About BlueMark:

BlueMark was founded with a mission to strengthen trust in impact and sustainable investing, and to help bring more transparency and accountability to the impact investment market. We believe third-party impact verification is a key ingredient for establishing and maintaining trust between impact investors and their stakeholders. By providing a reliable resource for independent, third-party assurance of impact claims and practices, BlueMark plays an important role in advancing best practices and ensuring the impact investing industry scales with integrity.

Founded in early 2020, BlueMark has quickly become the leading provider of independent impact verification and intelligence for the impact and sustainable investing market. BlueMark closed its Series A funding round in April 2023, and is currently a 25-person team with significant additional growth planned for 2024 and beyond. Our team brings unparalleled expertise in impact investing along with high commitment to excellence and integrity in everything we do. We value compassion, emotional awareness, a sense of humor, and an entrepreneurial drive in every new hire.

About the position:

BlueMark has ambitious growth plans for 2024 and beyond, and expanding our presence in the APAC markets (primarily East and Southeast Asia) is a strong priority for 2024. The APAC Director will have a unique opportunity to play a lead role in an early-stage company in this dynamic, impactful industry. 

The right person for this role will be adaptable and creative; driven to both build and execute on an APAC growth strategy; and deeply familiar with Singapore markets and preferably other markets in East or Southeast Asia. Experience, expertise, and/or existing networks in sustainable finance will be an asset, but are not required. 

As BlueMark’s APAC Director, you will play a broad role across numerous aspects of the business, including leading partnerships and business development in the region, overseeing client engagements, and shaping the development of new services. The role will provide exciting opportunities to work with diverse impact investing firms globally, contribute to best practices in impact management, reporting, and assurance for the impact investing industry, and help grow a new pioneering business.

The primary responsibilities for this role include:

Business Development and Marketing

• Enhance BlueMark’s identity, positioning, and reputation in the impact investing market in Asia and the APAC region through developing relationships with various industry professionals, attending conferences and other convenings, and supporting targeted marketing and communications efforts

• Identify which countries in the APAC region present the best opportunities for BlueMark’s growth, and develop country-specific business development and marketing strategies as needed.

• In coordination with the leadership team, establish a BD & Marketing plan for the APAC region – including setting revenue goals & sales targets (by segment/service/country) as well as marketing plans/priorities for the region.

• Proactively prioritize and develop the pipeline for business development, oversee proposal development, and finalize negotiations with clients in the APAC region.

• Identify and drive thought leadership opportunities on impact verification in Asia and the APAC region to raise awareness of BlueMark’s solutions and develop demand for certification among key stakeholders/potential customers.

Product and Service Delivery and Development

• Serve as the project lead for impact verification projects with APAC-based clients, including by providing general project oversight and direction-setting for junior team members (likely based initially in Europe, with the potential for hiring in Asia over time), as well as acting as the point person for client management and ensuring quality of materials produced

• Deliver strong subject matter expertise on impact management and verification

• Contribute to the strategic development of impact verification services, in collaboration with the senior management team

• Bring the voices of APAC markets to the product development teams, collaborating to identify and test the right offering of services and pricing for these markets and to ensure that feedback and learning from this region is fed back to the broader organization.

• Collaborate with the leadership team to find the right balance between customization by region and consistency across regions; contribute to global expansion strategy. 

Management and Operations

• Oversee the planning for and growth of a team in Asia as the business grows, including by guiding and participating in recruitment, onboarding, management, and professional development of new staff

• Manage and mentor members of the impact verification team, potentially across multiple countries, and foster a healthy, productive, and nurturing work environment, consistent with BlueMark’s values and current organizational culture

• Inform annual budgeting and planning for the APAC business, in collaboration with the senior management and accounting teams

• Lead establishment of a Singapore office and serve as BlueMark’s person on the ground for operational needs related to operating in Singapore and potentially other Asian countries during the startup and early stages of the business.

Required qualifications and experience:

• At least 8-10 years of work experience (also open to candidates with significantly more experience than this)

• Exposure to impact investing and sustainable finance

• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with a preference for those with management and client engagement experience

• Demonstrated aptitude for building client relationships and an interest in business development

• Meaningful experience working in the Singapore market, with experience and/or knowledge of other East or Southeast Asian markets strongly preferred

• Strong written and oral communication skills

• Entrepreneurial and collaborative disposition, with a bias towards action and an interest in working in a small-business environment

• High level of personal and professional integrity

• Sense of humor and self-awareness 

• Based in or willing to relocate to Singapore

• Open to regular business travel, including at least 2-3 trips per year to Europe or the US and as-needed travel within the APAC region 

An ideal candidate would also have one or more of the following:

• MBA, similar masters degree, or equivalent experience

• Business development experience, ideally within the professional services and/or financial services space

• A track record of building and growing client relationships

• Existing networks in sustainable finance or impact investing in East or Southeast Asia

• Experience managing people and teams to deliver client services

• Experience or familiarity with impact measurement & monitoring

• Experience or expertise with environmental and climate-related metrics

At BlueMark, we value diversity of experience and perspectives and the unique contributions of each person. We work hard to create and maintain an open, inclusive environment where every team member can bring their full self to work. BlueMark is an equal opportunity employer.

FAQs about the hiring process and working at BlueMark:

What are some of the benefits and perks of working at BlueMark?

• You'll work with an exceptional team that includes pioneers in the impact investing space along with bright, purpose-driven newcomers

• We invest in your professional development: A professional development stipend is available for every employee to use towards improving their expertise and soft skills.

• Beyond providing a work laptop, we provide membership at a coworking space as well as a work from home stipend available for employees to help make their home working space better.

• Every other Friday is a "free Friday" (ask about this during the hiring process!)

• Retreats: We hold retreats every year where team members get together in a beautiful location to brainstorm and just have a fun time.

• We close the office for the last week of December so everyone can enjoy time with family and friends during the holiday season.

• You will be directly influencing the decisions of financial institutions that are trying to create large-scale social and environmental change through financial markets.

What will the hiring process look like?

• Our hiring process is designed to value diversity and candidate experience, and to give you a good feel for what it will be like to work at BlueMark.

• Our timeline from application close date to offer date is typically 5-6 weeks. Since this is a new senior role in a new market, we expect that the hiring process may take slightly longer, but we will aim to keep you updated throughout and always welcome questions or feedback.

• Applications for this role will close the first week of January. Depending on the number of applicants, we expect to spend 1-3 weeks reviewing applications. You can expect to receive a response to your application in mid- to late January.

• Our process for senior roles includes 3-4 stages, beginning with a 45-minute interview with two team members. Once the process has started, we aim to move through these stages as quickly as possible and you can expect to be updated on progress weekly.

How would you describe your culture?

• Collaborative, inclusive, and passionate. We encourage all team members to be their full selves at work and cultivate an environment that is high-performing, but where we can have fun together!

How does the commitment to DE&I influence the culture and work environment?

• We have an internal DE&I working group that is committed to improving Tideline’s practices, culture, and employee experience. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are core tenets of our culture and we place a heavy emphasis on constantly learning and improving our own understanding of what that means for our business.

• Each year we conduct a team-wide DE&I survey that focuses on Vision, Leadership, Recruitment, Advancement, Team-based work, and Benefits/Flexibility. The results of this survey directly influence new initiatives to continue to grow in areas we do well, and help improve in areas we have room to grow.