Lead, Environmental Taxation

About Us

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an award-winning independent think tank working to accelerate solutions for a stable climate, sustainable resource management, and fair economies. Our work inspires better decisions and sparks meaningful action to help people and the planet thrive. We shine a light on what can be achieved when governments, businesses, non-profits, and communities come together. IISD’s staff of more than 270 people, plus over 150 associates and consultants, come from across the globe and from many disciplines. Our work affects lives in nearly 100 countries.  

IISD’s work on tax and sovereign debt seeks to build a fairer international financial architecture to leverage public funding for climate, biodiversity, and development goals through increased tax revenue, sustainable use of debt, and responsible financial management. Supporting developing country governments to design and implement frameworks that balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social justice constitutes the core of IISD’s public finance work. 

Scope

IISD’s tax and sovereign debt program is launching a new workstream on tax, climate, and nature. Our aim is to harness the power of taxation as a regulatory tool to promote a just and inclusive energy transition and protect biodiversity. At the national level, we will support developing countries to better protect our planet by taxing negative externalities on climate, environment, and biodiversity in a coherent fiscal policy setting. A focus will be working with IISD’s Energy and Trade teams to deliver a multi-year project that supports the development and implementation of contextually appropriate carbon pricing measures in Southeast Asia. We will also work with countries that prefer to address environmental and biodiversity issues by taxing pollution, plastics, or deforestation, ensuring that revenues are redistributed in a socially progressive way and in line with good financial governance principles. At the global level, we will contribute cutting-edge research and practical experience to the development of fiscal frameworks, including international tax measures, aimed at achieving global climate and biodiversity goals. This will involve close collaboration with our workstream on sovereign debt and other IISD programs on private finance, procurement, and subsidies to build a complete picture of the role of public and private finance in protecting the planet.  

Key responsibilities include

• Defining and keeping up to date the strategy of the new workstream; 

• Leading the delivery of the tax activities of the carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia; 

• Maintaining and building a network of contacts, stakeholders, and partners of the workstream.

• Supporting donor engagement and fundraising efforts for the tax and debt program.

• Carrying out monitoring, evaluation, and reporting for all aspects of the workstream.

• Recruiting and supporting the professional development of members of the workstream.

• Coordinating with joint activities of IISD’s Energy, Trade, and Infrastructure/Finance teams where relevant. 

Detailed Description of Responsibilities

Strategy, Vision and Team Leadership

• Collaborate with the IISD Tax and Sovereign Debt team to refine the strategy for the workstream; 

• Work with the Director of Tax and Sovereign Debt to build and manage a team related to the workstream, including recruitment, development, performance management, mentorship, and development of a staffing plan; 

• Demonstrate clear vision and the ability to execute strategic priorities, communicating statements of results to be achieved, decision-makers to be targeted, activities to be undertaken, time frame, resources needed, external funds to be raised, and criteria to measure performance; 

• Identify and establish strategic partnerships for the workstream, academia, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and civil society;  

• Work with the IISD Energy and Trade teams to identify challenges, emerging issues, opportunities, and solutions related to the carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia; 

• Coordinate closely with IISD Energy and Resilience teams. 

Fundraising and Donor Relationship

• Lead fundraising efforts for the workstream by identifying new opportunities, cultivating relationships, and submitting proposals for funding relating to the work themes within the program; track using Salesforce or other systems as advised by IISD; 

• Understand program strategies and objectives and identify new or expanded areas of proposed work to take advantage of existing or new funding opportunities and funders; 

• Stay abreast of the funding landscape to identify new funders/funding opportunities for the program and IISD in general. 

Operations and Program Management 

• Work with the Director of Tax and Sovereign Debt and the program management team to develop and implement an annual budget for the workstream; 

• Provide an overall utilization plan across the levels of team staff to ensure appropriate sizing to reduce financial risk and ensure projects are completed successfully; 

• Manage activities of tax-focused work in cooperation with the IISD Energy and Trade teams’ components of work with Global Affairs Canada, contributing to project reporting/coordination in relation to the carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia; 

• Keep up to date with current IISD policies related to project management/delivery, expenditure management/control, and records management. 

