Head Stewardship, Investment Chain (2 Year FTC)

Head Stewardship, Investment Chain (2 Year Fixed Term Contract)

Employment Type - Contract (Please note, where PRI has an office there is an expectation to work a minimum of 2 days per week)

Location - Hybrid · London, City of, UK

Closing: 11:59pm, 25th Oct 2026 GMT

About the PRI

The PRI is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions.

The PRI’s three distinct capabilities relate to the core elements of the PRI’s approach to achieving a sustainable financial system.

• Translate RI (Responsible Investment) thought leadership into insights and practical support that is tailored to what signatories need to progress their RI practice
• Convene our vast network to create opportunities for collaborative action
• Harness our global scale to influence policymakers and regulators to effect system change

Job Description

This role is responsible for leading the PRI's Asset owner – investment manager collaborative stewardship initiative. This new PRI-led initiative helps asset owner signatories engage with their external investment managers on material system-level sustainability risks and opportunities. The role will oversee the initiative from scoping and set-up through to an 18-month pilot.

The initiative brings together PRI asset owner signatories that use external investment managers. Together, they will engage selected managers on expectations, implementation gaps and emerging practice. The initiative is designed as a constructive, two-way dialogue. Asset owners can communicate their expectations clearly, and both asset owners and investment managers can raise barriers and work through practical solutions, supporting greater alignment across the investment chain.

A significant part of the role will be establishing the pilot. Building on initial groundwork already under way, the postholder will work with a newly formed asset owner advisory committee to finalise the initiative's governance, engagement focus, participation model, and approach to selecting investment managers, and meeting guidelines. They will ensure that the pilot meets PRI procedures for collaborative stewardship initiatives and complies with legal and compliance requirements. Once set-up is complete, the postholder will recruit and convene an asset owner working group and facilitate its engagement with investment managers throughout the pilot. The pilot initiative will be relatively contained in scale. As a result, this role will be the primary resource for the initiative.

The position will also contribute to the PRI's wider asset owner and stewardship work. This includes making sure the initiative complements the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), other PRI-led initiatives, and existing PRI resources on manager selection, appointment and monitoring.

The role reports to the PRI's Director of Stewardship and sits in the Investor Initiatives & Collaboration team. It involves extensive collaboration with multiple teams across the PRI, including those supporting the NZAOA, Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) and Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative (NZICI), the PRI's other stewardship initiatives, and the teams responsible for asset owner guidance and engagement. It will not involve any direct line management.

Core Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Director of Stewardship, other colleagues in the Investor Initiatives & Collaboration team, and other relevant teams across the PRI to scope, set up and manage the initiative through its pilot phase.
• Lead the activities of the initiative, including:
• Strategic direction, scope and high-level activities, developed with the asset owner advisory committee
• Establishing governance and initiative‑specific procedures, including terms of reference, participation model, approach to selecting investment managers, and meeting guidelines
• Ensuring alignment with PRI procedures for collaborative stewardship initiatives, and working with Legal and Compliance colleagues so the initiative operates within agreed guardrails
• Recruiting and coordinating the asset owner advisory committee and the asset owner working group
• Chairing and facilitating advisory committee, working group and engagement meetings
• Supporting involvement of participating asset owners, including briefing them ahead of engagement dialogues
• Project planning and management, including tracking progress and gathering evidence to inform the end‑of‑pilot review
• Keeping on top of key developments relating to asset owners, asset owner–investment manager relationships (including manager selection, appointment and monitoring), and system‑level sustainability risks and opportunities
• Work closely with the Markets team, build and maintain constructive relationships with key investment manager PRI signatories. This includes communicating the initiative clearly, ensuring that it is well understood, and managing relationships sensitively and professionally.
• As the initiative's sole dedicated resource, take ownership of all aspects of delivery, drawing on support from colleagues across the PRI where needed. This ranges from strategic and relationship‑focused activity to the day‑to‑day operational and administrative tasks needed to run a high‑quality initiative, such as meeting logistics, record‑keeping and data management.
• Contribute to and implement clear principles and ways of working so the initiative complements the NZAOA, NZAM and NZICI, other PRI stewardship initiatives, and relevant external initiatives, avoiding duplication.
• Input into other PRI and non-PRI stewardship and asset owner projects, initiatives, guides and other documents that relate to the initiative.
• Working with the Partnerships team, support any grant funding applications for the initiative, and manage the initiative's budget.
• Work closely with the other members of the PRI stewardship team to ensure that the ambition of the PRI's Active Ownership 2.0 strategy is implemented throughout all work.
• Maintain excellent overall knowledge of stewardship, the investment chain, and system‑level sustainability issues.
• Build and maintain deep relationships with asset owners to maintain and expand expertise in stewardship practices, best practices and needs, and channel those relationships to further the PRI's objectives.
• Build and maintain deep relationships with key partner organisations that will feed into the work on the project.
• As this is a global role, occasional (approximately 1-2 times per year) international travel may be required, as well as frequent (approximately 3-4 days in each month) calls/meetings outside of normal working hours due to time zones.

