IBAT Programme Officer

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POSITION SUMMARY - This position is based in Tokyo, Japan

The Programme Officer will work on one of the biggest global challenges facing the world today – the biodiversity crisis. This role is at the forefront of the business and biodiversity space, providing practical solutions to the business and finance community. Supported by experts from 4 of the most influential conservation organisations, you will empower decision makers from global companies across a variety of sectors to incorporate authoritative biodiversity into their operational processes. You will be the public face of IBAT, representing the IBAT Alliance to industry and conservation communities alike. Using your passion for nature, skills and knowledge, you will help ensure IBAT remains the world’s most authoritative biodiversity data platform and continues to evolve to meet the emerging needs of a rapidly changing disclosure landscape.

IBAT (Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool) is the globally recognized biodiversity screening platform developed by leading conservation organizations to support corporate and financial decision‑making. It enables companies and financial institutions to assess biodiversity risk and sensitivity across operations, supply chains, and investments, and is widely used as a foundational input for TNFD‑related risk assessment and disclosure.

This fixed‑term Programme Officer role has been created to support IBAT’s first structured investigation and scoping of the Japanese market. Japan represents a strategically important jurisdiction for IBAT, but one where user needs, market dynamics, regulatory drivers, and effective engagement models on the topic of business and biodiversity are not yet fully understood. As such, the role goes beyond basic programme delivery and plays a foundational part in generating on‑the‑ground insights, testing assumptions, and informing IBAT’s longer‑term approach to market entry, business development, and product evolution for the Japanese market.

Beyond market research and business development, you will support existing IBAT users, delivering training and providing user support to ensure organisations can use IBAT to incorporate biodiversity into their decision making. You will work within a multidisciplinary and cross organisational team, helping generate innovate ideas based on your experience of engaging Japanese businesses.

In Japan, this role will place particular emphasis on helping companies understand and make the case for how biodiversity screening outputs, often used within Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) workflows, inform priorities and next steps. The role will coordinate with CI Japan to align engagement with local market strategy and CI’s place-based strengths, and with relevant CI experts globally where deeper technical input is required. This role will also actively engage with other Alliance Partners’ efforts in Japan.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Programme Officer will focus on building market intelligence, business development, product demos, customer training, user support, and informing and developing new solutions to entering the Japanese market. While IBAT and it’ subscriber base is global, this role will be focused on IBAT’s growth in Japan, hence the scope of work would be focused mainly on the Japanese Jurisdiction.

Market Scoping and Strategic Insight

• Conduct in-country market research and analysis to inform IBAT’s understanding of the Japanese business landscape, including priority sectors, user needs, regulatory drivers, and carriers to adoption.
• Generate structured insights from business development activities, user engagement, and stakeholder interactions to inform IBAT’s market scoping, product development, and longer-term investment decisions in Japan.
• Test and refine IBAT’s assumptions about market entry, engagement models, and value propositions through early‑stage experimentation and learning.

• Synthesise findings and feed insights into internal planning processes, working closely with the IBAT Engagement Team and other Programme Officers.

   

Business Development and Outreach in Japan

• Support corporate briefings, workshops, and convenings in Japan, including engagement linked to major moments such as the Global Nature Positive Summit.
• Represent IBAT at conferences, events, and in webinars in Japan.
• Deliver virtual and in-person demonstrations of IBAT to prospective subscribers in Japan.
• Support development of and deliver outreach strategies for key sectors in Japan and Asia, in alignment with IBAT’s Strategic Plan
• Support companies in understanding how IBAT screening outputs are used within TNFD related risk assessment and disclosure workflows, and coordinate with CI Japan to align engagement with priority sectors, landscapes, and supply chains related risk assessment and disclosure workflows, and coordinate with CI Japan to align engagement with priority sectors, landscapes, and supply chains‑related risk assessment

• Leverage stakeholder relations, both with IBAT subscribers and across the IBAT Alliance in Japan, to support IBAT’s entry into Japan.

   

User Support in Japan

• Help adapt IBAT’s marketing and sales collateral, user support materials and user guidance to be suitable for a Japanese business audience, testing and improving messaging throughout tenure.
• Provide excellent customer support to IBAT’s existing Japanese clients, leveraging their positive experiences to support wider expansion and supportive marketing material.

• Contribute to IBAT’s Engagement and Technical team’s efforts to improve IBAT’s usability in country and in the global context. Gather and assess user feedback to inform planning and development of platform improvements and localization needs.

   

WORKING CONDITIONS

• The position is line‑managed by the IBAT Engagement Team and will coordinate regularly with CI Japan to align outreach, share market insights, and route potential partnership leads.
• The position follows a hybrid work structure, working some days from the office and some days remotely. This is a fast-paced work environment that will require regular early morning or evening work for phone calls with the IBAT team in other time zones. Guidance will be shared during the interview process.
• The position involves up to 10% of domestic and international travel, including up to one trip to the UK approximately every six months.
• This role is expected to be able to independently arrange and manage meetings, presentations, and partnership discussions with Japanese corporates.
• The position is offered as an initial 18-month contract, with eligibility for conversion to indefinite-term employment in accordance with company policy.
• Candidates should be Japanese nationals or have a valid work permit to work in Japan.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Degree in a field related to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, economics, or international business.
• Robust understanding of biodiversity and conservation principles, and the business environment in Japan.
• 4 to 6 years of relevant experience, including proven experience working on business and biodiversity-related topics.
• Excellent communication, time management, and attention to detail.
• Familiarity with biodiversity-related frameworks and standards such as TNFD, GRI, CSRD, and SBTN, including how biodiversity screening outputs inform TNFD‑related disclosure and risk assessment.
• Fluency in Japanese and English. Business-level written and spoken Japanese, including the ability to draft concise executive materials and present to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrable comfort in expanding and maintaining networks and building a range of relationships with business from scratch.
• Proven ability to be self-starting, fast-paced, and a creative problem solver. Comfortable working in ambiguity.

Preferred

• Postgraduate degree in a field related to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, economics, or international business.
• Experience in supporting users of biodiversity data, tools or approaches, either in person or virtually
• Proven ability to work effectively in multicultural organisations, including remote teams across time zones.
• Comfort engaging executive-level stakeholders in Japanese and English, including formal meeting etiquette and written follow ups.
• Experience engaging Japanese corporate and financial institutions in sectors with material nature dependencies and impacts.

To apply for this position, please submit a resume and cover letter.

Application Deadline: April 5, 2026  (11:49 PM EST)

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