Policy Advisor - Tax, Climate, and Nature

About Us

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an award-winning independent think tank working to accelerate solutions for a stable climate, sustainable resource management, and fair economies. Our work inspires better decisions and sparks meaningful action to help people and the planet thrive. We shine a light on what can be achieved when governments, businesses, non-profits, and communities come together. IISD’s staff of more than 300 experts come from across the globe and from many disciplines. With offices in Winnipeg, Geneva, Ottawa, and Toronto, our work affects lives in nearly 100 countries. 

IISD’s work on tax and sovereign debt seeks to build a fairer international financial architecture to leverage public funding for climate, biodiversity, and development goals through increased tax revenue, sustainable use of debt, and responsible financial management. Supporting developing country governments to design and implement frameworks that balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social justice constitutes the core of IISD’s public finance work.

Scope

IISD’s Tax and Sovereign Debt program has launched a new workstream on tax, climate, and nature. We aim to harness the power of taxation and related fiscal measures as tools to promote a just energy transition and protect biodiversity. At the national level, we will support emerging and developing countries to better protect their societies and our planet by taxing negative externalities on climate, environment, and biodiversity.

The focus will be working with IISD’s Energy and Trade teams to deliver a multi-year project that supports the implementation of contextually appropriate carbon pricing in Southeast Asia. We will also work with countries that prefer to address environmental and biodiversity issues by taxing pollution, plastics, or deforestation, ensuring that revenues are redistributed in a socially progressive way and in line with good governance principles. At the global level, we will contribute cutting-edge research and practical experience to the development of fiscal frameworks, including international tax measures, aimed at achieving global climate and biodiversity goals. This will involve close collaboration with our workstream on sovereign debt and other IISD programs on systems modelling, private finance, procurement, and subsidies to build a complete picture of the role of public and private finance in protecting the planet.

We aim for high-quality and useful analysis, founded on the best thinking available and quantitative modelling, to support governments in fiscal and environmental policy.

Key Responsibilities include

• Contribute to the delivery of carbon price and tax expertise for IISD’s carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia.
• Collaborate in designing, developing, and implementing projects.
• Lead in conducting and presenting research.
• Maintain and build a network of contacts.
• Support in engaging donors and fundraising.
• Coordinate with joint activities of IISD’s Energy, Trade, and Infrastructure/Finance teams.

Detailed Description of Responsibilities

Strategy, Vision, and Team Leadership

• Work with the IISD Energy and Trade teams to identify challenges, emerging issues, opportunities, and solutions related to the carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia.

·        Support in identifying and establishing strategic partnerships from academia, international organizations, non-  governmental organizations, and civil society.

• Contribute to the development of new projects.
• Promote a culture of high performance, improvement, and shared learning.
• Manage own time and inputs into projects to deliver outputs on time and to budget.

Research

• Lead research required to complete projects, working with contractors as required.
• Deliver research and other outputs to the required standard, including research reports, policy briefs, and technical reports. Ask for guidance and advice as required.
• Undertake research and assist in managing secured projects, focusing on technical rather than financial deliverables.
• Develop and conduct technical assistance and capacity-building for governments.

Fundraising and Donor Relationships

• Support fundraising efforts for the workstream by contributing to funding proposals and business development materials.
• Identify funding opportunities.

Operations and Program Management

• Design and implement projects that support programs in collaboration with IISD staff, affiliates, partners, and consultants.
• Set up and manage parts of projects as required, ensuring that risks are identified and managed with colleagues.
• Participate in project missions, arranging elements of the missions.
• Manage the organization and documentation of webinars, meetings, and public consultations.
• Manage activities of carbon pricing and environmental tax-focused work in cooperation with the IISD Energy and Trade teams’ components of work with Global Affairs Canada, contributing to project reporting and coordination in relation to the carbon pricing program in Southeast Asia.
• Keep up to date with current IISD policies related to project, expenditure, and records management.

Communications and Outreach

• Work with the communications team to assist in its communications, communicate program outputs through various media, and maintain relevant areas of website content.
• Communicate the work of the workstream to a broad audience for maximum impact.
• Assist with the maintenance and promotion of IISD’s presence, including but not limited to the maintenance of relationships with government and non-governmental organizations.
• Identify opportunities to grow and promote the workstream through forums, conferences, professional associations, communications, partnerships, and other initiatives.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements

• A post-graduate university degree or equivalent in economics or a related quantitative subject, or a professional qualification in another relevant subject.
• 4 to 7 years of professional experience in the fields mentioned above or experience gained in a national government, the private sector, or an international or non-governmental organization.
• Excellent research and English writing skills, including experience conducting applied research and policy analysis on carbon pricing, environmental taxation, or related areas.
• Experience in delivering government technical assistance on carbon pricing, environmental tax or tax policy in general, and clearly explaining complex concepts to groups.
• Technical knowledge of the most prominent global carbon pricing schemes (e.g., the EU Emissions Trading System) and approaches to environmental taxation.
• Knowledge of regional and global fiscal frameworks intended to promote a just energy transition and protect biodiversity.
• Experience working with government officials (elected or non-elected government offices).

Skills, Competencies, and Attributes

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Diplomatic or government relations experience.
• Quantitative and qualitative data analysis experience.
• Excellent analytical, research, and writing skills in English.
• Strong presentation and networking skills.
• Excellent IT skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally for work.
• Ability to work effectively in a remote, asynchronous team.
• Flexibility to work across different topics and themes simultaneously and to quickly pick up knowledge on new topics.
• Ability to work under one’s own initiative with minimal supervision.
• A strong commitment to the ideals, values, and mission of IISD.

Ideal

• Experience working on the energy sectors of the Philippines, Indonesia, or Vietnam.
• Experience working on emission trading schemes.
• Fluency in one or more official languages of the Philippines, Indonesia, or Vietnam will be a strong asset.

For more details on what we are looking for, please refer to the IISD competencies on our website.

Location: Europe or Southeast Asia preferred. Other regions may be considered.

Salary: Salary commensurate with experience and location. 

Employment type: 100% full-time equivalent staff position, including under an Employer of Record model. This is a 2-year contractual position with a possibility of extension, subject to funding. 

Start Date: June 2025 

Closing Date: Open until filled. The candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will be closed once filled.

Candidates must hold appropriate work authorization for location where they expect to be based without any sponsorship from IISD.

Application Procedure

All submissions must be in English. 

Applications will only be accepted through Bamboo HR. 

• A CV (no longer than two pages) 
• A one-page letter of motivation 
• IISD Voluntary Self-Identification Questionnaire (optional) 

Only those candidates we wish to interview will be contacted. Resumes will be kept on file for 1 year.   

IISD is committed to fostering a more equitable and sustainable world and welcomes candidates who uphold our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, to correct the conditions of social injustice and disadvantage in employment around the world, we encourage candidates from historically marginalized groups, including women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those who identify themselves as 2SLGBTQIA+, to apply for this position. Preference will be given to the equity-deserving groups during the hiring process. We offer reasonable accommodations in our recruitment process and seek applicants’ advice on how best to accommodate their needs. Please self-identify and answer our employment equity questionnaire on our applicant tracking system when you apply.  

IISD does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, colour, disability, marital status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. 

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CompensationSalary commensurate with experience and location