Daily Sustainability Job Post

* The link and job description provided was active on October 20, 2020 – the date this was posted. Please refer to the employer’s website for up to date information. This is not our search, we are providing these links as a service to the community of sustainability and ESG jobseekers.

Position Overview:

Description

The Global Donations role focuses on developing, executing, and continually improving the strategy and a process for business unit giving in all Cognizant markets, which ensures adherence to policies, approval requirements, compliance policies etc. The role connects Business Unit giving to the larger Cognizant Social Purpose and Cognizant Agenda. Ultimately, it helps Cognizant elevate giving to increase social and business benefits.

In addition to idea generation and strategy formation, the individual would be expected to process requests for donations from business units, track and follow up on donation requests, and create reports to allow tracking by Finance, as well as analyses to help executives understand the tangible and intangible benefits. This role is process heavy and is not limited to strategy or creativity.

This role will report into the Global Social Purpose function.

Responsibilities

Strategic Improvement

• Understand Cognizant Agenda and Social Purpose strategy and goals
  • Work with team leader to evolve the BU giving strategy towards supporting Cognizant Social Purpose goals, with increased engagement on social and business vs. funding one time events
• Evaluate each BU request in context of the larger Cognizant Agenda and Social Purpose:
  • Understand Business Units and Clients’ Needs
  • Use findings to further shape and recommend Business Unit Policy
  • Look for opportunities to suggest ways Business Unit can engage client with Cognizant Social Purpose programs
  • Explore opportunities for Business Unit to give probono services instead of small donations
  • Persuade CUs/account teams to redirect client-requested giving to programs connects with Cognizant existing programs
• Connect Business Unit Giving to Cognizant business advantages
  • Marketing, community presence, government affairs
  • Be ready to say no to ‘asks’ that have zero visibility (e.g. not even a brochure)
• Understand Cognizant Agenda and Social Purpose strategy and goals
  • Work with team leader to evolve the BU giving strategy towards supporting Cognizant Social Purpose goals, with increased engagement on social and business vs. funding one time events
• Evaluate each BU request in context of the larger Cognizant Agenda and Social Purpose:
  • Understand Business Units and Clients’ Needs
  • Use findings to further shape and recommend Business Unit Policy
  • Look for opportunities to suggest ways Business Unit can engage client with Cognizant Social Purpose programs
  • Explore opportunities for Business Unit to give probono services instead of small donations
  • Persuade CUs/account teams to redirect client-requested giving to programs connects with Cognizant existing programs

Process

• Work with HR to identify opportunities for associate rewards and recognition (e.g. gala tickets) Understand Cognizant Agenda and Social Purpose strategy and goals
  • Work with team leader to evolve the BU giving strategy towards supporting Cognizant Social Purpose goals, with increased engagement on social and business vs. funding one time events
• Connect Business Unit Giving to Cognizant business advantages
  • Marketing, community presence, government affairs
  • Be ready to say no to ‘asks’ that have zero visibility (e.g. not even a brochure)
  • Work with HR to identify opportunities for associate rewards and recognition (e.g. gala tickets)
• Develop and execute processes
  • Create a process for Business unit giving and donations, based on the existing process in Finance. Identify process improvements to streamline and automate, where possible
  • Meticulously, track and monitor donations
  • Continue data collection, organization, and analysis of past and current Business Unit giving. Ensure that any issues, discrepancies, duplications are highlighted
  • Create reporting and analysis to understand the pattern of BUs/causes/timing etc.
• Work closely with account teams and business units to understand the purpose and potential benefits to Cognizant of the donation
  • Establish relationships with account teams to understand their needs
  • Engage with frequent business unit donors to understand how they use business unit giving
• Policy & Compliance
  • Understand relevant policies and compliance and flag problematic requests
  • Ensure the donations are processed in compliance with all applicable policies
  • Work closely with Ethics and Compliance team
• Size Budget
  • Use past spend to analyze appropriate budget size for business unit giving
  • Establish individual business unit budgets for their own control and prioritization

Qualifications/qualities

Process

• Experience in finance or accounting
• Organized and extremely methodical
• Process oriented and able to develop and improve processes
• Comfortable with administration
• Analytical

Relationships

• Good listener and effective written and spoken communications
• Effective at building relationships, especially with account teams, to communicate goals of
• Ability to persuade and redirect stakeholders
• Cross-cultural awareness