Person Specification

• Stakeholder management and collaboration
• Track record in managing projects that involve coordination of multiple stakeholders, including working effectively with colleagues who are not direct reports.
• A collaborative and consultative approach to working with others, including appropriately involving the right people, with the ability to inspire trust and drive good decision‑making. A commitment to fostering an inclusive environment.
• Excellent relationship management and interpersonal skills, including the ability to forge long‑term relationships with signatories and relevant stakeholders (e.g. industry leaders, civil society, peer organisations) and drive decision‑making in diverse, multi‑stakeholder groups. The ability to manage relationships with care and professionalism while working towards the organisation’s agreed outcomes.
• Excellent facilitation skills, including the ability to support collaborative activities involving groups of investors with varying backgrounds, priorities and levels of experience.

Strategy and planning

• Ability to lead a programme of work, including planning and managing activities, and driving decision‑making processes that balance different needs and perspectives.
• Openness to developing and implementing innovative approaches to addressing complex issues, regularly evaluating success and course‑correcting accordingly.
• Ability to understand multiple perspectives and framings of a problem, analysing root causes and identifying potential solutions and relevant risks and opportunities.
• Experience in scoping and setting up new projects or initiatives, including developing governance, procedures and ways of working, and taking them through to implementation.
• A pragmatic, hands‑on approach, with the flexibility to move between strategic and relationship‑focused work and the operational and administrative tasks needed to deliver a high‑quality initiative.
• Experience in developing and managing strategy, business plans and resourcing requirements.
• Experience in designing and implementing internal and external communications strategies that encourage participation and buy‑in from key stakeholders.
• Demonstrable expertise in stewardship, in particular investor collaboration and/or engagement with investment managers, through professional experience, relevant qualifications and/or higher education.
• Demonstrable understanding of asset owner–investment manager relationships, including how asset owners select, appoint and monitor external investment managers and communicate their expectations through mandates and engagement, gained through working closely with or for asset owners, investment managers or investment consultants.
• Understanding of the investor role in addressing risks linked to system‑level sustainability issues, including knowledge of fiduciary duties as they apply to system‑level sustainability issues, and of concepts including universal ownership and system stewardship.
• Understanding of key networks and initiatives related to investor stewardship and asset owner collaboration, such as the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance.
• Sound judgement and awareness of legal, compliance and reputational considerations relevant to investor collaboration.

Written and verbal communication

• Excellent written communication and verbal presentation skills with the ability to deliver high‑quality briefings, reports and presentations with minimal supervision, across all areas relevant to the position.
• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not essential.

We particularly welcome candidates from under‑represented groups, including Black, Asian, and other People of Colour, those with visible or non‑visible disabilities, LGBTQ+ candidates and those who are neurodivergent.

N.B. We reserve the right to close a vacancy before the closing date in the event of an overwhelming response or a change in business priorities.

#J-18808-Ljbffr