About the Company
Our client is a leading organization in forest restoration, with a mission to rehabilitate one million hectares of degraded land into thriving tropical forests. The team integrates top global scientists and foresters to specialize in large-scale tropical forest restoration. We collaborate with some of the world’s largest companies to support their decarbonization goals.
Their current focus is on restoring Africa’s most degraded rainforest landscape, the Upper Guinean Forest. They have two major projects underway and a growing pipeline for expansion. Each project spans over 100,000 hectares and lasts for 71+ years, ensuring long-term impact. The team of 2,000 professionals oversees all project stages, including origination, carbon asset development, forestry operations, monitoring, and analytics, while working closely with local communities to ensure high-quality, transparent operations.
Your Role
As the Business Development Director, you will be a senior leader, reporting directly to the CEO. Your primary responsibility will be to identify and engage potential strategic partners to invest in or support our projects, as well as managing and strengthening relationships with existing partners. You’ll lead the sourcing and structuring of commercial contracts that form the foundation of large-scale tropical forest restoration projects.
We are looking for a leader with a growth-oriented mindset and attention to detail. You’ll work closely with the founders, as well as teams specializing in project development, finance, and science, to create investment cases, manage financing and offtake processes, and support co-development initiatives. You’ll also act as a market representative, bridging the gap between the investor landscape and our operations.
A significant aspect of this role involves engaging with potential partners to understand their investment needs for nature-based solutions, particularly ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation), and aligning project designs with their goals. You’ll model financial structures for partnerships, manage competitive processes, and keep a pulse on carbon market trends to drive momentum and maintain a roster of enthusiastic partners.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify and secure investments and offtake agreements with strategic partners, leading the process from engagement through to successful completion.
- Foster growth by establishing new partnerships and managing existing relationships during project implementation.
- Develop commercial and financing structures that support large-scale restoration projects, creating a new financial asset class.
- Conduct financial analysis and project modelling to evaluate and solidify commercial opportunities.
- Manage complex financing and offtake processes involving multiple stakeholders.
- Coordinate reporting for strategic partners, gathering inputs from various teams and preparing milestone documents.
- Represent the organization in discussions with investors and customers, tracking market trends and influencing the evolution of sales strategies.
Requirements
- Proven expertise in business development, corporate development, or a related field.
- Experience sourcing financing or customer contracts for large-scale projects, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Proficiency in financial structuring and modelling.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a practical approach.
- Interest in the interaction between commercial and operational goals.
- Understanding of carbon/commodity markets or eagerness to learn.
- Exceptional written communication skills, particularly in crafting investment cases.
- Willingness to travel globally and visit operational sites as required.
- Fluency in English.
- Role based in London.
Additional Skills (Preferred)
- Experience sourcing investments in nature-based solutions or related sectors.
- Fluency in French.
Benefits
- Competitive salary and employee share option scheme.
- 25 days of paid holiday annually, plus bank holidays.
- Professional development and wellness allowances.
- Generous parental leave and workplace nursery scheme.
