Overview

We have a number of positions available for ambitious young professionals at the front end of their career who wish to use their exceptional intellect, energy, creativity, interest in business development and finance, and passion for the natural world to help drive new solutions for biodiversity, natural capital and climate conservation on a global stage from our recently opened hub in Edinburgh, UK.

– Role: Consultant & Managing Consultant positions
– Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
– Application deadline: 19th January 2020

ABOUT CONSERVATION CAPITAL

Conservation Capital (www.conservation-capital.com/) develops financial and business driven solutions to support the world’s most important conservation areas.

Our work drives innovation, changes mindsets and is organised around two core competencies:

  • Business & Conservation: Designing or reshaping commercial business operations to actively drive positive natural capital conservation impacts. We do this in both frontier and mainstream business development and management contexts, going significantly beyond established ‘ESG’, ‘green’ or ‘sustainability’ norms.
  • Finance & Conservation: The design and implementation of innovative financial instruments that package product and associated risk in manners that enable nascent but rapidly growing demand from international capital markets to invest in meaningful and systemic conservation endeavour, both alongside and independently of traditional philanthropic and public sector sources of conservation finance

While we are a small (but rapidly growing) firm, our track record points to our impact: we have already helped raise and structure more than US$ 250 million across well over 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$ 20 million p.a. in direct cash contributions for conservation management;
  • Sustain several thousand direct employment positions;
  • Are a primary source of further income for tens of thousands of 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.

Conservation Capital has ambitious plans, is enjoying great success in the marketplace and is now looking to grow its team substantially to meet present and future demand.

THE ROLES

To that end we are recruiting a number of Consultant and Management Consultant positions based out of our new Edinburgh office that will now be developed as the centre of our international business consulting activities. It is supported by regional hubs in Paris, Nairobi and Cape Town – as well as our specialist innovative finance and capital markets team based in London.

The opportunities fall into two categories as follows:

  • Consultants: Positions suitable for candidates recently graduated or with 1-3 years’ experience in consulting or a relevant discipline;
  • Managing Consultants: Positions suitable for candidates with more than 5 years’ relevant experience. Successful candidates will have a proven track record of delivering outstanding results for their clients and of solving complex problems. They must also show some experience of helping sell work to clients, leading teams and the ability to support the marketing of the firm and the professional development of more junior staff.

These new positions will service challenging, high-impact assignments often in complex frontier operating environments. The positions will be full time and international travel will be a significant feature.

Note: While our primary focus is building our Edinburgh based team, we do wish to recruit one Managing Consultant position into our Nairobi hub in Kenya. Applicants for this position will need to hold Kenyan citizenship or the right to work in the EAC.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

  • A demonstrable passion for the natural world and the ambition to solve the critical threats it faces;
  • Candidates with very bright, problem solving mindsets evidenced by outstanding academic records through school, university and the early parts of their career (we are agnostic as to degree specialism);
  • A demonstrable interest in and aptitude for business development and related investment finance – and the ways in which economic development can be shaped as a force for environmental and related social good (and not the inverse).
  • Be at once an independent self-starter but also operate as a very effective and flexible team player with exceptional upwards, downwards and outwards relationship management skills;
  • Outstanding verbal and written communication skills including fluency in English. Written and verbal fluency in other mainstream international languages will be an advantage.
  • The ability to work in and across different cultures and a willingness to travel;

COMPENSATION

To be determined based on the experience and quality of the successful candidates.

APPLICATION

If you are interested, please send the following for the attention of Barbara Mayer at applications@conservation-capital.com headed ‘Consulting Positions’ by midnight on 19th January 2020:

  • A 1-page covering letter explaining your motivations for applying and the qualities that make you a strong candidate;
  • Max 250-word responses to the following three questions:
    1. Please write about a recent news article that has interested you and how you feel that subject matter relates to what Conservation Capital is working to achieve;
    2. Describe a recent challenge that you have had to face that called for initiative and creativity. What made this challenging, what obstacles did you overcome and how?
    3. Please describe a situation when you had to acquire and apply new knowledge quickly, and how you went about achieving that.
  • Your CV