Senior Director, Critical Minerals and Community Positive Energy Transition

Position description

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.

Salary Range: $144,000 - $206,900

Location: Washington, D.C. (Hybrid work structure with minimum of 2 days a week in office)

Please note: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. This position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship.  In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

Responsibilities

Stakeholder & Partnership Engagement

• 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.
  
  

Research, Analysis & Standards Development

• 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.
  
  

Innovation, Circularity & Impact Reduction

• 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.
  
  

Resource mobilization, program management, and communications

• 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.
  
  

Key Competencies

Collaboration & Communication - Ability to deliver successful results in highly matrixed, complicated environments that demand a lot of deft management of people and communication of ideas. Policy work and coalition management demand the ability to work with and communicate with a wide range of parties with varying motivations. WWF is a complicated, highly-matrixed organization – this position will need to interface within the varying teams within the Climate department, with other Goal and Influence teams, and with the Network.

Initiative & Partnership Engagement - This area of our climate work is probably most concerned with keeping current with the range of sentiments and positions within the greater community of climate focused organizations. It requires the ability to be nimble and adapt when the legislative cycle and current events bring new opportunities to engage or advance our goals on the energy transition. The ability to develop ideas, take initiative to bring them into being and to leverage their professional network to keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening and to make things happen will be a key skill set. Ability to foster collaborative relationships with governments, industry, communities and NGOs is paramount.

Strategic Thinking - This position requires the candidate to be strategic thinker that can align this program with the over WWF-US strategy and priorities. The Sr. Director will need to develop a theory of change that can be tested through programmatic work. They must demonstrate that the program is solutions focused and can provide high impact.

Program Management - Demonstrated ability to develop, build and manage a successful program, particularly programs aimed at securing policy change and industry practice. This position will be responsible for securing funds for this initiative and should have experience in proposal writing. An ideal candidate can develop creative ideas, understand the pathways needed to bring ideas to execution, and build sustainable programs that deliver meaningful results.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in environmental science, natural resource management, sustainability, international development, or related field is required.
• 12+ years of experience in sustainable mining practices and policies, including extensive experience in programmatic design and management and coalition building is required.
• 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.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• 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.

Application instructions

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