Our Organization:

As a financial services provider for leading U.S. farmers and ranchers, Rabo AgriFinance adds value through industry expertise, client-focused solutions, and long-term business relationships. Rabo AgriFinance offers a comprehensive portfolio of services to prepare producers to take advantage of market opportunities and mitigate risk. Our suite of services includes loans, lines of credit, insurance, input financing, equipment leasing and risk management products. Rabo AgriFinance is a subsidiary of Rabobank, one of the world’s largest and most secure banks, and the premier lender in the food and global agriculture industry.

Main Objectives

The Chief Sustainability Officer will lead the central sustainability organization for the North America region, covering both Wholesale and Rural. The department is responsible for developing and driving delivery of the North American sustainability strategy and objectives in alignment with our global ambition of moving from “here to greener” and reaching our goal of net zero by 2050. It acts as a center of expertise and sparring partner for the business and is the primary point-of-contact for the W&R Sustainable Business Development team at Head Office in the Netherlands.

The goal of the department is to capture the opportunities arising from the transitions in the Food & Agricultural and energy space, and to position Rabobank North America as a frontrunner on these topics. This individual will do so by integrating sustainability in the way we do business, from our internal policies, business strategies, plans and portfolio steering, through our client conversations and the products and services we offer.

More specifically, the department is responsible for:

Supporting North America wholesale and RAF in rolling out new sustainable business development opportunities, including engaging directly with clients if and where relevant Managing collaboration with the Rabo Carbon Bank around carbon sequestration and reduction initiatives Managing collaboration with The Food System Transition team Managing collaboration with the Innovation department Representing the North America region in global initiatives and ensuring the translation of global initiatives to the North American context (e.g., development and roll-out of Planet and RCP, sustainable finance framework, C&E risk assessment, Food System Transition Engaging in advocacy, awareness and knowledge sharing with external stakeholders in the region (e.g., universities, research institutes, producer organizations) Ensuring that the North America region is compliant with local and European regulations around sustainability and external (voluntary) commitments like the Net-Zero Banking Alliance Organizing & driving capability building activities for colleagues in the region on sustainability Performing In-depth Sustainability Assessments for high-risk clients (formerly known as “expert opinions”) Managing the North America region sustainability investment budget setting and monitoring KPIs on sustainability to track the region’s progress including against regulatory requirements

Working for the Rabobank Group demands special competencies from the individual employee, who must have a natural tendency to collaborate with customers, members and colleagues. The added value manifests itself in permanent, mutual collaboration between all national and international business units and entities within the Rabobank Group. The permanent collaboration enables us to achieve shared professional results, where short-term and long-term customer interest is at the forefront. This requires employees to have a personality which is clearly "actively focused on other people" and for employees to make a careful consideration between risks and results in the performance of work duties with the objective to increase and maintain customer confidence in the entire value chain of product development, product distribution and customer advice. Employees within the Rabobank Group are aware of possible risks to the organization in performing their work duties and handle these risks with care. The Rabobank Group’s Code of Conduct forms the framework for how to do business within the entire Rabobank Group.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

The Chief Sustainability Officer is responsible for delivering on the North America sustainability strategy across Wholesale and RAF. As such, they will:

• Lead the identification and development of sustainability-related commercial opportunities, together with the business (e.g., new clients, products and services) and Rabo Carbon Bank & the Food System Transition Team.

• Actively position Rabobank externally on the topic by maintaining a wide network of relevant relations and by speaking at relevant events

• Engage directly with clients at the request of the business

• Build and lead a cross-functional sustainability community within the North America region that will help embed sustainability in our day-to-day way of working

• Work in close cooperation with the risk domain in embedding sustainability as well as C&E risks in credit processes

• Work in close cooperation with the COO/CTO domain to progress SBTI measurements and metrics in the primary business units of Wholesale and RAF.

• Ensure that the North America region is adequately represented in internal global steerco’s, committees, etc. (either directly or by delegating to a member of the team)

• Ensure the delivery and use of sustainability tooling (e.g., carbon calculator) and training for our clients and colleagues

• Act as a senior advisor to the NAET on sustainability

• Strategy and Business Development for North America

• Design and delivery of the North America sustainability strategy

• Identification and development of sustainability-related commercial opportunities including direct client advisory

• Networking

• Internal and external thought leader on sustainable business development for the North America region

• Building and leading a cross-functional sustainability community within the North America region that will help embed sustainability in our day-to-day way of working

• Leading the department

• Building and managing a team of approximately 10 employees over time, including recruitment, year-end performance management, budgeting, agenda-setting

Risk

• Complete all mandatory training

• Comply with code of conduct and Bank policies/ procedures

• Actively identify incidents outside of established policies and procedures and report to management immediately

• Must be familiar with and comply with laws, regulations and internal policies and procedures that are applicable to required job duties.

• Understands and complies with all Rabobank anti-money laundering, compliance, and all other applicable laws.

Culture and Values

• Actively and consistently demonstrate applicable Rabobank Culture initiatives and commitments.

Job Skills and Knowledge:

Essential:

• Exceptional critical thinking skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication.

• Ability to think strategically and identify solutions to complex problems

• Exceptional ability to turn concepts into actionable plans

• Experience leading cross functional initiatives

• Broad business knowledge and the ability to think independently to drive business change.

• Strong ability to correlate the impact of proposed changes to the employee and client experience

• Ability to manage and lead a team

• This position requires travel (approximately 20% percentage of travel).

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the US agricultural industry

• Agriculture-related background

• Industry experience in banking, financial services, lending, customer service, or business process

Qualifications:

Essential:

• Master’s degree, preferably in Agribusiness, Agriculture, Business (Finance or Economics or related field

• 15+ years’ work experience, including in CSR/Sustainability and Banking

• An experienced and mature professional who convinces through influence, not hierarchy

• In-depth knowledge of sustainability to be a credible counterpart to clients and colleagues

• Strong business acumen to be a sparring partner to clients and colleagues

• Must be comfortable working as both a member and leader of a team

• Must be able to work well under time constraints

We Offer:

With healthcare and insurance costs on the rise, Rabo AgriFinance employees enjoy a first-class benefits package, featuring a selection of medical coverage and investment options to meet your personal needs. Our benefits program includes:

• Medical

• Dental

• Vision

• Health care spending account

• Dependent care spending account

• Basic life insurance plus AD&D insurance

• Optional life insurance

• Short-term disability

• Long-term disability

• 401(k) program

• Health and wellness seminars

• Tuition reimbursement

Rabo provides equal opportunity in employment to all employees and applicants and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, genetic information, medical condition, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, military service or veteran status, victims of domestic violence, or any other basis protected by applicable law. Rabo also prohibits harassment of any individuals on any of the bases listed above.

Consistent with this policy, Rabo embraces diversity and welcomes employees and applicants of all backgrounds. Our goal is to create an environment that is inclusive, drawing upon the strengths of the diversity of our workforce to exceed the expectations of our clients and customers.

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