Head, Strategy Delivery

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working at WWF could be your opportunity of a lifetime.

All around the world, people are waking up to the devastating impacts of climate change and nature loss. The situation today is worse than the darkest predictions of just ten years ago, pushing billions of people to the edge and threatening lives and livelihoods. At WWF, we are facing our biggest crisis – and our biggest ever opportunity – to create a better future for people and nature. With over 60 years of experience and an active presence in more than 100 countries, we work to achieve both on-the-ground and global policy action, from protecting and restoring species and their habitats, to transforming markets and policies toward sustainability.

What We Do

We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and the ecosystem. From individuals and communities to businesses and governments, we are part of a growing global movement calling for bolder action on climate and nature, demanding that world leaders set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. WWF works to address the most dominant drivers of nature loss through system-wide changes in how food and energy are produced and consumed, and in how financial systems are structured.

Location: flexible in England, Africa and Asia Pacific

Contract: 2 years fixed term initially

WWF International global recruitment team are exclusively managing this vacancy. We kindly ask that you do not contact the local office regarding this position. If you do not hear from us within one month after the vacancy post is closed, you are most likely not selected to move forward in the recruitment process.

1 MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Country Offices Division (COD) Strategy Enablement Team drives strategy development, alignment, and execution across all WWF International–managed Country Offices. We enable ambitious conservation impact by enabling effective strategy execution, strengthening organisational capabilities, embedding best-in-class operational practices, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. With a strong focus on resilience, particularly in FCAS contexts, we support offices to operate effectively and consistently, positioning the OD Hub as a recognised centre of excellence for organisational development.

2 MAJOR FUNCTIONS

The Head, Strategy Delivery & Performance Improvement partners across COD, Regional Offices, and Country Offices (COs) to support effective execution of CO Office Strategic Plans (OSPs) for FY25–FY30. The role (1) works closely with Country Office regional teams and cross-functionally with other divisions to identify opportunities or gaps in OSP realisation and develop local, regional or global actions, (2) drives key targeted initiatives, (3) provides support to CO and regional teams to turn strategy into sustained implementation by removing delivery bottlenecks and strengthening execution rhythms.

The role works closely with the global Head of Impact and Measurement in the Global Conservation Division and COD PMEL colleagues to use performance insights to inform action. Success is measured by visible improvements in timely OSP progress, delivery capability, and stronger, lighter, execution-focused collaboration routines across COs.

• Insight-to-action facilitation:
  Works with WWF colleagues to translate performance and contextual insights into opportunities for improvement and gaps in strategy execution, determine the drivers and levers for improvement, and articulate clear, implementable recommendations, solutions and/or action plans at the CO, regional or divisional/global level.
• Targeted delivery support:
  Leads time-bound improvement projects to address priority strategic, performance, or risk management challenges in COs.
• Cross-functional coordination:
  Aligns enabling support from regional and global functions to unblock progress and ensure sequencing.
• Execution capability strengthening:
  Builds delivery discipline, practical workflows, and peer exchange mechanisms across COs.
• Learning and replication:
  Captures and shares scalable solutions and process improvements across countries and regions.

3 Major Duties and Responsibilities

1. Actioning Strategic Insights

2. Collaborate with others to translate strategic, performance and risk management insights into opportunities for improvement and gaps in strategy execution.

3. Work cross-functionally to determine the drivers and levers for improvement and articulate clear, implementable recommendations, solutions and/or action plans at the CO, regional or divisional/global level.
4. Partner with Regional Operations Directors and Global teams to sequence delivery actions, assign roles, and support follow-through.

5. Develop lightweight tools, checklists and guidance that help CO teams adopt improved practices without additional reporting burden.

6. Targeted Strategy Delivery and Enablement Projects

7. Through actioning strategic insights (in above), identify priority strategic, performance or risk management initiatives at the global or regional level

8. Lead selected time-bound improvement initiatives, coordinating cross-functional teams to design and implement solutions.
9. Support COs to plan and embed change management approaches to ensure adoption of improved delivery practices.

10. Track delivery progress, troubleshoot risks, and ensure practical, tangible results.

11. Coordination Across Teams

12. Align global, regional and country-level enablement and improvement work with regional delivery rhythms and COD operating guidance.

13. Connects COs with enabling functions (finance, HR/talent, operations, legal/risk, PMEL/data, partnerships, resource mobilisation) to secure fit-for-purpose support at the right time.
14. Support CO leadership and delivery teams to build execution discipline (workflow routines, decision cadence, follow-through).
15. Supports CO leadership to navigate trade-offs, stakeholder alignment, and communications that sustain execution momentum.

16. Work alongside the Head of Impact to ensure CO improvement efforts reinforce PMEL principles and use shared performance insights, without duplicating PMEL responsibilities.

17. Monitoring Uptake & Learning

18. Capture emerging practices and replicable solutions from CO implementations and share across regions.

19. Maintain a simple improvement log and progress view to inform leadership decision-making (no new governance cycles).
20. Curate peer learning exchanges focused on delivery (distinct from PMEL learning communities)

4 PROFILES

Required Qualifications.

• Education:
  Advanced degree or equivalent experience in management, international development, organisational development, or a related field.
• Experience:
  Minimum 10 years enabling strategy execution, delivery enablement, or organisational effectiveness in complex, multi-country or matrixed organisations.
• Consultant management:
  Experience managing consultants or short-term experts to deliver targeted outcomes.
• Sector knowledge:
  Familiarity with conservation and/or international development and mission-driven networks is preferred.
• Regional/global exposure:
  Experience working across diverse cultural contexts and geographies.

Required Skills and Competencies.

• Strategy Execution:
  Converts strategic intent into clear, sequenced delivery actions.
• Influence Skills:
  Demonstrated ability to collaborate, influence and drive change without direct authority
• Problem-Solving:
  Diagnoses opportunities and gaps and designs practical improvement interventions.
• Facilitation & Alignment:
  Runs high-value working sessions and decision-making processes.
• Performance Use:
  Draws on PMEL data to guide decisions (does not set indicators or standards)
• Stakeholder Engagement:
  Builds trust, alignment, and shared ownership across functions and geographies.; manages trade-offs and escalates issues as needed.
• Learning & Capability Building:
  Designs simple, replicable tools and supports peer-to-peer knowledge transfer.
• Languages:
  Fluency in English required; additional languages relevant to COD regions are an asset.
• Technical Expertise:
  Proficiency in Power BI and related BI tools to manipulate and create dashboards and generate insights is an asset but not required.
• Values & Inclusion:
  Models WWF values and works inclusively across cultures and teams.

5 WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Internal

The role works collaboratively with the Senior Director, COD; the Global Impact Hub; Regional Directors and operational leads; Country Office leadership teams, COD PMEL; and key enabling functions (Finance, HR/Talent, Operations, Legal/Risk, IT/Data, Partnerships/Resource Mobilisation, and Communications) to support effective coordination and delivery across the organisation.

External

• Consultants and delivery partners supporting targeted projects and initiatives.
• Strategic technical partners where specialised expertise accelerates delivery.
• Systems and workflow tool providers where relevant to implementation.

Please upload your covering letter and CV in English. Priority will be given to applications with both documents indicated.

Deadline for applications: 11 January 2026

Work permit restrictions may apply

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

At WWF, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where every individual feels valued and respected. We believe that a diverse workforce will help us to achieve our mission to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing fair and unbiased consideration for all candidates regardless of their background. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply and join us in fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace