Policy Researcher

Profundo provides action-oriented research, advice, and capacity building for civil society and public organisations. We are a mission-driven organisation, aiming to contribute to a socially just and sustainable world. To expand our research capacity we are looking for an experienced and versatile Policy Researcher.

You will participate in a variety of research and training projects for clients from across the globe, covering developments on different policy themes in various geographies. The research will relate to either public policies or private sector policies, or both. In the complex and evolving movement towards more sustainable practices and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the corporate and financial world, both types of policies play important and inter-linked roles.

An important part of your work will be to analyse and benchmark responsible credit and investment policies of financial institutions from all over the world. These assessments are often using the Fair Finance Guide Methodology that we have developed together with civil society organisations (CSOs) from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America collaborating in Fair Finance International. This methodology is based on international standards and initiatives on a broad range of sustainability topics. You will also be involved in the regular updates of this methodology, in (online) trainings for researchers from different Fair Finance countries to use the methodology and in reviewing policy assessments made by these researchers.

For other projects analysing policies of banks and investor policies, you will develop bespoke methodologies focusing on specific sustainability themes, e.g. climate change, deforestation, animal welfare, or human rights. In case studies, you will investigate what banks and investors from across the world are doing in practice to ensure that the companies they invest in or finance (active in sectors such as mining, agribusiness, construction or garments) are living up to international standards, in terms of screening, engagement, voting and exclusion.

Other types of private sector policies you might analyse are voluntary certification schemes and procurement policies (such as NDPE policies) in global commodity supply chains, like the forestry, agriculture, mining and fishery sectors. Creating transparency on the criteria included in these policies and assessing them against international standards is crucial to distinguish greenwashing schemes from genuine efforts to push for more sustainability in the corporate world.

The public policies of various governments which you can analyse in other projects deal with market regulation, CSR, environmental and/or trade policies covering many different economic sectors, ranging from agriculture and other commodity sectors to the food, transport, construction, and financial sectors. Of special interest are public policies emerging in various jurisdictions which aim to integrate sustainability criteria in business operations overseas, in supply chains and in financing portfolios.

On all the topics mentioned above, we are also giving trainings to clients worldwide, sometimes online and sometimes in person. Our goal is to involve you in such trainings once your experience with the topic is at the required level.