Environmental Economist

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is an intergovernmental organization (Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden) with its headquarters (Secretariat) in Helsinki, Finland, working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. At present, we are around 50 staff members at the HELCOM Secretariat, and our working language is English. We offer an open, friendly, dynamic and energetic, often fast-paced, international working environment offering all staff members the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to achieving our common goals. For more information about HELCOM, please visit our home page: www.helcom.fi.

We are currently seeking to recruit an Environmental Economist to carry out tasks related to the ecosystem services valuation (ESV) for the EU-funded PROTECT BALTIC project (PROTECT BALTIC | Preserve, revive, thrive).

PROTECT BALTIC is a Horizon Europe funded project, aligned with the EU’s Restore our Ocean and Water Mission. The project aims for a healthy Baltic Sea environment by increasing spatial protection to 30 % by 2030, through the development of a protection optimization framework. The framework will be the first of its kind, co-created with Baltic Sea member states, and will serve as a blueprint for the planning, executing, governing, managing and monitoring of Baltic Sea protection and restoration initiatives.

The Environmental Economist will support the work of the PROTECT BALTIC project by carrying out tasks related to T4.4 Methodology for valuation of ecosystem services and T4.5 Assessment of ecosystem services in MPAs.

Responsibilities

The main tasks include:

1. Process and product management

• Preparation and delivery of project products related to ecosystem services assessment and valuation;
• Management and coordination of the work with project partners;
• Provide general support to the planning and integration of the ecosystem service valuation outputs into other work in the project;
• Support other relevant HELCOM processes e.g. relating to work with the HELCOM Working Groups and Expert Groups .

2. Research and content work

•  Continue ongoing work related to the collection, collation, review and synthesis of methodological, conceptual and theoretical issues relating to the valuation of marine ecosystem services;
• Further identification of potential methodologies for uptake related to ecosystem service assessment and valuation;
• Scoping efforts to identify potential sources of data which can be used within the identified methodologies and approaches for the assessment and valuation of ecosystem services;

The assessment and final valuation of selected marine ecosystem services based on the outputs of the preparatory work

Qualifications and experience

The tasks require a person who is meticulous and has a high attention to detail. An interest in diverse and interdisciplinary work is an asset in this position.

The successful candidate shall have:

• A university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in a relevant field, e.g.  Environmental economics or Natural resource economics;
• A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience;
• Demonstrable knowledge of the concept of ecosystem services and the socioeconomic valuation of ecosystem services;
• Skills in the use of quantitative data handling applications (such as: SPSS, Stata, R, MATLAB, Python, Excel).
• Excellent organizational, communication and administrative skills and the ability to deliver to tight deadlines;
• Ability to work independently, take initiative and assume responsibility;
• Great interpersonal and team-working skills;
• Proficiency in English.

Experience in the following will be considered an asset:

• Experience in leading a research project task.

Terms of appointment

The appointment is planned to be full time for seven months, starting early September 2025 and is based at the HELCOM Secretariat in Helsinki, Finland. The salary for the position is 2.900 € per month. Please note that HELCOM salaries are exempt from Finnish income tax. Employee benefits include occupational health care, flexible working hours, hybrid working, generous leave allowance, recreational activities, and professional development opportunities.

How to apply

Candidates with the required expertise and qualifications are invited to submit their application (consisting of a CV and a motivational letter) via email to recruitment@helcom.fi no later than 30 April 2025. Please write “PROTECT BALTIC Environmental Economist” in the subject field of the message.