Friends of the Earth International is looking for an

International Program Officer

0.8 fte - maternity leave cover, 6 months

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is the world’s largest grassroots environmental federation with over 70 autonomous member groups around the world. FoEI aims to ensure that the struggles and experiences of local communities – especially those most affected by unsustainable development – are brought to bear on policies and practices at national and international levels. Our international work focuses on four thematic areas: climate justice and energy, forests and biodiversity, food sovereignty, and economic justice, resisting neoliberalism. Our vision is of a peaceful and sustainable world based on societies living in harmony with nature.

FoEI’s decentralized and democratic structure allows all member groups to participate in decision-making. We are governed by our member groups who come together every two years to vote on issues facing the federation. Between meetings, governance is provided by an elected Executive Committee made up of representatives from our groups. Our member groups are organized into four regional structures, each with a regional facilitator who enables the coordination of regional decision-making and activities. A small International Secretariat (IS) in Amsterdam and a team of global staff supports the member groups, campaigns, programs, and other activities of the federation through fundraising, program coordination, trainings, communications, and information management.

Job description:

The International Program Officer works closely with FoEI's international programs, with a main focus on the Climate Justice and Energy (CJE) program. The program engages national member groups from around the world in a variety of strategies to achieve international policy and mobilization goals.

The program officer is part of a small team that supports development and implementation of program strategies and activities and facilitates the planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning processes of the programs and regions. The programs are coordinated by International Program Coordinators (IPCs), content leads and spokespeople for the program, who are based in FoE member groups around the world. The program works closely with an international steering group made up of member group representatives from across FoEI's geographical regions, who help guide and oversee the work of the program. The program officer will work closely with the IPCs and steering group members, as well as FoEI’s finance, communications and fundraising teams.

The program officer convenes bi-weekly meetings with the IPCs to move forward the work of the program, as well as bi-weekly meetings with the communications officer working on the program and supports the preparation of and attends program steering group meetings. As part of the IS program team and the broader cross-program team at federation level, the program officer actively contributes to cross-program discussions and processes that aim to ensure the integrated, coherent functioning of FoEI programs, as well as in relation to other structures of the FoEI federation. The program officer manages the budget for the CJE program. Working closely with the fundraising team, the program officer also helps facilitate and contribute to work on new funding proposals for the program.

The programs team will need to re-organise workloads and priorities due to funding cuts made in 2025. While the main focus of the position will be to support the CJE team, the position will also support other programs and work areas – to be discussed as a team in early 2026.

Job responsibilities:

● Support and improve the planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting processes for the program;

● Support the process of funding national member group work included in the program plans, including developing calls for proposals, reviewing proposed work plans and budgets, contracting and monitoring the work;

● Ensure development /implementation of clear terms of reference and contracts for freelancers hired to implement program work;

● Monitor the budget for program activities, track expenses and follow up with IPCs, member groups, consultants and suppliers as needed to ensure spending is on track;

● Work with IPCs to ensure compliance with the requirements of the program's funders, including development of gender justice-focused outcomes, monitoring of program plans, and narrative reporting on program outcomes and lessons learned;

● Work with IPCs to support implementation of program activities, including trainings, program meetings, development of communications materials and lobby and advocacy efforts;

● Supporting CJE program-related funding processes, including taking part in discussions and activities related to CJE program planning, reporting, evaluation and learning;

●Other related tasks as necessary and agreed with the programs team.

Requirements:

Essential:

● At least three years of experience in managing international or multinational grants/projects, including experience with the planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting cycles;

● Affinity with the mission, vision, values and objectives of Friends of the Earth International, as well as with a theory of change that includes movement building and lobby and advocacy strategies;

● Excellent strategic thinking and planning skills, with experience in applying these in a complex and shifting international context;

● Strong interpersonal, inter-cultural and organizational skills;

● Proven writing skills; ability to summarize and distribute information quickly and succinctly;

● Strong attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines;

● Ability to work in collaborative decision-making processes in a global, decentralized environment and to manage and prioritize a variety of key initiatives concurrently;

● Experience working on lobby and advocacy campaigns and movement building tactics and strategies focused on environmental or social justice objectives (including addressing gender inequalities) would be an advantage;

● Excellent English language skills; excellent Spanish language skills would be an advantage.

WHAT FoEI OFFERS

We offer an opportunity to contribute to a better world and work for an inspiring international and culturally diverse network in an office with a small friendly team at a great location in Amsterdam.

Salaries are competitive with comparable nonprofit positions and based on experience and qualifications, full time salary between € 4,206,- and € 4.684,- gross monthly. Participation in collective pension arrangement is compulsory. This post requires candidates to have a valid working permit for the EU.

Participation in collective pension arrangement.

The position is based in the International Secretariat in Amsterdam. Candidates must be in the possession of a working permit for the EU.

Working from home is permitted for 50 % of the time.

Contract duration: on maternity leave cover basis, for the duration of 6 months from 1 January - 1 July 2026.

Friends of the Earth International is an equal opportunities employer. Diversity and inclusion are important values for FoEI. We aim to have a FoEI team that reflects the diverse composition of our federation. We strongly encourage applications from people currently under-represented in the environmental justice movement.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please prepare your CV and a motivation letter that summarizes how your profile aligns with the key requirements, skills and abilities of this role.

Both motivation letter and CV should be submitted by email no later than December 11, 2025 with the subject “IPO maternity cover” to: Dave Hirsch, International Coordinator, by using the apply button below. We aim to hold 1st and 2nd round interviews in the week of December 15th, 2025.

Checking references is part of the selection procedure.

Please note that, in compliance with GDPR, we will keep your application in our protected files for a maximum of four weeks after the successful closure of this vacancy.