Communications and Outreach 

• Work with the communications team to develop a communications strategy for the workstream and assist in its communications; communicate program outputs through various media; and maintain relevant areas of website content; 

• Communicate the work of the workstream and its components to a broader audience for maximum policy or implementation impact, as decided by strategic priorities and the institutional strategic plan; 

• Assist with the maintenance and promotion of IISD’s presence, including but not limited to the maintenance of relationships with government and non-governmental organizations; 

• Identify opportunities to grow and promote the workstream through forums, conferences, professional associations, communications, partnerships, and other initiatives; 

• Undertake research and manage assigned projects within budgets, and supervise a team. 

Ideal Candidate Profile

Knowledge and Qualifications

• A post-graduate university degree or equivalent in law, economics, and/or public policy development or a professional qualification in another relevant area; 

• 15 years of professional experience in the fields mentioned above or experience gained in a national government, the private sector, or an international or non-governmental organization; 

• Excellent research and writing skills (in English), including proven experience conducting applied research and policy analysis in carbon pricing, environmental taxation (or similar areas); 

• Experience in delivering government technical assistance on carbon pricing, environmental tax and/or tax policy generally and explaining unfamiliar concepts to groups clearly and with impact; 

• Technical knowledge of the most prominent global carbon pricing models (e.g., the EU Emissions Trading System) and approaches to environmental taxation; 

• Knowledge of regional and global fiscal frameworks intended to promote a just and inclusive energy transition and protect biodiversity; 

• Experience working with government officials (elected or non-elected government offices). 

Skills, Competencies, and Attributes

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds; 

• Diplomatic/government relations experience will be a strong asset; 

• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data analysis; 

• Excellent analytical, research, and writing skills in English; 

• Strong presentation and networking skills; 

• Excellent IT skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); 

• Willingness and ability to travel internationally for work; 

• Ability to work effectively in a remote, asynchronous team; 

• Flexibility and adaptability to work effectively across different topics and themes simultaneously and to pick up knowledge on new topics quickly; 

• Ability to work under one’s own initiative with minimal supervision; 

• A strong commitment to the ideals, values, and mission of IISD. 

Ideal

• Knowledge of climate-related debt instruments. 

• Fluency in one or more official languages of the Philippines, Indonesia, or Vietnam will be a strong asset. 

For more details on what we are looking for in our candidates, please refer to the IISD competencies on our website.

Location: This position is open to candidates resident in the following locations only: Belgium, Burkina Faso, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden and  the United Kingdom

Salary: Salary commensurate with experience and location.

Employment type: Full-time position

Start Date: As soon as possible 

Closing Date: December 23, 2024, 4pm CST

Candidates must hold appropriate work authorization for locations where they expect to be based without any sponsorship from IISD.

Application Procedure

All submissions must be in English. 

Applications will only be accepted through Bamboo HR. 

• A CV (no longer than two pages) 


• A one-page letter of motivation 


• IISD Voluntary Self-Identification Questionnaire (optional) 

Only those candidates we wish to interview will be contacted. Resumes will be kept on file for 1 year.  

Candidates must submit a cover note (one page maximum) outlining their interest in the role and why they are suitable. They may be required to provide references and a piece of written work on request. This written work should be on a topic relating to tax and extractive industries, e.g., a research report or policy brief.

IISD is committed to fostering a more equitable and sustainable world and welcomes candidates who uphold our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, to correct the conditions of social injustice and disadvantage in employment around the world, we encourage candidates from historically marginalized groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those who identify themselves as 2SLGBTQIA+, to apply for this position. Preference will be given to the equity-deserving groups during the hiring process. We offer reasonable accommodations in our recruitment process and seek applicants’ advice on how best to accommodate their needs. Please self-identify and answer our employment equity questionnaire on our applicant tracking system when you apply.  

IISD does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, colour, disability, marital status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. 

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