Designer and Producer: Regenerative landscapes for bio-based materials

Job Title:        Designer and Producer: Regenerative landscapes for biobased materials (forests and peatlands)

Team:              Resilient and Climate Neutral Regions

Contract:         12-month fixed term contract, with possibility to renew

Level:               Intermediate/ Advanced , Please refer to our Capability Framework

Location:         Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, UK, Ireland

Start Date:       As soon as possible

Interviews for this role will be taking place between 14th and 31st July 2025.

ABOUT US

At Climate KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth.

When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential colleagues from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate working patterns. We’re happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you.
Don’t let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying!

Climate KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative. We understand that keeping global temperature rise below 1.5˚C demands unprecedented change. It requires new social dynamics, ways of doing business, capital flows, policymaking, economic models, and new ways of living. That is why our mission is to leverage the power of systems innovation to transform whole places, industries and value chains by 2030, working across sectors to develop and scale ambitious, mission-led programmes. Climate KIC’s strategy 2024-2030, Transformation, with Urgency, is available here. 

Climate KIC operates as a not-for-profit platform working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we orchestrate a community of more than 150 organisations including large corporations and SMEs, municipal and regional governments, universities and research institutes, as well as non-governmental organisations and civil society actors.  

Climate KIC leads the implementation of the European Union’s Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and the launch pilot of the Mission on Climate-Adaptation both with the objective of catalysing rapid and deep transformation on a large scale, creating the precedent and economic transition conditions for demonstration, learning, capacity building, fast followership and investment. Achieving the EU Cities Mission will mean avoided scope 1 and 2 emissions alone of an estimated 0.7GT CO2e between now and 2040. 

Climate KIC has a Remote-First strategy, where colleagues work remotely from home based in one of the countries where we have a branch or employing entity (and can work out of local offices or co-working seats, where they exist). We meet at our local offices to exchange and connect and use online collaboration tools to work with each other and with our community. On occasion, we meet in person as teams, and once per year as an organisation. 

As a mission-driven organisation dedicated to climate transformation, we consider the climate impact of our own actions, for example travel, catering, or IT equipment. 

About the Resilient and Climate Neutral Regions Cluster
The Resilient and Climate Neutral Regions (RCNR) cluster was founded in 2023 and has since then grown to a size of ~ 37 persons spread over Europe. The cluster supports regions to become resilient and climate neutral by applying place-based systems transformation and providing a platform for collaboration.  Our goal is to empower local stakeholders to proactively embrace transformational change towards climate resilience, foster shared learning and encourage partnerships, and develop customized strategies. This commitment unfolds through a strategic roadmap designed to further strengthen our European-level role, develop interventions in engaged regions, deepen efforts in selected regions. The cluster focusses on 4 thematical areas: 1) Climate Smart Food Systems, 2) Earth Observation for climate services, 3) Climate Smart Forestry & Bio economy and 4) Climate Resilient Regions. 

Nested within Resilient and Climate Neutral Regions (RCNR) cluster, the Climate Smart Forestry & Bio economy Team aims to support the transformation of landscape management and associated value chains in order to maximize their climate, biodiversity and economic impacts, particularly for forestry and peatlands. More specifically, the objective is to contribute to the development of an international programme on holistic and systemic approaches that contribute to climate neutrality and resilience with particular focus on forested territories and peatlands.

The team manages and delivers a diverse project portfolio including TimberHAUS, CSFEP and Informa and drives innovation through the application of the 3S Framework.

About the role
The Designer and Producer: Regenerative landscapes for biobased materials works from the landscape perspective and has skills and motivation for the forestry & peatland domain. The individual has experience in complex project delivery and management and is capable of working in multiple partner environments.  This role requires an innovative person, at ease with complexity and systemic approaches, skilled in collaborative business development through multi-stakeholder funding and innovation partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

•           (co)Lead the development of the theme Climate-smart forestry & bio-economy; including activities and systemic approaches in the Forestry & Bioeconomy sector that aim to transform entire systems to address critical challenges posed in particular by climate change with a focus on place-based action, going beyond research to applied innovations.

•           Development and implementation of bioregional and landscape integrated programmes aiming to implement regenerative and resilient solutions in multi-stakeholder settings; specifically, the Horizon Europe projects TIMBERHAUS and INFORMA.

•           Lead the development of unique service offerings or Climate KIC-led initiatives

•           Contribute to extracting learnings from these activities and to deriving concrete actions from them

•           Participate in fundraising activities through the preparation of project proposals with team colleagues and partners

•           Provide advisory support to national and regional policymakers (and other stakeholders) on Climate Smart Landscape and Forest about the development of the regional bioeconomy.

Required Skills & Experience

• Advanced degree in the field of Landscape Management, Forestry, Environmental Engineering, Climate, Environmental Science, or Architecture Environmental Engineering or a related field.

• Minimal 5-10 years proven working experience; dedicated to delivery and management of projects

• Experience and capacities in writing and reporting

• Strong knowledge of EU climate, Carbon, land use and industrial policies.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and public-private partnership facilitation skills.

• Strong analytical skills and ability to translate economic insights into regional policy and investment strategies.

• Experience in fundraising activities.

• Planning, organisation, coordination, multitasking, problem solving and prioritisation under pressure with minimal supervision

• Comfort and confidence working at a systems level, working with multiple partners and stakeholders

• Ability to build capacity by investing in the development of others and the development of self

• Fluency in English, written and verbal communication skills, and ideally in at least one other European language

• Capacity in listening to learn, empathy, human-centred design, agility, empowerment, and collaboration

• Adaptable, flexible, and resilient: able to work effectively in ambiguity and complexity and to respond dynamically to change.