Overview

OVERVIEW

  • Role: Responsible for the management and administration of Conservation Capital
  • Position: full time, senior management position
  • Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Application deadline: 31st August 2019

ABOUT CONSERVATION CAPITAL

Conservation Capital (www.conservation-capital.com) is a leader in the rapidly developing field of commercial conservation enterprise and related investment financing. Our work is both important and exciting – it drives innovation, changes mindsets and is organised around two principal disciplines:

Sustainable Ecosystems: To endure, natural ecosystems – together with the critical services they provide – need to prove their economic, social and political case. We design and build smart business plans for conservation areas, whether terrestrial or marine. Our approach uses commercial business and innovative institutional structures to support the long-term financial and ecological health of these natural environments. Our project areas range from single sites, through to entire conservation landscapes and networks of protected areas.

Innovative Finance: Across the globe, there is a chronic shortage of funding for nature conservation. Consequently, there is an urgent need for new private sector investment approaches to improve efficiency and supplement traditional public and philanthropic funding. The accelerating trend for impact and ESG investing, coupled with new regulations targeting biodiversity management obligations, are creating new opportunities for conservation finance. We operate at the forefront of this field, researching, designing and incubating innovative financing mechanisms that raise and invest new capital into a range of progressive conservation projects and businesses.

Our current team combines decades of experience in finance, commerce, law and management with a passion for the natural world, bringing the rigour of corporate finance and business development to high priority conservation initiatives.

While we are a small (currently c.16 person), boutique firm, our track record to our emerging impact: we have helped raise and structure more than US$ 250 million across nearly 100 conservation initiatives and businesses in more than 25 countries that:

  • Generate more than US$ 50 million in annual commercial revenues;
  • Deliver more than US$ 15 million p.a. in direct cash contributions for conservation management;
  • Sustain more than 2,500 jobs;
  • Are a primary source of further income for more than 150,000 people, mostly from marginalised rural communities; and
  • Directly support the conservation of millions of acres of vital habitat.

The conservation and related business initiatives that we have supported have been nominated for more than 50 national and international conservation and related social impact awards.

THE ROLE

We are looking for someone who combines a passion for the sector in which we operate, a keen commercial mind-set and very strong and structured organisational, financial management and communication skills to serve as Chief Financial & Operating Officer.

The successful candidate will have primary responsibility for building and managing the corporate, operational and administrative platform off which Conservation Capital will drive its business development and growth plans.

Business Administration

  • Governance: The CFOO will chair Conservation Capital’s Executive Committee (which meets two weekly) and serve as secretary to the main board (which meets quarterly).
  • Human Resources: To coordinate all human resource management activities including managing all HR related contracts, monthly payroll, recruitment, annual goal setting, pay review and appraisal processes.
  • Operational Delivery: To coordinate all core processes central to the efficient delivery of our products and services including: the drafting and execution of new business contracts; managing the central resource allocation process; project margin monitoring and management; invoicing; credit management and quality control.
  • Financial Management: To produce monthly management accounts, coordinate the production of annual statutory accounts and manage related audit and tax processes; manage all operational banking processes; monitor and manage working capital, corporate overheads and employee expenses; and have primary responsibility for instituting and managing all requisite financial controls.
  • Risk Management: To develop and actively manage a risk management register and all requisite corporate insurance processes.
  • Reporting: To coordinate the efficient production and timely delivery of all requisite internal and external financial and operational reporting.
  • Compliance: To manage all requisite corporate compliance processes.

Business Development

  • Products & Services: To work closely with Conservation Capital’s leadership team to constantly evolve and finesse its core products and services, ensuring that they actively balance both optimised commercial rigour with relevant conservation impact.
  • Marketing: To coordinate the development, evolution and day-to-day management of Conservation Capital’s core marketing plan and all related marketing and communication materials.
  • Sales: To coordinate all aspects of the sales development and execution process from active management of prospects and pipeline, optimised pitching through to point of contract.
  • CRM: To develop and coordinate an active customer (or potential customer) relationship management process

EVOLUTION OF THE ROLE

The ‘business administration’ components outlined above will be the initial and fundamental priority; but once structured systems have been put in place to consistently and fully deliver on these components, we anticipate the ‘business development’ components becoming the mainstream focus. This implies a core evolution – first put in place the enabling platform for growth, and then work as part of the leadership team to execute that growth.

COMPENSATION

We will plan to offer a meaningful core remuneration commensurate with what value we believe the successful candidate can bring, plus inclusion – subject to performance – in a structured route to equity.

APPLICATION

If you are interested, please send your CV and a one-page letter for the attention of Barbara Mayer at applications@conservation-capital.com headed ‘CC CFOO – Expression of Interest’ explaining why, and what value you would hope to bring to the role. The application deadline is 31st August 2019.