Sustainable Finance Director in La Jolla, California at Waitt Foundation - Waitt Institute

Sustainable Finance Director

Location: San Diego, CA

Hours: Full-time

Compensation: $140,000-160,000 USD

The Waitt Institute is a team of international experts working around the globe to protect the world's oceans and support coastal communities in Blue Prosperity programs. This position will report to the Vice President of Blue Prosperity and work closely with internal teams, partner governments, the private sector, NGOs, and academia to develop sustainable finance strategies for our partner countries. This position will involve significant international travel (up to 30%).

The Waitt Institute is working with seven national and territorial governments to create sustainable ocean plans to help improve local livelihoods and economies while safeguarding marine life and ecosystems. As a global team, the Waitt Institute is committed to diversity, cultural competence, and inclusivity, and we recognize that these core values enable our success. We seek to employ talented advocates for the ocean and coastal communities, and we welcome all applicants.

Responsibilities

• Work with government, private sector organizations, intergovernmental institutions, external partners, and internal resources to develop and tailor financial strategies to meet the requirements of large-scale marine protection and management plans for partner countries.
• Development of blended finance strategies and systems that support a wide range of blue economic development projects in partner countries and territories.
• Development of economic and financial models of a wide range of costs, revenues, and other funding sources that will be utilized for financial instruments, economic planning, and funding structures
• In collaboration with internal resources and external partners, the development and implementation of governance mechanisms that will manage financial resources in support of government marine management programs
• Track the progress of planned activities within the internal management platform.

Professional Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in sustainable finance, financial and economic modeling and forecasting, preferably with at least 5 years in a leadership or director-level position.
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-country programs, large interdisciplinary teams, and multi-million-dollar budgets.
• Proven success in designing and implementing sustainable finance initiatives in partnership with governments, NGOs, or international donors.
• Advanced understanding of marine policy frameworks, sustainable ocean planning, and investment facilitation in developing or island-state contexts; similar level of understanding and experience with different types of financial instruments that can and/or have been utilized in these or comparable environments.
• Experience with financial and economic models and their use to analyze national economies, fiscal budgets, taxation, fees, and government revenue strategies.
• Track record of engaging multilateral development banks (e.g., World Bank, ADB), international donors, and private-sector investors in program design and financing.
• Master’s degree in finance, economics, environmental management, or a related field.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to engage with senior stakeholders globally.

Personal Attributes

• Ability to inspire trust and facilitate with strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to engage effectively with a range of stakeholders, including private sector business operators, banking and financial institutions, fishers, scientists, Government, NGOs, and the general public
• A superb professional and pragmatic personal presence, with natural leadership and creative problem-solving skills.
• Strong public presentation skills
• Demonstrated program management skills and experience with program management tools like Asana, preferably

Company Benefits

Unlimited Paid Time Off | Excellent Medical, Dental, Vision options | Health Savings Account | 401(k) match up to 6%