Senior Social Consultant

Location: Houston, Texas, Hybrid

Salary Range: Depends on candidate’s experience

Posted: March 2024

Come work with us! We are social and environmental scientists who make the world a better place by working with energy and mining clients in high-risk environments. Our team has the challenge and opportunity to support our clients amidst community opposition, environmental liabilities, energy transition initiatives, and shareholder activism. Our growing business is looking for a talented, motivated, and passionate social consultant (senior-level position) to join our innovative high-performing team. We work one to three days a week in our Houston office and 2-4 days a week from home with some opportunities for work travel, as allowed per project. Following the first year of employment, we have unlimited Paid Time Off. We are a collaborative team that supports each other as we deliver work for our clients. We take our work seriously and enjoy a fun casual work environment.

Acorn International is a small and nimble internationally recognized company that helps industries, investors, and government agencies create solutions to manage high-profile environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. We offer expertise in environmental and social services through a distinctive approach:

• We apply innovative solutions and work closely with clients to develop fit-for-purpose solutions unique to each project
• We develop meaningful relationships with our clients, strive to understand their challenges and the local context in which they occur; and
• We focus on building the capacity of our supporting knowledge transfer with our international partners and working with governments to bring good international practices into regulations; and
• We work with our clients as an advisor and trusted partner.

If you are looking for an opportunity to make a tangible change in the world we live in and contribute to the betterment of society, we would like to hear from you! We strive to hire and promote the best and brightest people with a commitment to lifelong learning and growth. We look for exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, problem-solving abilities, and a passion for technical excellence and quality – these qualities are almost more important for this position as experience in our field. The successful candidate will have the following qualifications and competencies:

Qualifications and/or Experience

• Required – A minimum of 10 years of training and practical experience in the social sciences – ideally anthropology or sociology – including working directly with industries and investors to create social, cultural, and economic solutions and positive impact for host communities and governments
• Strongly Preferred – Specific background including human rights, engagement with Indigenous and vulnerable people, conflict resolution, risk assessment / impact assessment, community investment / development planning, and monitoring and training – Our work is interdisciplinary in nature, but these are core disciplines we use in our work with energy / extractives and investors
• Knowledge and experience using international standards and frameworks such as the IFC Performance Standards, the Equator Principles, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and others.
• Strongly Preferred – Strong foreign language skills (especially French, Spanish, or Portuguese) – Professional written – Written/spoken communications, document review, and translation enable us to support clients, governments, and other stakeholders in their own languages
• Preferred – International experience (study, travel, living, working), or experience applying global perspectives and/or working in multicultural settings – We work globally with clients, partners, and communities

Required Competencies

• Demonstrated competence / expertise in applied social science
• Flexibility
• Teamwork
• Communications
• Quick-learning
• Curiosity
• Critical thinking
• Analysis-synthesis

Must have authorization to work in the US if not a citizen.

The successful candidate can expect:

• A competitive salary and benefits
• Flexible working conditions
• Integration into a highly-respected, friendly team committed to promoting environmental and social justice
• Ability to make a positive societal impact on companies, their host communities, and the environment
• An opportunity to advance with a highly regarded consultancy that has exciting assignments with the world’s leading companies

Acorn International is an equal-opportunity employer.

Please send your resume and cover letter to: info@acornintllc.com and reference “Sr Social Consultant” in the subject line. No Phone calls, please.