Country Manager Colombia

Country Manager Colombia

Based in Bogota, Colombia

Full time position, local contract

Starting date: ASAP 

PUR Description

PUR is a global, impact-focused B-Corp specializing in the development of environmental restoration projects, known as 'nature-based solutions' (NbS). Since 2008, we have been helping the world’s largest organizations meet their ESG targets, reduce their environmental footprint, and regenerate the ecosystems they depend on across complex supply chains. Having developed over 45 projects in more than 30 countries, PUR is recognized as both a pioneer and leader in a sector that is now at the forefront of global efforts to address the ongoing climate and biodiversity crisis.

At the heart of our mission is a commitment to fostering and operationalizing insetting strategies—interventions by companies within their own value chains designed to reduce GHG emissions while creating positive impacts for communities, landscapes, and ecosystems. By championing this insetting approach, we aim to create a holistic range of benefits that extend beyond ecological restoration, encompassing social and economic dimensions through enhanced agricultural yields and resilience to climate change-induced stresses, among others.

One of the distinctive features of our work is our ability to tailor projects to the specific needs of different regions and communities. By recognizing the unique characteristics of each ecosystem and the cultural context of the communities involved, we ensure our initiatives are contextually relevant and have a meaningful and sustainable impact. All our projects are developed in close collaboration with local actors, including cooperatives, NGOs, governments, and corporations.

Today, we employ 200 staff across 16 countries with key offices in Paris (HQ) and Toronto.

www.pur.co

Industry Description

PUR operates within the dynamic and rapidly evolving sector of environmental consultancy services and nature-based solutions markets. These markets are closely linked with the voluntary carbon markets (VCM) when NbS projects produce carbon credits that can be traded on the VCM. The NbS market has recently gained traction as society recognizes the invaluable services provided by nature and the need to preserve, restore, and harness these services to mitigate and adapt to environmental challenges. To be considered a nature-based solution, projects must effectively address real societal challenges and offer strong environmental, economic, and social benefits for local communities.

Market KPIs:

• If combined with deep decarbonization efforts, NbS projects could provide up to 30% of the mitigation needed to limit global warming to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels by 2030 (World Economic Forum, 2023)

• NbS project credits make up the largest volumes of carbon credits available in the VCM (voluntary carbon markets ) with $9bn invested between 2020 and 2022 (Sylvera, 2023)

• In 2021, the VCM was estimated to be worth $2 billion, four times its 2020 value. By 2030, the market is expected to reach $10 to $40 billion (BCG, 2022).

• 5,307 companies have set science-based targets - a 4.2x increase since 2022 – and a significant driver of demand within the NbS and VCM markets (SBTi, 2024)

SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The main role of a Country Manager at PUR is to roll-out PUR’s global strategy in their country and to drive the correct and qualitative execution of operations according to standard procedures, contractual commitments, and strategic orientations.

The country manager:

• Is accountable for the development, management and monitoring of operations in the country/ies and has the capacity to directly manage highly strategic projects.

• Is the ambassador of the company’s strategy and policies, and ensures compliance among team

• Provides metric-based strategic recommendations to own teams and to the Executive Committee to improve processes, identify growth or improvement opportunities and the associated means needed (recruitments, partnerships...)

• Represents PUR internally and externally in the respective country/ies.

The Country Manager can manage one or several countries. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The main individual responsibilities will be, but not limited to:

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES :

Strategy roll-out

• Execute PUR’s strategy at country(ies) level, aligning with the company’s strategic priorities, key industry frameworks and/or carbon accounting methodologies.

• Collaborate with the relevant departments to implement global processes at the country/ies level, provide strategic feedback and anticipate the impact of PUR’s evolution.

• According to strategic orientations: enhance design, improve operation schemes, optimize organization, influence client positioning, manage partners effectively, consider co-funding & other partnership opportunities…

• Step back and bring intelligence, leadership & transparency to make the right decision for your respective operations, not hesitating to provide recommendations to the Regional Manager and the ExCo.

• Be the ambassador of the company strategy, and ensure a strong understanding in your own team by cascading the information effectively

Drive Operations to excellence

• Set-up, plan, coordinate and monitor the implementation of project activities at the country(ies) level.

• Be accountable for the quality and impact of operations by ensuring the respect of field, financial and due diligence standard procedures

• Own your metrics & build corrective action plan to align with targets and budget (if necessary)

• Leverage existing KPI to raise alerts to the Regional Manager and to drive adaptive management towards contract performance & quality

• Lead the budget & reforecast management as well as the financial consolidation of the country/ies operations, ensuring a smooth collaboration with the Finance team

• Drive excellence in the operations to guarantee the target impact (field impact, financial sustainability)

• Guarantee a good implementation of the global strategy in the region by working closely with the direct reports and ensuring a good level of communication to cascade information

Reporting and internal compliance

• Report with cadence on progress and performance in the country(ies), providing qualitative insights towards the Regional

Manager and Executive Committee alongside KPIs.

• Respect company policies & reporting frameworks (ex: NetSuite, Data collection), ensuring that compliance KPI are all set in the systems in a timely manner

• Be responsible to other PUR teams for the delivery of client performance obligations and maintaining internal tools updated.

• Be responsible for overall data quality at the country level.

Resource allocation and people management

• Be accountable for the budget management of the entity (if applicable), with the support of the Central Services’ team.

• Be responsible for the resource management in the country(ies) (team allocation, coordination of the teams, workload, recruitment advice, participation in the salary decision, benefit advice …).

Partnership and representation

• Represent PUR’s interests at all time

• Be the key interlocutor for strategic country(ies) partners and developing a network in the country(ies).

• Supervise relationships with country(ies) partners (cooperatives, associations, implementing partners, academic and institutional partners of the country(ies).

• Represent PUR publicly at conferences, in meetings with existing and potential clients, and with beneficiaries in the field.

• Graduated from an MSc in Economy, International Relations, Business Management, or environmental sciences

• 10+ years of experience

• Experience managing large scale project budgets, optimizing costs, and ensuring profitability while meeting sustainability goals

• Capacity to align local operations with global company goals and market trends

• Experience with high standard requirements on client and deliverable management of international companies 

• Director experience (team management, legal entities...): Preferable experiences managing a team of 10+

• Effective negotiator who can mediate disputes with stakeholders or partners and align diverse interests

• Capacity to work under pressure and remain solution-oriented in challenging situations

• Fast learning and curiosity for innovation and sustainability concerns in Colombia. 

• Ability to navigate complex social and environmental challenges unique to Colombia

• Genuine dedication to improving farmer livelihoods and environmental restoration

• High tolerance for ambiguity; ability to thrive in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment

• Strong sense of accountability and commitment/follow-through

• Adept at giving and receiving feedback

• Looks for impact by making decisions based on facts and critical thinking

• Knowledge and/or experience with key commodities produced in Colombia (cocoa and coffee); experience in managing multistakeholder initiatives with communities, partners and clients/funders.

• Knowledge or experience in handling carbon certification for afforestation/reforestation projects

• Fluency in Spanish and English; French is a strong plus

• A legal right to work and live in Colombia and to frequently travel in the country and punctually in the Latin American region