oversight and guidance for the execution of WRI Brasilโs Strategy, ensuring strategic alignment and synergies across Theories of Change toward the broader Country Transition. Collaborate with project leads to ensure all efforts contribute to the overall vision and Results Framework.
- Prepare and support the Brazilian Leadership team towards a high performance and to an adaptative management style, result-driven and oriented by a robust planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (PMEL) system to be designed.
- Provide strategic oversight for high-impact, cross-functional projects that drive systems change and directly contribute to the Country Transition Strategy. Specific projects will depend on the expertise of the candidate.
- Lead efforts to build an inspiring, learning-oriented, and collaborative culture across WRI Brasil that motivates staff at all levels to deliver on WRI Brasilโs Country Transition goals.
Thought Leadership & Strategic Relations (20%)
- Provide thought leadership on strategy, systems change, and complex systems thinking to shape WRI Brasilโs agenda and key policy positions in national and global arenas.
- Support operations, programmatic, fundraising and communications to develop and improve compelling external narratives that articulate WRI Brasilโs Country Transition Strategy, Results Framework, Theories of Change, and measurable results.
- Build, reconnect and maintain relationships across WRI Brasil teams and the broader WRI network of offices and centers, leveraging shared learning and innovation while maximizing institutional resources and expertise to deliver results and impact;
- Serve as WRI Brasilโs representative and spokesperson internally within WRIโs network and externally in meetings, at events, communicating WRI Brasilโs Country Transition Strategy, results, and program objectives to staff, partners, donors and other audiences.
- Establish and manage a process for managing key strategic partnerships, including WRI Brasilโs Board of Directors.
- Work as a peer to other directors and directly support the Country Executive Director in aligning programs, operations, and stakeholder engagement with WRI Brazilโs strategy and goals.
- Build and maintain relationships with other Country and Regional Offices and global teams, including Research, Data, and Impact (RDI) and Managing for Results (MfR), to leverage WRIโs global network to drive the Country Transition, as well as position WRI Brasil as a recognized contributor within WRIโs network.is
Strategy Management and Impact Monitoring (20%)
- Collaborate with other WRI Brasil leadership members to develop and continuously adapt Program strategies aligned with WRI Brasilโs vision and Country Transition Strategy, supporting the development and adapting of robust theories of change and agile planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (PMEL) systems.
- Oversee the alignment of Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (PMEL) systems with WRI Brasilโs strategic priorities. Ensure these systems enable a results-driven, learning-oriented culture and support adaptive management to achieve ambitious impact goals.
- Partner with WRIโs Development team to strategically shape donor reporting and planning. Leverage PMEL insights to demonstrate WRI Brasilโs impact, support donor priorities, and build strong relationships with public and private sector funders.
- Lead the advancement of WRI Brasilโs Planning, Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation capacity to advance the execution, monitoring and adapting of the Country Transition Strategy.
Staff and Budget Management (10%)
- Manage direct reports and an extended team, with an emphasis on establishing a strong sense of team-work and cooperation, mentoring, and providing staff with the ability to excel and develop.
- Support the Country Executive, Programmatic and Operations Directors by developing and improving regular reports with qualified management data and info that may guide a more successful decision-making.
- Assist Directors in ensuring a health pipeline of new revenue and partnerships, aligned to the Brazilian strategic ambitions.
- Cultivate a harmonious and collaborative work environment based and reinforced by the Culture & Values of WRI.
๏ถ Required Skills
- Education: Masterโs degree in a discipline relevant to Brazil's Country Transition, such as business strategy, engineering, complex systems, natural sciences, agriculture sciences, economics, anthropology, and political science, among others.
- Experience: Minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience related to strategy development, implementation, and impact monitoring in complex systems, including prior experience in leadership and/or management positions, preferably in a globally networked organization.
- Deep understanding of issues related to food, land & water and Cities human systems, climate change, and systems change, particularly in the Global South.
- Superb analytic and strategic thinking skills with a track record of creating and executing large, multi-year strategies in multi-stakeholder contexts.
- Track record of visionary thinking and developing strategies to realize the vision, and solving complex strategic and tactical problems as they arise.
- Outstanding ability to write, communicate, and present clearly, passionately, and compellingly to a wide range of audiences, especially high-level decision-makers from government, private sector, and civil society. Prior experience engaging with senior policymakers, NGOs, and corporate leaders in Brazil and abroad preferred.
- Adaptable to rapidly changing priorities and work with pace, professionalism and resilience, managing multiple projects with varying deadlines
- Demonstrated experience implementing new initiatives and leading change in a matrixed organization.
- A history of designing and leading strategic development and annual planning processes.
- Experience working collaboratively across departments/programs in a large and complex international organization.
- Technical experience in at least two of Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation or Learning, and exposure to all subfields.
- Proven business strategy and management acumen.
- Willingness to travel nationally and internationally 4+ times per year.
- Languages: Fluent in Portuguese and English. Additional languages, especially those spoken at other WRI Country/Regional Offices, are a plus.
๏ถ WRI Brasil offers:
- Competitive salary and benefits aligned with the position and market standards.
- A collaborative work environment that emphasizes technical excellence and visionary thinking.
- A qualified team and full support from a global institution.
๏ถ How to apply:
If you are eligible, please apply online at https://jobs.jobvite.com/wri/jobs/ by January 24, 2025. Only applications submitted through this website will be considered in the selection process.
๏ถ Promoting Diversity:
WRI Brasil is committed to incorporating diversity into its actions and projects. If you wish, please include in your Letter of Intent any information you consider relevant for your application, such as race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, regional origin, connections to traditional communities, physical disabilities, or specific needs.
๏ถ About WRI Brasil:
WRI Brasil is a research institute focused on partnership and transformation. It conducts studies and implements solutions to ensure that people have access to essential resources, protect and restore nature, maintain climate balance, and build resilient communities. The institute combines technical expertise with political advocacy, collaborating with governments, businesses, academia, and civil society.
WRI Brasil is part of the World Resources Institute (WRI), founded in 1982. WRI has approximately 2,200 professionals worldwide, with offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States, as well as regional offices in Africa and Europe.
Sรฃo Paulo: +55 11 3032-1120 - Rua Claudio Soares, 72/1510, Pinheiros, 05422-030 SP
Porto Alegre: +55 51 3312-6324 โ Av. Independรชncia, 1299/401, 90035-077 RS
Wribrasil.org โ https://www.facebook.com/wribrasil
- Collaborate with other WRI Brasil leadership members to develop and continuously adapt Program strategies aligned with WRI Brasilโs vision and Country Transition Strategy, supporting the development and adapting of robust theories of change and agile planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (PMEL) systems.
- Lead efforts to build an inspiring, learning-oriented, and collaborative culture across WRI Brasil that motivates staff at all levels to deliver on WRI Brasilโs Country Transition goals.