Senior Director, Critical Minerals and Community Positive Energy Transition

World Wildlife Fund, Inc.•Washington, DC

2d•$143,900 - $206,900

About The Position

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, has established a new position on its Climate team for a Sr. Director of its Community Positive Energy Transition (CPET) initiative. This program will develop and lead a cross‑sector effort to ensure that the clean energy transition advances in a way that protects biodiversity, ecosystems, and local communities. If poorly managed, rapidly expanding demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths can cause environmental harm and negative social impacts during the extraction, processing, and use of critical minerals such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. CPET will integrate science, policy, industry engagement, and global collaboration to avoid and/or reduce these pressures on ecosystems. CPET’s promotion of circular economy approaches such as recycled material sourcing, mineral substitution, improved material efficiency, and new technology pathways will also work to reduce primary mineral demand and extraction. The Senior Director, Community Positive Energy Transition, develops and executes a global strategy to mitigate social, environmental and biodiversity impacts across the full critical minerals value chain. The Senior Director will ensure CPET is aligned with WWF’s conservation mission, focusing on ecosystems in WWF’s priority places in Africa, Asia, Latin America as well as the Northern Great Plains and the Arctic regions of the United States.

Requirements

15+ years of experience in sustainable mining practices and policies, including extensive experience in programmatic design and management and coalition building.
Advanced degree in environmental science, natural resource management, sustainability, international development, or related field.
Demonstrated commitment to conservation and climate change
Proven self-starter who can take initiative and deliver results.
Ability to work against deadlines and under frequently changing circumstances.
Proven experience in fundraising and donor engagement
Exceptional communication and presentation skills
Extensive experience working in and across a variety of cultures and geographies
Experience creating and managing programs within a highly matrixed organization preferred.
Ability to travel internationally and domestically up to 25% of the time
Identifies and aligns with WWF’s core values: Courage, Integrity, Respect, and Collaboration: Demonstrates courage by speaking up even when it is difficult, or unpopular. Builds trust with colleagues by acting with integrity, owning mistakes, and holding oneself accountable. Welcomes other points of view and ideas, recognizing and embracing different and contrary perspectives with kindness, curiosity, and encouragement. Makes conscious efforts to promote cooperative practices, behaviors, and ways of working across many groups and individuals.

Nice To Haves

Experience with relevant international policy processes and diverse stakeholders.
Experience designing and implementing environmental safeguards or certification standards in mining or industry.
Expertise working with Indigenous communities, civil society, and local governments in mineral‑producing regions.

Responsibilities

Build partnerships with governments, mining companies, renewable energy developers, battery storage users, NGOs, Indigenous communities, and finance institutions to promote just and environmentally sound value chains for energy transition minerals.
Convene multi‑stakeholder working groups to advance sustainable approaches to mineral resource management.
Represent WWF in international consortia and industry associations addressing supply chain integrity, transparency, and sustainable development.
Engage WWF country offices to co-create and execute a critical minerals strategy.
Represent WWF US in the WWF Network mining and metals community of practice.
Lead, commission or participate in assessments of ecological risks associated with mining and processing of critical minerals, including impacts on ecosystems and landscape integrity.
Establish credible science-based targets, environmental safeguards, and nature positive approaches for mineral supply chains supporting clean energy deployment.
Establish or influence metrics and reporting frameworks to track nature impacts, compliance with safeguards, and performance across partner sites and supply chains.
Develop white papers, policy briefs, sustainability standards, and evidence-based guidelines for governments, companies, and finance institutions on responsible mineral sourcing, principles of circularity and reduced material demand.
Champion solutions such as recycled material sourcing, mineral substitution, improved material efficiency, and new technology pathways to reduce pressure on ecosystems.
Promote circular economy approaches that reduce primary mineral extraction and align with global calls to rethink mobility, energy, and industrial systems to reduce demand.
Work with WWF development, and public and private sector engagement teams to identify funding opportunities to secure programmatic and operational support for CPET.
Manage the annual budget for CPET, program activities and staffing.
Ensure timely reporting to program donors.
Work with WWF communicators to elevate visibility CPET and its impact.
Serve as a member of WWF’s climate management team.