Overview

Type of Position:

Full time, permanent

Location:

Office-based, London, UK (note: remote working will remain in place until further notice)

Salary:

Competitive

Benefits:

Pension Benefit, Private Health Insurance, 25-days paid vacation + public holidays

Closing Date:

TBC

Background

The FAIRR Initiative is an innovative peer network for investors that harnesses the power of capital markets to transform global protein supply chains to be sustainable and resilient. We produce thematic reports and individual company research discussing the financial impacts of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, which inform our market-leading collaborative engagements with global food companies.

We work with over 250 investors representing $29+ trillion in combined assets and use their power and influence to help global food companies (i.e., retailers, brand manufacturers, livestock, fish and dairy producers) build a more sustainable and equitable global food system.

About the role

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with at least three years of relevant experience to join our team. The successful candidate will support our research and engagement strategy to enable FAIRR’s Investor Members to drive better engagement and stewardship outcomes in their investments in the food sector. This role will be crucial in our work to influence both investor and corporate strategies to drive towards a protein sector that is better for people and the planet. This is an exciting opportunity to join an innovative and growing organisation that is working to engage the institutional investor community on cutting-edge issues in the area of sustainable food.

The successful candidate will be leading FAIRR’s work on ESG in the aquaculture sector and develop and lead a new workstream on biodiversity in the context of livestock production. This will involve producing ESG research on emerging sector issues; developing and leading collaborative investor engagements with global food companies and external engagement with industry experts and stakeholders.

Core responsibilities

  • Drive investor and corporate engagement across key ESG themes in the aquaculture sector. FAIRR has recently launched a market-first engagement on sustainable aquaculture feed with the world’s largest salmon producers and the candidate will help to drive the engagement forward.
  • Develop a programme of work on biodiversity and animal agriculture, and use shareholder influence to drive sector progress on this issue, including establishing a strategy for engaging companies on specific themes.
  • Lead on content creation, ESG company level research and sector-level analysis on aquaculture and biodiversity and with an emphasis on financial impact.
  • Lead on direct dialogue with companies at the senior level.
  • Responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with investors, and other relevant stakeholders to answer queries and to ensure the successful delivery of investor engagements and FAIRR’s mission.
  • Represent FAIRR at relevant conferences in the responsible investment and sustainable development space.
  • As a close-knit and relatively small team, you may also be required to work with other parts of the FAIRR team on ad-hoc research requests, documents, events or other tasks, as required.

Competencies

  • Excellent research and analytical skills – both qualitative and quantitative – with strong attention to detail. Ability to identify relevant trends in large data sets and derive conclusions based on the analysis.
  • Expertise in the aquaculture sector (preferably salmon aquaculture)and a solid understanding of the biodiversity issues linked to protein production. This may have been gained through nonprofit, investment and/or commercial experience.
  • Strong project management skills, including an ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines.
  • Demonstrable experience of interacting and working with senior business professionals and the ability to engage and influence a wide range of stakeholders.
  • Understanding of corporate sustainability issues, especially in the food and beverage sector. Knowledge of reporting frameworks, such as CDP, SASB and GRI would also be helpful.
  • Understanding of responsible investment and shareholder engagement activities. Experience of working with investors would be a plus.
  • Fluency in spoken and written English. Ability to draft written materials to a professional standard with minimal review and excellent verbal communications skills
  • Proactive attitude and a confident and professional manner in dealing with senior business professionals.
  • Advanced skills in Excel (and Office 365 in general). Experience working with Bloomberg would be a value add.
  • Willing to occasionally attend conference calls in different time zones outside normal working hours.

How to apply

Interested applicants should email their CV and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line, Application: Manager, Research & Engagements. Please note that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.

As part of the application process, you will be required to provide documentary evidence of your right to work in the UK.