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Executive Director Centre for Intelligence on Sustainable Markets

SEEKING A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE CENTRE FOR INTELLIGENCE ON SUSTAINABLE MARKETS (CIMS)

CIMS is a small but dynamic non-profit organization based in Costa Rica focused on sustainable agricultural value chains. Its mission is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers throughout Latin America through evidence-based research and strategic advice to the private, public and NGO sectors, locally, regionally and globally. It was established in 2003 as an initiative of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS), part of INCAE, Latin America’s leading business school.
The organization has already established a solid track record work in tropical agricultural supply chains such as coffee, where its research into the true economic impacts of sourcing practices in this sector have ground-breaking implications for many agricultural supply chains. CIMS’ clients include Nespresso, Walmart, Rainforest Alliance and the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE).
CIMS has reached an important and exciting stage of its development and is seeking a new Executive Director to build on its early successes. Its ambition is to become the leading expert on agricultural supply chains in Latin America.
The new Director would be leading a small, young and enthusiastic team of agricultural experts, growing their resource and expertise, and developing a strategy to increase CIMS capacity and international profile.
Desired experience
· 5-10 years+ experience in sustainability issues at an international level
· Track record that demonstrates ability to link sustainability with competitive positions of companies, including connection with product and company brands.
· Ideally 5 years+ on sustainability in agricultural value chains
· Demonstrated ability to sell complex research/consulting projects to high quality multinational clients
Desired qualities
· Ability to work with and lead a small, integrated team
· Ability to develop junior staff into more experienced professionals to quickly take on more responsibility for project management and sophisticated analysis.
· Capable of assuming responsibility for all facets of a small organization (admin, financial, board relations, human resources, etc)
Desired Skills
· Excellent written and oral skills in English, ideally also in Spanish
· Fluent in speaking "business" with multinational companies.
· Comfortable bridging a Latin American working environment and needs of world-class clients.
· Excellent analytical skills, particularly conceptual and qualitative.
· Understanding of statistically-based analytical processes, minimum sufficiency to work with technical teams on study design to ensure meeting client needs.
Job location: CIMS is based on the INCAE campus in Costa Rica, close to San Jose. While the ED would be based here, the job would require travel in the region and occasionally to the US or Europe for marketing and client development purposes.
Remuneration: Competitive salary subject to level of experience
If you are interested in this position please send your CV and a short summary (no more than 1-page) that makes the case for your suitability for this position to:
Before end of March 2012