Sr. Director, Community Bioeconomy Finance - 26060

World Wildlife Fund•Washington, DC

20h

About The Position

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, seeks a Senior Director, Community Bioeconomy Finance Strategy. The Senior Director, Community Bioeconomy Finance Strategy will design and advance durable financial solutions that support Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in and around protected and conserved areas. This role will lead WWF’s strategy to mobilize, structure, and advise stakeholders on finance that strengthens community-led bioeconomy enterprises and the local financial institutions that sustain them. The Senior Director will operate across WWF’s Project Finance for Permanence (PfP) portfolio and other priority landscapes, particularly in the context of Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), while also advancing new models that can be scaled through PfPs and other conservation platforms. The position combines strategy, financial innovation, institutional development, community engagement, and partnership leadership.

Requirements

Minimum 12 years of experience in development finance, impact investment, project finance, or related fields at the intersection of conservation and community economic development.
Advanced degree in economics, finance, economic development, management, or related field.
Demonstrated experience strengthening or working with local financial institutions (e.g., SACCOs, community funds, credit unions, rural banks).
Experience designing blended finance structures and/or catalytic capital mechanisms.
Practical experience working with terrestrial or ocean-based bioeconomy enterprises in developing country contexts.
Strong ability to work inclusively with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Experience building multi-stakeholder partnerships across public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
Strong financial modeling and analytical skills.
Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in entrepreneurial and evolving institutional contexts.
Strong program management capabilities.
Fluency in English required.
Committed to building and strengthening a culture of inclusion within and across teams.
Identifies and aligns with WWF’s core values: COURAGE, INTEGRITY, RESPECT, COLLABORATION.

Nice To Haves

Ability to work in Spanish strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the co-design of inclusive, equitable, and fit-for-purpose community bioeconomy finance strategies and financing architectures across priority landscapes and seascapes.
Identify where Project Finance for Permanence (PfP) initiatives can incorporate community finance mechanisms and where complementary financial approaches are required to advance durable conservation outcomes.
Advance institutional capacity-building strategies that strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ and community organizations’ ability to govern, access, and deploy finance in support of their economic and conservation priorities.
Pilot, evaluate, and refine innovative community finance models—including locally governed financial institutions and blended finance approaches—and translate lessons into scalable frameworks for integration within PfPs and other WWF initiatives
Supporting the development, greening, and scaling of locally and domestically governed financial institutions that serve IPLCs.
Advancing models that strengthen IP-/LC-led grant funds, VSLAs, SACCOs, credit unions, community banks, and other locally governed institutions.
Supporting the greening of MSME lending portfolios within domestic financial institutions.
Designing structures that enable local institutions to access concessional, blended, or catalytic capital.
Ensuring that financial architecture enhances long-term institutional durability, inclusion, and local governance.
Establish and lead a lean, partnership-based Community Bioeconomy Finance Learning Lab to design, test, and scale innovative financial models—including locally governed financial institutions and community-led mechanisms—that strengthen Indigenous and community conservation economies and can be integrated into PfPs and other WWF initiatives.
Build and steward relationships with Indigenous leaders, community organizations, governments, DFIs, investors, banks, NGOs, and philanthropic partners.
Mobilize catalytic capital and philanthropic support to test and scale community finance models.
Represent WWF in global finance and conservation forums related to community bioeconomy and equitable conservation finance.
Lead feasibility assessments, enabling conditions analyses, and financial opportunity mapping.
Structure blended finance vehicles, catalytic capital structures, public-private partnerships, or results-based finance mechanisms aligned with country conservation strategies.
Support negotiation and closing of financing arrangements with governments, DFIs, impact investors, foundations, and NGOs.
Provide senior advisory support to WWF country teams and partners on financial structuring and transaction design.
Support co-creation of conservation-aligned bioeconomy business models with Indigenous Peoples and communities, particularly in the context of OECMs.
Provide strategic oversight of financial modeling (P&L, cash flow projections) for early-stage enterprises.
Facilitate connections to domestic and international markets.
Ensure that enterprise development is directly linked to conservation incentives and outcomes.
Perform other duties as assigned