Deputy Director - Food, Land, and Water Program

This position will be hybrid requiring a few days per week in office. You can be based in our office in Washington DC, London, The Hague, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Brazil, Colombia or Mexico City. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

WRI’s Food, Land, and Water (F|L|W) Program aims to transform how humanity uses and manages the world’s finite land and freshwater resources to meet the essential needs of all people, halt and reverse nature and biodiversity loss, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The Program pursues four interrelated goals necessary to achieve this transformation: (1) sustainably produce food and fiber from existing production areas, (2) protect remaining forests and other natural ecosystems from conversion and degradation, (3) reduce humanity’s footprint by equitably shifting consumption patterns and lowering food loss and waste, (4) restore degraded areas into healthy and/or productive ecosystems. F|L|W is WRI’s largest program with a dozen major global initiatives and strategies led by each of WRI’s country offices

Job Highlight:

Reporting to the Global Director for F|L|W, you will develop and adapt the Program’s new global vision and strategy. You will engage staff across WRI’s country offices and at all levels of the organization to bring the strategy to life and help teams deliver impact at scale. You will support the Program’s fundraising at the highest level, cultivating big ideas and new funding opportunities. You will be a prominent thought leader, helping shape the Program’s agenda and engagement in key policy arenas and representing the Program internally and externally. You will be joining the F|L|W Program during an exciting moment of organizational change. We are shifting our strategies and structures to better support system-wide impact for food, land, and water and people-centered transitions in WRI’s 12 focus countries.

What will you do:

Strategic Leadership (50%):

• Develop and continuously adapt Program strategies aligned with the Global Director’s vision, supporting development of robust theories of change and agile monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and learning within the Program that inspires, motivates, and empowers staff at all levels and locations to deliver on the strategy
• Design and facilitate internal systems and processes that foster strategic alignment and effective delivery within a large and highly complex organization without stifling innovation
• Provide strategic guidance and support to the F|L|W Program’s Leadership Team, comprising Senior Directors overseeing the Program’s key global and country-level strategies and teams
• Work with the Program’s MEL Director to support institution-wide strategic cohesion and compliance by collaborating with other WRI Programs and functional departments, including Research, Data, and Impact (RDI) and Managing for Results (MfR).

Thought Leadership & Strategic Communications (25%):

• Contribute ideas, expertise, and experience to shape the F|L|W Program’s agenda and key positions in relevant global and national policy arenas
• Craft and communicate compelling external narratives to describe the Program’s strategies, initiatives, results, policy positions, etc.
• Represent WRI and the F|L|W Program internally and externally in meetings, at events, or in the media
• Lead and build capacity for strategic communications within the Program by bridging WRI’s central Communications Department and project-level communications staff.

Development & Fundraising (25%)

• Work with the Global Director to develop and execute a fundraising strategy to increase unrestricted or flexible funding for the F|L|W Program
• Identify opportunities to craft integrated offers to fundraise for “fewer, bigger things” within the Program; draft compelling concept notes and proposals to pitch these offers
• Support the seven- to eight-figu