Deadline: 20.12.2022

Knowledge & Innovation Lead, Built by Nature/

Built By Nature
Netherlands

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands, or London, UK
Salary: Competitive non-profit salary, ranging from 70-75k EUR commensurate with experience
Mission
Built by Nature (BbN) is a visionary new non-profit entity. Our vision is for our built environment to work
in unison with nature. Our mission is to accelerate the timber and biobased building transformation:
radically reducing embodied carbon in construction materials; safely storing carbon in our buildings
for generations; and sequestering carbon by championing forest stewardship and regeneration.
BbN connects industry and city frontrunners, enables research, innovation, demonstrations, city-scale
projects and advocacy, and amplifies powerful stories of this climate solution.

The Opportunity
BBN is offering the opportunity to be part of Built by Nature as the Knowledge & Innovation Lead,
where the successful candidate is responsible for translating research into actionable advice, and
supporting the team with substantive subject matter expertise in the areas of biobased materials,
encompassing the different perspectives of the subject, such as policy & advocacy, networking with
academia, and adoption of innovation across stakeholder groups. The role includes the design and
implementation of an innovations based competition, focused on enhancing the knowledge landscape
and working closely with both the Networks function and the Communications function. And the role
will also support with BBN’s Accelerator Fund, focusing on trend research, technical applicability, and
quality of proposals. Reporting to the Head of Networks and collaborating with the wider team and
Board, you will help shape the organization as a knowledge hub for mass timber, biobased materials
and build the broader knowledge around bio-cities, land-use and forestry impacts to help the timberand biobased building transformation scale.

Candidate Profile
• Strategic executor: capable of scanning the horizon for threats and opportunities,
identifying effective pathways to potential positive impact – Creative and innovative, and
eager to encourage and support others’ creativity
• Powerful Influencer: with tenacity and grace to lead the knowledge & innovation field of
academic and knowledge-based partners across multiple areas and levels of both research
and everyday business
• A natural collaborator: A natural collaborator who sees value in the diversity of skills and
methodologies that drive organisations and campaigns forward – Comfortable with
complexity and able to quickly digest and simplify complicated or nuanced policy or legal
issues in a way that others can understand
• A pragmatic problem solver: through being a smart convener around solutions, bringing
structure to a diverse field of research across stakeholders, and leveraging the right people
at the right time for maximum impact

2
Key responsibilities
• Lead the development of BBN’s knowledge ‘hub’ drawing on our funded projects, partner
solutions and broader global industry research and thought leadership.
• Aims to develop and lead a research & innovation roadmap in support of BBN and its
frontrunners and ambassadors across varying (technical) topics and perspectives
• To horizon scan and plan for future developments in the knowledge & innovation field to
ensure the organisation is at the forefront of knowledge & innovation development, and
where possible actively shaping or influencing to bring about accelerated change.
• To apply sound political judgement and advocacy skills to identify and/or create
opportunities to strategically influence key decision-makers and agendas. You coordinate
and conduct research to inform and act as an evidence base for BbN’s positions.
• To build coalitions, work collaboratively with others internally and externally at all levels, and
act where needed as spokesperson for the BbN Mission and vision, together with the CEO
and BbN Ambassadors.
• To explore and develop the idea of a global prize or innovation lab as a collaborative
between innovators and the market.

Minimum qualifications
• Academic qualification(s) in structural engineering, architecture, climate research,
materials, or other related academic programs
• Minimum 8-10 years of experience in related knowledge & innovation roles, with a strong
focus on applying a pragmatic approach to technically complex subjects and making
things simple, actionable and understandable
• Ability to effectively manage a variety of stakeholders, including subject matter experts,
academia, funders, frontrunners and team members in a dynamic setting
• An excellent communicator and able to produce written outputs and review or edit drafts for
quality, consistency and accessibility for different audiences, making the complex simple.
• Experience in working with a campaigning group, non-profit or think-tank, or set of non profit
actors in consortia of any kind is preferred
• Experience working with complex materials and/or biobased materials preferred
• Native fluency in English and preferably at least one other European language
• Responsible, ethical and trustworthy personality with personal drive and ability to work with
minimal supervision
• Strong personal commitment to combatting the climate crisis.

About us
As a mission driven organisation, we have one thing in common: we are passionate about our work.
We offer an international, high-energy, and collaborative environment that values diversity and
inclusion where you can develop your passion into a meaningful career. As a new organisation we
encourage risk-taking and transparency, so if you are a self-starter who wants to inspire and challenge
industry together with your team, the opportunities for you at Built by Nature are (almost) endless.

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