Manager - Financial Sector Tracking and Integrity

CLIMATE POLICY INITIATIVE; London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job description

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CPI is an analysis and advisory organization with deep expertise in finance and policy. Our mission is to help governments, businesses, and financial institutions drive economic growth while addressing climate change. CPI has six offices around the world in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

CPI is known as a leader in tracking sustainable investment trends, identifying innovative business models, and supporting the solutions that can drive the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, inclusive economy. We are unique in our focus on finance, our ability to get the right people to the table, and our analytical rigor.

CPI's Net Zero Finance Tracker (NZFT) is a collaborative and interactive data platform that aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of how private financial institutions (FIs) are progressing on their climate commitments and delivering impact on the ground. This marks the first effort to track comprehensive, material progress by major FIs globally: from their commitments, through action within the institution, to impacts on the wider economy. The Tracker currently covers almost 1000 private finance institutions (FIs) by aggregating, standardizing, and benchmarking around 200 datasets from 50 data providers.

About the role

We are looking for a person who will drive the effective implementation and advancement of the Net Zero Finance Tracker (NZFT) and private sector integrity workstream at CPI. CPI offers a challenging environment that requires independent thinking, collaboration, and pragmatic problem solving. You will guide analysts and project managers and generate ideas for business and research product development. You will actively encourage excellence and innovation as well as mentor, support and build a strong sense of commitment and motivation within the team, working in close partnership with CPI's leadership team. You will ensure that project managers and analysts deliver high quality outputs on time and within budget, as well as robust and careful analysis, applying, developing and refining methodologies, drawing from economics, finance, public policy, risk management, statistics, law, engineering, and other academic and commercial disciplines as relevant.

This role involves developing and refining methodologies for scoring indicators and linking them with relevant, evolving regulatory and voluntary Net Zero frameworks. The ideal candidate will already have an excellent knowledge of net-zero data initiatives, alignment methodologies and financial sector reporting standards and practices, and have previous experience or expertise in institutional investors, particularly pension funds, and their role in advancing net-zero commitments. The ideal candidate will also have experience with the handling of large datasets and error-check routines and enhance data quality. They will engage with key data providers and represent CPI in engaging with institutional stakeholders as well as at Net Zero stakeholder events. Part of the role will also include crucial analytical support for various tracking and integrity projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate with the Associate Director on key strategic goals for the NZFT.
• Proactively stay informed about progress in the international and national regulatory frameworks, as well as voluntary Net Zero frameworks relevant to financial institutions, and inform the team of critical progress.
• Work together with the project manager in keeping external deliverables and internal intermediate milestones on track, ensuring that the team is properly allocated and on top of their tasks.
• Drive the development of rigorous qualitative and quantitative methodologies for standardizing, assessing and scoring Net Zero responses across NZFT's indicators and dimensions, with a focus on real economy impacts.
• Lead engagement with key data providers and engage with senior data scientists in the design of effective data ingestion pipelines.
• Provide quality assurance to CPI outputs, ensuring deliverables meet CPI's high-quality standards and analysis is robust and thorough. This includes supporting the data science team in the analysis of data, by providing appropriate guidance, assisting in managing and improving/strengthening data processes, and overseeing and performing quality check routines, including sense-checking and data processing error-checking.
• Identify and pursue funding and business development opportunities for CPI in coordination with the Program Director.
• Maintain excellent relations with a selection of key stakeholders and (potential) clients, as agreed with and reporting to the CPI leadership team, with a particular focus on the finance industry, primarily institutional investors, pension funds, and asset managers.
• Represent CPI at high-level events and meetings, communicating research findings and insights to key private finance stakeholders to maximize influence and impact, with a primary focus on institutional investors, pension funds, and asset managers.
• Provide analytical support for various tracking projects across CPI, as needed.

People Management

• Serve as a senior go-to person in the NZFT, providing guidance on programmatic and operational matters to junior staff.
• Effectively manage at least 2 direct reports.
• Oversee staffing and resource management for NZFT, including forecasting, allocation, and performance management, to meet the needs of a high-performing team.
• Act as a role model and motivator, building the capacity of the NZFT team and fostering a supportive and positive working culture.

Experience, Skills and Personal Attributes

Core:

• Post-graduate degree or PhD in Economics, Finance, and/or recognized professional finance qualification (e.g. ACA, CFA, IMC) or equivalent experience.
• Deep understanding of capital markets. Experience or expertise in institutional investors, particularly pension funds, and strong understanding of how pension funds integrate sustainability and climate-related considerations into their investment strategies, as well as knowledge of regulatory frameworks, stewardship practices, and emerging trends in responsible investment.
• Deep knowledge of major climate-related reporting standards (e.g., transition plans, ISSB, CSRD, emissions reporting) and taxonomies (e.g., EU taxonomy).
• Deep knowledge of key net-zero data initiatives (e.g. CDP, PRI, GCAP, NZDPU).
• Deep understanding of Paris alignment and net-zero methodologies and main climate scenarios (e.g., NGFS, IPCC, IEA, SBTi, PACTA).
• Knowledge of net-zero coalitions' work (PAAO, IIGCC, NZAM, NZAOA).
• Demonstrated experience in analysis of zero carbon and climate resilient projects, transitions and green finance flows and financial markets.
• Demonstrated experience with handling large datasets for analysis, with familiarity with or experience implementing error-check routines.
• Independent, analytical mind with a track record of applying sound financial, political and strategic judgment in complex situations.
• Project management experience, as well as strong attention to detail, organization, time management, and prioritization skills, and an ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Ability to confidently work autonomously while seeking strategic guidance and input.
• Deep commitment to the mission and values of CPI.
• Fluency in English required (written and verbal); other language skills highly desirable.

Preferred:

• A solid understanding of programming concepts and hands-on experience with coding in various environments.
• Strong knowledge of Python, including its libraries and frameworks commonly used for data processing, automation, and analysis.
• Ability to create compelling and insightful visual representations of data and knowledge of visualization libraries.

Hybrid Working & Benefits

CPI UK have adopted a hybrid working approach, with our teams spending at least 40% of their time in the office with their colleagues. We're also happy to discuss a range of flexible working patterns to meet your individual personal circumstances.

Due to the importance of this role to our CPI projects, we are looking to appoint quickly and will be reviewing applications as they are submitted; therefore, interested candidates are advised to submit your application at the earliest convenience. We reserve the right to remove this advert, dependent on the level of response received.

Climate Policy Initiative is an equal opportunity employer and committed to improving diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization. We work hard to create and maintain a supportive and inclusive environment where all individuals can maximise their full potential. Our CPI teams reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences. Our strong commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident through our focus on attracting and retaining staff based on skills and merit.