Project Officer (m/f/d) Renewable Energy in a World Heritage context

Wilhelmshaven

Common Wadden Sea Secretariat

Project Officer (m/f/d)

Renewable Energy in a World Heritage context

Full-time temporary position

The Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) is seeking a qualified candidate for a temporary position as Project Officer Renewable Energy in a World Heritage context. The appointment is limited until October 2026, with an anticipated start date at the earliest possible convenience.

About us

CWSS supports, facilitates, and coordinates the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation (TWSC), in which Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands share responsibility for the transboundary Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. CWSS offers a diverse and dynamic working environment, covering many work fields in a trilateral political-management setting, with dedicated international staff. The working language of the Trilateral Cooperation and CWSS is English. The CWSS office is located in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

The green transition of Europe’s energy supply will require a substantial development of renewable energy from offshore wind farms.

A significant part of this development will take place in the North Sea, with major implications for the three Wadden Sea countries. The Wadden Sea Area is the sea-land boundary through which the cables will be laid to transfer the energy to the end users. In order to protect and guard the Outstanding Universal Value of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site, it is necessary to further develop and apply planning approaches and best practice methods that will allow the cabling to take place, while ensuring that potential negative impacts of construction and operation are avoided, reduced or mitigated.

As important aspect in the Wilhelmshaven Declaration (2023) and key topic in The SIMP Integrated Management Plan for ONE Wadden Sea World Heritage (Integrated Management Plan), renewable energy is taken up in the trilateral project LANICE – North Sea wide acceleration of landing offshore energy while mitigating impact on the coastal environment initiated by the trilateral ad-hoc Working Group Renewable Energy (ad-hoc WG-RE).

Your responsibilities

• Coordinate and manage activities of the LANICE project in close collaboration with the ad-hoc WG-RE, engage the relevant stakeholders, prepare and supervise contracts with external consultants.
• Support the ad-hoc WG-RE by facilitating meetings, following up of agreed activities and record keeping.
• Act as trilateral focal point for conservation issues in the context of renewable energy/ energy transition, also in the context of the World Heritage Site, and assist in fulfilling corresponding requests by the UNESCO (Report on the state of conservation of the property and Strategic Environmental Assessment).
• Contribute to the development and initial implementation of the trilateral Strategy on Renewable Energy Infrastructure.
• Contribute to the update of the Quality Status Report on Energy and to the monitoring and assessing the impact of renewable energy infrastructure on the World Heritage Site in the framework of the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Programme (TMAP).
• Support in other CWSS tasks, especially in relation to the implementation of the key topic energy in the Integrated Management Plan and in relation to relevant trilateral groups and projects.
• Share news and foster exchange (trilateral workshops, webinars) with target groups on activities related to renewable energy and support external communication and organisation of events.

Your profile

• Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. spatial planning, environmental policy, conservation, environmental science) or corresponding education.
• Minimum of two years of relevant professional experience at national or international level, including in the fields of environmental impacts, marine spatial planning, grid connection, energy projects permitting procedures, and -preferably- nature conservation would be of advantage.
• Very good social and project management skills and flexibility including capacity to work in a team and with stakeholders in a multicultural and multilingual environment.
• Basic knowledge of the work carried out at CWSS and basic understanding of the mission of the TWSC in safeguarding the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Wadden Sea World Heritage.
• Strong communication and negotiation skills.
• Very good standard of spoken and written English as well as preferably one of the three languages: Danish, German, or Dutch.
• Ability to draft concisely and towards tight deadlines is essential.

Our offer

• An attractive remuneration package at salary group 13 of the German Collective agreement for Civil Service Employees (Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst; TVöD).
• Flexible working hours, good balance of remote work and presence in Wilhelmshaven.
• A motivated team of fellow colleagues.
• Possibilities to develop your skills and advance your career in the international nature conservation context.

Applications

We invite candidates with the relevant expertise and qualifications to apply for the position by submitting their CV and motivation letter (combined into a single PDF) via email to the Head of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Sascha Klöpper, at application@waddensea-secretariat.org. Please include "Project Officer Renewable Energy" in the subject line of your email.

The application deadline is 15 October 2025. Interviews are expected to be held before the end of October.

For more information about the job description, please feel free to contact Soledad Luna via email luna@waddensea-secretariat.org or by phone +49 (0)4421-910822.

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effective since May 2018, we are required to inform you about the processing of the personal data you provide during the application process. For more details, please refer to www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/website-terms-and-conditions