Nature-based Solutions Officer

We are hiring Become our new nature-based solutions officer

Published on: October 21, 2026

Advocacy

Nature based solutions

• Working hours: Full-time (36 hours - 5 days per week), with the possibility of a reduced schedule of 32 hours per week.
• Duration: One year with possibility of extension.
• Location: Brussels office Belgium (preferrable), or office Ede-Wageningen, The Netherlands. Only candidates eligible to work in the EU will be considered.
• Salary: Competitive and commensurate with experience, starting from €3,600 gross per month plus benefits.
• Start date: January 2027.

Upscaling nature-based solutions in Europe

Wetland ecosystems offer proven nature-based solutions (NbS) to address the interlinked crises related to water security, climate and biodiversity. Across peatlands, floodplains and rivers - and together with healthy soils and other natural features across the landscape - their natural sponge functions retain, store and slowly release water. Restoring these functions can reduce the impacts of floods, droughts and wildfire while supporting biodiversity, climate adaptation and mitigation and resilient livelihoods.

The EU has begun to recognise the need to restore the water cycle and expand nature-based solutions, but these ambitions remain largely aspirational and are not yet consistently embedded in binding policy or investment. Implementation is fragmented and too often confined to pilot projects. Wider uptake requires stronger policy commitments, better use of public funding to leverage private sector investment, greater delivery capacity and practical coordination across water, land use, agriculture and nature.

Wetlands International Europe is seeking a nature-based solutions officer to help turn commitments into implementation. The role will involve EU policy engagement, thought leadership and work on the public and private finance needed to restore and upscale sponge landscapes and other wetland nature-based solutions. Delivery will be via a mix of landscape and European scale projects.

Overall purpose of the job

This is an exciting opportunity to be central to Wetlands International Europe’s efforts to deploy and upscale wetland NbS in Europe. The primary purpose of the position is to accelerate the mobilisation of financing and investments to enable the scaling up of wetland nature-based solutions for water resilience in Europe. The role will connect experience from projects and landscapes with EU policy, public funding instruments and private finance. This includes identifying and leveraging existing policy instruments and financing opportunities that can support wetland restoration and bringing together relevant actors to unlock investment and advance implementation, delivering benefits for water resilience, climate adaptation,mitigation and nature restoration.

Key responsibilities will include identifying opportunities to mobilise finance, engaging with policymakers and relevant partners to strengthen the use of existing policy and funding instruments, convening public and private actors, communicating evidence and lessons learned, and helping address barriers to implementation. The ability to work across government, land managers, civil society, researchers, businesses and financial actors will be essential to turning policy opportunities into investment and action on the ground.

Responsibilities and tasks

Public funding, economic models and complementary finance:

• Analyse how EU and national public funding instruments - including agricultural, cohesion, environment, climate and research funds - can better support water retention, carbon storage and wetland restoration at landscape scale.
• Develop recommendations for using public funding such as through EU Common Agricultural Policy to more effectively strengthen and scale implementation and attract complementary private finance.
• Work with project partners and external experts to develop and assess realistic economic, governance and financing models for nature-based water resilience, including blended and results-based approaches.
• Engage with public authorities, businesses, banks, insurers, foundations and other actors to identify financing opportunities and barriers to investment.

EU policy and thought leadership:

• Track and influence EU policy on water resilience, nature-based solutions and climate adaptation, identifying opportunities and barriers to the uptake of ecosystem-based adaptation, particularly landscape water retention and restoration of the water cycle.
• Strengthen the links between water policy and the EU Common Agricultural Policy, nature restoration, climate adaptation, soil and land-use policy.
• Develop policy recommendat