Good Food Institute - Corporate Engagement Specialist - Upstream

Corporate Engagement Specialist - Upstream

The Good Food Institute India (GFI India) is at the forefront of the movement to use food technology and markets to solve some of the world's biggest problems relating to climate change, global hunger, antibiotic resistance, and future pandemics, by working to build the smart protein sector from the ground up. We're creating a transformative industry similar to renewable energy, and we're doing it fast. Your work will be critical to the fight of our lifetime - stewarding public and planetary health.

How You Will Make a Difference

It's a critical time for smart protein in India and globally. We've seen several exciting announcements and a promising beginning, with GFI India at the centre of these developments, but plenty of work remains to build a truly thriving industry and achieve our public and planetary health goals. As GFI India's Corporate Engagement Specialist (Upstream), you will focus on a crucial aspect of the smart protein ecosystem - strengthening the upstream portion (manufacturing and supply) in the value chain across plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated protein foods.

This translates to working with ingredient suppliers, large-scale manufacturers, research organizations, and agri-commodity players with the goal of creating capacity for smart protein.

Your role will span the mapping and analysis of diverse stakeholders, building on relationships with executives at corporations in the field as well as infrastructure investors, and convening multi-stakeholder partnerships to ensure GFI India enables the sector to accelerate at the pace needed to sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050. You will work collaboratively with our team of experts in science, business, and policy to radically transform the food system by performing the following actions:

Research, analysis, and strategy-building :

- Refining GFI India's strategy for upstream corporate engagement work through internal and external consultations, building on existing relationships to understand and document corporate partners' incentives, opportunities, and obstacles.

- Conducting research and analysis on key areas of industry readiness including manufacturing capacity and agri-supply and identifying top priorities and metrics to measure progress. These analyses may be performed with other GFI India team members and/or with external partners.

- Preparing materials including presentations and white papers to educate and stimulate stakeholders, for focused and wide dissemination.

- Building a dashboard-level view of our progress in achieving major priorities such as ingredient supply and manufacturing capacity, both for individual companies' involvement in the sector as well as industry health.

Engaging corporate partners & investors :

- Advancing existing and building new relationships with food, agri, and biotech manufacturers, research organizations, ingredients producers, and other companies in the smart protein supply chain.

- Advancing existing and building new relationships with investors who could help achieve upstream goals, including venture capital and private equity firms, and public development banks.

- Sharing GFI's technical, regulatory, and marketing resources to help partners build strategy and get market-ready, and in so doing influence them to invest in the supply chain for smart protein foods.

Large-scale industry-building:

- Serving as a thought leader by speaking at conferences, on GFI India's and partners' webinars, and publishing op-eds and other communications materials to influence corporate action.

- Aligning multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance our key priorities, including the installation of manufacturing capacity, availability of ingredients, and access to finance for these initiatives. These partnerships may be advanced through GFI India's collaborative Smart Protein Industry Forum and the creation of focused working groups.

- Coordinating upstream efforts with downstream stakeholders, as necessary for mission-impact. These could include priority retail and foodservice establishments, investors and financial institutions, entrepreneurs and start-ups.

- Acting as a liaison and 'connector' between Indian stakeholders, GFI's global network of organizations and their Corporate Engagement teams, and our broader network of partners.

Operational excellence and reporting:

- Working with the Science and Technology, Corporate Engagement, Innovation and Market Insights, Communication teams to ensure all projects and associated reporting is undertaken in a timely manner.

- Working with operations to provide inputs to department spending, and following all human resources and operational procedures.

- Performing other duties as assigned.

Who We're Looking For:

We are looking for smart, data-driven self-starters who want to push back against climate change, transform our protein supply, and develop healthy and humane foods that are accessible to everyone. GFI India staff enjoy high levels of autonomy and must be self-motivated, work well both independently and in concert with a larger group, and be comfortable within a rapidly evolving and growing team.

The Corporate Engagement Specialist (Upstream) will have:

Knowledge and experience:

At least four years of relevant experience, preferably in the food industry, life science industry, management consulting, corporate affairs/management/engagement, supply chain management, or other relevant areas. An established rapport with a broad range of food industry and biotech would be a bonus

Excellent people-skills: the ability to influence, network, and build alliances, the confidence and authority to engage with corporate executives, build long-term relationships with them, and to persuade and influence decision-makers.

Excellent written and oral communication, public speaking, and presentation skills. Ability to speak Hindi and/or an additional language/cultural fluency across India's diverse business landscape would be strongly advantageous.

Strong team spirit and open and collaborative instincts: you will be working closely with GFI India team members and colleagues across the global network of GFI organizations.

Strong strategic thinking skills and a data-driven mindset with proficiency in building tools for strategic analysis.

Comfort with learning on-the-go and adapting to multiple and diverse stakeholders.

A can-do approach; a self-starter with the drive and initiative to take responsibility for delivering impact.

Skills and behavioural attributes:

Strong support for GFI's philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in public health, environmentalism, hunger relief, animal protection, or the drive and initiative to take responsibility for delivering impact.

Excellent written and verbal communications and organizational skills, with experience in, and comfort with communicating with a range of stakeholders.

The demonstrated ability to communicate complex information clearly in writing and in oral presentations to a range of audiences.

Strong work ethic and ability to see projects through to completion

Highly effective organizational and interpersonal skills

Self-motivated and able to work well independently under pressure

Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet competing deadlines

Ability to work creatively and effectively as a team member

Comfort working remotely and in-person as required, and in a rapidly growing and evolving organization.

For full details of the role, and to submit an application please visit https://gfi-india.org/careers/

Only applications submitted through GFI India's careers page will be considered, thank you.