Shift Project

Senior Advisor on Standards/Standard-setting Work

Effective Date: As soon as possible

Type of Employment: Full-time employee

Location: Shift will consider candidates located, and with existing permission to work in the US, UK or the Netherlands. All Shift team members are currently working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting Salary Range:

• New York             $88,350 – $106,400
• London                 £60,800 – £73,150
• Amsterdam          €63,650 – €77,900

Exact compensation will vary based on skills, experience, and location.

About Shift

Shift is the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles). Shift’s global team of experts works across all continents and sectors to challenge assumptions, push boundaries and redefine corporate practice in order to build a world where business gets done with respect for people’s dignity. Shift is a non-profit, mission-driven organization headquartered in New York City. Visit shiftproject.org and follow us at @shiftproject to learn more about our work.

At Shift, we believe we can most effectively accomplish our goals with a team that brings a variety of skills, expertise, and life experiences to the work we do every day. We aim to foster a welcoming environment that respects each person’s perspective and values each person for who they are. Shift encourages and will consider applications from all qualified candidates without regard to age, disability status, gender expression, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or any characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

The Role

This is a new role in our small, dynamic team that reflects the growth in Shift’s work to influence public standard-setting processes at national, regional and international levels. The person in this position will be responsible for cultivating and leading strategic relationships with governments, companies, civil society organizations and funders to advance Shift’s mission to drive alignment with the UNGPs into public standard-setting initiatives, including on mandatory due diligence, working closely with our Vice President who oversees our work in this area. They will help make strategic connections to our related work on private standard-setting initiatives, and to our engagements with companies and financial institutions.

The person in this role is not only proficient in the UNGPs and their practical applications but also contributes a breadth of sector- and/or issue-specific knowledge to Shift’s work. They have particular experience engaging with and advocating towards public policy-makers. They analyze proposed standards and suggest how to strengthen them, in collaboration with other senior Shift staff. They bring a strategic lens to the engagements they lead, connecting the aims and outcomes of Shift’s standard-setting work with our wider engagements with business and financial institutions. They have experience managing others and they provide coaching, mentoring, and oversight to colleagues throughout the organization.

What You Will Do

• Cultivate and lead strategic relationships with partners, funders, coalitions, and other collaborators that Shift works with in accomplishing its strategic aims with regard to regulatory developments in the EU and beyond;
• In collaboration with our Vice President and other team members working on standard-setting initiatives, support the development of new opportunities and ensure existing activities in this area are aligned with our mission and strategic aims;
• Draft concise and impactful analysis, recommendations and other outreach materials in relation to specific standards, collaborating with other senior staff and our communications team;
• Lead and/or support discussions and capacity-building with partners and other stakeholders on applying the concepts in the UN Guiding Principles to standard-setting initiatives;
• Project manage individual partnerships or projects in support of our standards work to help ensure they are delivered on time, on budget and to a high quality with maximum impact;
• Support Shift’s leadership in fund raising and grant reporting related to this area of Shift’s work;
• Proactively recognize trends, make connections, and share lessons learned, both informally and formally, across Shift’s work areas;
• Supervise, coach and mentor Advisor-level colleagues to drive the impact of our work and act as a thought partner for senior colleagues and Shift leadership in service to Shift’s mission;

• Be a brand ambassador for Shift, including speaking on high-level public platforms.

The Shift team has not been traveling due to COVID-19. However, when it becomes safe to do so, the person in this role will be expected to travel to conduct engagements in a wide range of settings where those require the involvement of a senior team member.

What You Bring to the Team

Required:

• 10+ years of relevant professional experience, including 7+ years leading engagement directly with governments, companies, civil society or other relevant organizations on human rights issues related to business.
• Demonstrated proficiency in the UNGPs and their practical application.
• Significant experience engaging in public policy processes in a relevant field, including experience in advocacy on policy/legislative matters.
• Knowledge of EU institutions and/or political processes.
• Strong analytical ability combined with significant experience drafting substantive analyses of situations/problems with recommendations for future action.
• Demonstrated experience cultivating and fostering mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with a variety of stakeholders in order to advance mission-driven objectives.
• A high degree of comfort with presentation and public speaking, including demonstrated experience engaging with senior audiences from diverse stakeholder groups.
• Experience independently managing a broad range of complex, organization-level projects, including leading design and analysis and delivering on time-bound plans by managing the involvement of colleagues and external partners.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and motivate colleagues, including in a formal supervisory role.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Existing permission to work in the US, UK, or the
• The appetite and ability for international travel.

Desirable

• Experience in grant/proposal-writing and reporting and in managing funder relations.
• Language skills in addition to English, especially French or German.

What Shift Can Offer You

This position offers a competitive nonprofit salary and benefits package pegged to the location of the successful candidate.

Benefits include:

• Health care: Coverage in line with UK or Dutch law for UK- or Netherlands-based employees; full individual coverage for US-based employees through Shift’s healthcare plan;

• Paid Leave: 4 weeks per year for all employees plus official national holidays in the candidate’s location and a two-week office closure at the end of each year;

• Paid sick leave and parental leave;
• Retirement account: employer contribution of 5% p/a;
• Remote work support package, including support for co-working space (once office work resumes).

At Shift, we believe we can most effectively accomplish our goals with a team that brings a variety of skills, expertise, and life experiences to the work we do every day. We aim to foster a welcoming environment that respects each person’s perspective and values each person for who they are.

Shift encourages and will consider applications from all qualified candidates without regard to age, disability status, gender expression, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or any characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

How to Apply

Please submit a 1-page (maximum) letter of interest and CV and 10 page (maximum) writing sample (authored solely by you) on a relevant topic for consideration at https://shiftproject.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=34&source=aWQ9OQ%3D%3D.

Finalists for the position will be asked to provide three professional references.

Deadline for Applications: COB July 6, 2022 Eastern Daylight Time

Initial interviews will be carried out on a rolling basis.

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