About Tara Climate Foundation

Tara Climate Foundation is a philanthropic climate foundation dedicated to fostering a future where Asia’s unwavering commitment to climate action paves the way for just, thriving and resilient societies. Tara operates in East, Southeast and South Asia, excluding India and China.

Our mission is to support a diverse group of partners in accelerating Asia’s energy transformation and championing climate action. Tara plays three main roles in the region:

• Grantmaker: Tara works closely with mission-aligned foundations and philanthropists to pool resources and grant funds to organisations working to accelerate Asia’s energy transition and climate action (excluding China and India).
• Convenor: Tara cultivates networks that facilitate the exchange of ideas between business, civil society, and government throughout and beyond Asia.
• Local and regional expert: With strong networks spanning civil society, businesses and government, Tara funds thorough research and analysis to address knowledge gaps, stay abreast of emerging trends, and craft evidence-based strategies to advance our mission.

Since establishing its headquarters in Singapore in 2021, the foundation has provided grants to more than 300 organisations across 13 countries and jurisdictions. Our team of over 40 experts is spread across the Asia-Pacific region, working to combat climate change in this decisive decade.

Over the last 2 years, Tara has experienced significant growth, expanding our funding base to include more than a dozen philanthropic foundations. Currently, we provide grants to over 300 organisations operating across 13 countries and jurisdictions in the Asia region.

Despite heightened global focus on climate issues, philanthropic giving toward climate change initiatives remains disproportionately low, constituting just 2% of worldwide philanthropic giving, with an even smaller percentage allocated to Asia

About the Role

The Senior Strategist – Industry is a new role in Tara. The Senior Strategist will be responsible for developing strategic pathways to advance industrial decarbonisation. The initial focus will be on the steel industry, with a potential to expand into other sectors.

The role demands an exceptional strategist capable of leveraging data and analytical tools to understand the decarbonisation pathways and potential for each sector. S/he will be responsible for developing grantmaking strategies for Tara, aligning with our core mission of empowering a diverse range of groups to drive systemic change.

The Senior Strategist – Industry will be a forward-looking, experienced strategist with a collaborative approach to working and a passion for driving systemic change. S/he will have a good understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to the energy transition in Asia, and experience working with civil society organisations, think tanks, businesses, donors and/or government agencies to drive systemic change.

Key responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the Senior Strategist Industry are to:

• Lead the formulation of regional strategies for industrial decarbonisation in East Asia and Southeast Asia initially focusing on steel industry, for Tara in collaboration with the Tara country and regional program team. This involves creating foundational datasets to comprehend the scope of the issue within the Tara region, evaluating ongoing initiatives by other stakeholders, pinpointing regional opportunities for Tara and our partner network to contribute, scouting for potential new collaborators, and devising comprehensive budgets and plans.
• Maintain responsibility for industrial decarbonisation at the regional level within Tara, ensuring that strategies are developed and continuously assessed, and ensuring strong internal coordination with Tara regional and country teams, convening of Tara partners and managing grants.
• Advise Tara country teams on their industrial decarbonisation strategies, and provide technical guidance and advice to country teams and other regional team members.
• Actively support business development through compelling presentations, grant proposals, and budgets to engage funders in industrial decarbonization strategies and plans.
• Proactively scan global and regional developments in the clean industrialisation space and determine key new areas where Tara may be able to play a role in driving industrial decarbonisation
• Contribute to an active international network of philanthropic foundations and strategists on industrial decarbonisation.
• As and when required other responsibilities and projects will be allocated by line management in consultation with the post holder.

Miscellaneous:

• Promote a culture of excellence, service orientation, high performance, and continuous improvement
• Demonstrate Tara values in every action
• Actively participate in program team activities
• Embrace Tara’s policies, procedures and practices

Person Specification

Excited by the prospect of working for a dynamic and fast-growing international organisation with a mission to solve the climate crisis, the ideal candidate will have:

Skills & Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant work experience, gained in either local or international foundations, donor agencies, relevant businesses or CSOs.
• Experience working with philanthropic foundations either as grantmaker or grantee would be desirable
• Excellence in strategic thinking, experience developing strategies requiring complex systems change, and demonstrable ability to translate strategy into implementation;
• Demonstrated understanding of the role that CSOs play, especially in Asia
• Excellence in networking, including demonstrable ability to maintain trusting professional relationships across different countries and sectors;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. with the ability to crystallize complex issues into effective and readable strategy documents and powerpoint presentations; an Asian language preference for Japanese or Korean would be an asset.
• Confident in fast-paced environments, comfortable in taking decisive action and moving forward with high adaptability amidst uncertainty.
• Ability to travel internationally as and when required.
• Embraces Tara’s mission and is committed to embodying and upholding Tara’s values.

Education

• Advanced degree or relevant expertise in a relevant field such as international relations, strategic studies, environmental management, business administration, economics, or sustainable development.

Location requirements

• The candidate must be based in the Tara region, preferably in East Asia (Japan, Korea or Taiwan) and must have long-term residency status with legal permit to reside and work in the country of base.

What Tara Foundation can offer

• The unique opportunity to work as part of a highly dynamic, international team who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to work
• A flexible work environment
• Opportunities for career development and challenge yourself
• Competitive compensation and benefits
• A collaborative, fun and thriving team, driven by our mission and live our values

To Apply:

Please submit an A4 covering letter outlining your skills and achievements against the role responsibilities, why you would like to join us and your salary expectations, along with your up-to-date CV at Recruitment@taraclimate.org.

Please use the job title: Senior Strategist, Industry as the subject in your email. Applications without a cover letter will not be assessed.

We appreciate everyone's application, but only have the resources to respond to shortlisted applicants. If you have not heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date, please assume you are unsuccessful for this role. If this is you, we appreciate your support and consideration and hope you will continue to consider roles with Tara in the future!