Associate Manager, Climate & Nature

ISEAL are looking for someone with expertise in climate change, nature and biodiversity to join a small but growing area of work. This role will contribute to the design and delivery of ISEAL’s scaling strategy to unlock investment and market incentives for smallholders and small-scale producers, grounded in robust climate, biodiversity and nature outcomes data.

The Associate Manager will play a critical role in delivering ISEAL projects in the context of climate, nature and measurement related to delivering value to small scale producers and small and medium enterprises. The role will collaborate closely with ISEAL’s internal programme teams, community members, and technical partners to assess the feasibility, impact potential, and scalability of climate and nature-related innovations developed and tested within the ISEAL community. Developing an understanding of company and investor sustainability objectives, the role will contribute to building confidence in sustainability outcome data and increase willingness to pay or invest in the transition to sustainable land and resource management by producing enterprises.

To be considered, candidates will bring solid knowledge of climate, nature and biodiversity, particularly related to small-scale agricultural producers, and a keen interest to build on this in the context of voluntary sustainability standards. Experienced in convening stakeholders on technical topics, the ideal person will bring strong data analysis skills and an ability to produce communications accessible to different audiences.

In return, ISEAL can offer inspiring insight into the world of sustainability initiatives and sustainability issues, a supportive, international culture, and good opportunities to develop professionally and personally.

The key responsibilities we entrust you with

Project delivery

• Support senior colleagues with designing and planning project activities related to market-based incentives, climate, biodiversity and nature
• Deliver assigned project activities and key outputs across a range of projects
• Lead or contribute to technical workshops and focused discussions with community members and external partners on data collection and delivery models for environmental and social outcomes
• Support engagement with private and financial sector actors to understand demand for credible, consistent sustainability outcome data
• Contribute to broader stakeholder dialogues and strategic partnerships that position ISEAL systems as trusted and credible sources of sustainability data for policy, corporate, and financial stakeholders
• Collaborate closely with ISEAL’s internal programme teams, community members, and technical partners to assess the feasibility, impact potential, and scalability of climate and nature-related innovations developed and tested within the ISEAL community

Research, analysis, synthesis and writing

• Carry out background research through stakeholder interviews, peer learning workshops and meetings, and literature and document reviews, synthesizing key points and lessons
• Produce technical documents, guidance notes, and simplified communications and tools to deliver key insights, guidance, and messages to different audiences
• Develop and communicate technical insights, case studies, and lessons learned from ISEAL members and technical partners
• Contribute to internal knowledge products and external publications that enhance the visibility and credibility of the ISEAL community’s work in the climate and nature space.

Knowledge sharing & external engagement

• Deliver webinars to share project related learnings with ISEAL community members
• Engage with external stakeholders in the climate space to capture evolving trends, and other opportunities for the work
• Participate in relevant ISEAL hosted communities of practice e.g., data community of practice
• Participate in the external spaces and events focused on market-based incentives, climate, biodiversity and nature outcomes

Innovation Fund and community coordination

• Support ISEAL’s Innovations Fund by serving as a technical programme resource for projects related to climate and nature, while helping to consolidate and synthesize lessons learned across grants
• Take a coordinating role in convening ISEAL’s climate and nature community, facilitating learning exchange and collaboration across the ISEAL membership

Experience, Knowledge and Attributes

• Existing working knowledge of climate, nature and biodiversity and related regulations and trends
• Understanding of corporate sustainability objectives, reporting, metrics and outcome methodologies
• Understanding of the theory and methodology behind GHG accounting, SBTI initiatives and carbon removal methodologies and how use of these translate into practice
• Understanding of the impacts of climate change on primary (particularly small-scale) agricultural production and how producers can adapt to these changes to mitigate these impacts
• Good understanding of international and/or rural development
• Proven ability to analyse large sources of information and to identify and summarise the most important points in accessible language
• Experience in facilitating sessions and workshops, working with stakeholders to reach consensus decisions
• Good time management and ability to efficiently organise and deliver multiple tasks simultaneously
• Able to work independently, including in a remote work environment, and to ask for clarification/direction when needed
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with cross-functional teams in a fully remote, international environment, including occasional international time-zone calls
• Proficient IT skills, familiarity with virtual meeting tools (e.g. Teams, Zoom, etc.)

Additionally desirable

• Experience working with outcome focused data
• Experience with work related to small-scale producers
• Understanding of what standards systems are and how they help deliver change on sustainability issues
• Understanding of climate finance, carbon projects and/or payments for ecosystem services

About ISEAL

ISEAL supports ambitious sustainability systems and their partners to tackle the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges – from the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis to human rights and persistent poverty. ISEAL Community Members include many of the most respected sustainability schemes worldwide and are active across a diverse range of sectors. Read more about us on our website www.iseal.org.

ISEAL´s culture and how we will help you thrive

Our values are Connection, Empowerment, Inspiration, Well-being, Creativity and Celebration.

These are traits we value in each other and in the organisation overall and we instil these in all our processes and interactions.

The issues we work on are of a global nature and our team reflects this, with individuals from many different backgrounds and nationalities. We know this diversity adds to the high quality of work we deliver as an organisation and through our commitment to diversity and inclusion we want to add strengths and perspectives in our team with each recruitment. Diversity for us includes race and gender identity, age, disability status, sexual orientation, religion and many other areas forming part of someone´s identity. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

As an organisation, we also support our people in their personal and professional development, with specific budgets and processes enabling individuals to take advantage of growth and development opportunities.

We offer 25 days of annual leave, to which we will add a day a year after 2 years (to a maximum of 30 days), as well as an extra five days as a one off once you have been with us for a full five years.

We recognise individuals’ preferences when it comes to where and when to work through a hybrid working model with a minimum of 4 days per month in the London office as well as the opportunity to apply for flexible working arrangements to suit individual´s needs.

Other relevant information

Term: This is an initial contract of one year with the possibility of extension

Salary: £45,800-£49,800 p.a. depending on experience (full time, 37.5 hours per week)

Location: London is the preferred location. Applicants will need to provide evidence that they are entitled to work in the UK. An ability and willingness to work in a hybrid work environment is required.

International travel: The post holder may be required to undertake occasional international travel

Ideal start date: asap

How to apply

Specific enquiries about this role and the application process can be sent to the [email protected].

Deadline for applications is 25 September 2025.

Please note that we will only contact shortlisted applicants.

Interview process

Please see below the planned interview process (please note that we will endeavor to keep to this schedule, but some dates may be subject to change)

First interviews (Teams): 1-3 October

Pre-interview timed exercises (between 60 – 90 minutes from home):

Panel interviews (Teams): w/c 13 October

Decision: w/c 27 October

Accessibility

If candidates require additional time or other considerations for the interview process, we are committed to accommodating any reasonable requests.

Please note that ISEAL will cover travel expenses for in person interviews for candidates travelling from outside of Greater London. ISEAL also covers caring expenses for candidates who are carers and need to arrange of cover for the duration of the interview/exercises