Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but we will likely close the application round on Monday, 26th August. Ideally, interviews will take place in early September. We will update this page when we have filled the role.

Context:

The Iris Project is led by youth, for youth, and is run by a paid and inclusive Advisory Panel and team. Our Advisory Panel is made up of climate activists from various parts of the world including Nepal, Indonesia, Brazil, and Costa Rica. We are looking to recruit ONE new Advisor under 30 years old to join The Iris Project Advisory Panel and support our mission to protect and restore nature, as well as improve the lives of those dedicated to its protection. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of individuals who share our values and work towards safeguarding ecosystems worldwide. Through the annual Iris Prize, you will play a crucial role in identifying and supporting future environmental leaders.

By joining The Iris Project Advisory Panel, you will gain access to a global network of individuals and organisations working to advance the objectives of The Iris Project. Not only will you acquire leadership and mentoring experience, but you will have an opportunity to develop a range of skills including in monitoring and evaluation, communications, and capacity-building.

Who are we looking for:

• We are looking for one outstanding new panel member to join our existing Advisory Panel from any of the following regions: Southern Africa, West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Please only apply if you are based in these regions. This opening is to replace one of our three longstanding Advisors, as we have already filled the other two positions through internal recruitment. 
• We are hoping to recruit an individual with a diverse range of environmental experience including nature stewardship (e.g marine, terrestrial, rainforest), active land management (e.g agriculture, human / wildlife conflict) and climate and environmental activism.
• We are looking for a proactive young leader, who is a self-starter, willing to get stuck in to help shape The Iris Project and ensure it continues to be an initiative led by young people, for young people. 

Please note that the Advisory Panel communicates in English, therefore, a written and verbal understanding of English is essential for this role. Additional languages including Spanish, French, Portuguese or Arabic would be very beneficial.

Individuals applying should: 

• Have proven experience working to protect and restore nature, and the rights of those working to defend it and/or engaging in youth activism and/or leading or working on youth-led environmental projects. 
• Have robust links to youth networks (global and local) through which they can spread the word about The Iris Project and Iris Prize and encourage people to apply.
• Be under 30 years of age.
• Be from one of the following regions: Southern Africa, West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Our Advisory Board will work to:

• Raise awareness about The Iris Project and recruit applicants for the annual Iris Prize via physical and/or digital outreach.
• Assess and review Iris Prize applications against set scoring criteria, interview shortlisted candidates and help create the final shortlist from which our Judging Panel selects the final winners.
• Mentor Prize Winners to manage prize grants, develop their projects and allocate funds.
• Work closely with Prize winners to guide and identify their capacity building needs. 
• Support Prize winners to evaluate the impact of their project in terms of driving the protection and restoration of nature, the funds received and the capacity building and mentorship support provided. Please note that The Iris Project’s core team will support with this, as will our capacity-building partners. 
• Work with The Iris Project core team to manage The Iris Project community in terms of connections, events (conferences), sharing learnings across the community and emphasising the importance of youth-focused environmental philanthropy.
• Comply with The Iris Project’s safeguarding standards by completing a safeguarding training session and adhering to The Iris Project’s data protection policy and safeguarding policy.  

Time Commitments

• The selected candidate will be expected to join The Iris Project panel for a minimum two-year term and will be paid a stipend for doing so.

• Participants will be required to commit two days each month to the role – which will include joining a 1-hour all-panel meeting every 6-weeks, feeding into the overall working strategy of The Iris Project, raising awareness about the project and prize through youth networks and physical and digital events.
• The most demanding time period for Iris Project advisors is during the prize review process in May. Availability during this period is critical. 
• Selected candidates might be required to join calls outside of normal working hours. Due to the range of time zones, occasionally, a call could be as late as midnight or as early as 5 am (depending on your timezone).

Application Process:

Apply to be part of The Iris Projects Advisory Panel here.

The deadline for this application is: 0:00 BST, 26th August 2024.

We will review applications on a rolling basis and close the application process once we have found the right person. Due to the volume of applications we will not be able to respond to unsuccessful applicants.

You can email prize@theirisproject.org if you have any further questions.