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Regional Program Director (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Caribbean), Rare Conservation
Position: Regional Program Director (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Caribbean)
Functional Area:
Organization: Rare Conservation
Location: Arlington, VA
Metro Region:
Overview:
Rare is a fast-growing, international conservation organization that runs state-of-the-art communications and outreach projects in more than 50 countries around the world. Named to Fast Company Magazine’s list of “Top Social Capitalists” for four consecutive years, Rare is committed to bringing a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity to solving one of this century’s great challenges – building public support for conservation.
Rare works through local partnerships to tangibly reduce threats to the environment. Pulitzer Prize winning conservation leader E.O. Wilson described Rare’s value as follows: “In an original manner, Rare attends to conservation where it has ultimately the most lasting effect, through education tuned to the culture and needs of local people.”
Rare’s record of conservation success rests on its “Pride” program, a powerful blend of environmental conservation outreach, social marketing, behavior change, and local capacity building that has been empowering local conservation leaders since 1988. Rare Pride focuses on building support for conservation at the local level and is centered around 2-year campaigns launched in collaboration with partners around the world. Some of the world’s most important sites for biological diversity are threatened by a lack of awareness and local community support. By catalyzing in-country private and public sector funding, shifting public behavior toward more sustainable practices, and focusing public attention on critically threatened ecosystems and species, Rare’s Pride campaigns dramatically build momentum for conservation by creating the constituencies necessary for initiating legislative reform, creating new protected areas, and saving the habitats of multiple species on the brink of extinction.
Position:
Rare is seeking a dynamic and results-oriented Regional Program Director to support the current success and future growth of Rare’s programmatic, operational, and financial objectives in Africa, Asia, Caribbean and the Pacific. Working closely with staff at headquarters and in the field, the Director will be responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of all Pride campaigns in the region which includes quality control, problem resolution and staff support. Working closely with the Regional Program Vice President, the Director will also work to identify and develop new cohorts of Pride campaigns, manage all financial aspects of the program and lead special projects as required. With the credibility, strategic judgment, interpersonal skills and presence to represent the Vice President with key internal and external stakeholders, the Director will bring quality project, people and process management to a growing team. This position offers an exceptional opportunity for an entrepreneurial project manager to significantly impact the success of the existing Pride program and greatly influence the ambitious growth of the program planned for the future. While directly supervising initially 1 or 2 team members, the Director must have the relationship and influencing skills to indirectly manage approximately 12 team members of varying experience levels and backgrounds.
Responsibilities:
Pride Campaign Management:
• Provide project management, quality assurance, training and reporting tools and support to each Cohort Director, each of whom manage up to 12 related Pride campaigns
• Conduct periodic site visits to stay informed, maintain campaign quality, and ensure learning & exchange of best practices across sites
• Assist local campaign managers in developing long-term follow-up strategies and financing efforts to turn initial momentum into lasting conservation results
Development of New Cohorts of Pride Campaigns:
• Support Senior Staff in the development of new geographic and thematic programs in conjunction with Rare’s aggressive growth plans which include developing at least two new cohorts a year and expanding into French-speaking countries.
• Lead the overall project management of each new cohort development
• Provide support to staff members as they research and craft geographic, conservation, partnering and funding strategies
• Provide oversight and networking assistance in partner outreach and relationship building
Program Administration:
In partnership with the Program and Alumni Coordinator, whom the Director supervises:
• Take full financial responsibility for budget & financial tracking; manage the annual creation of departmental budgets, support Cohort directors with the management of their budgets and assist the Vice President in setting fundraising targets
• Ensure the effective use of Rare’s reporting and networking systems, including Salesforce for tracking and managing external relationships, the RarePlanet social networking and project management website, and a balanced scorecard for tracking the conservation, constituency, capacity and program management objectives of all programs
• Ensure effective team reporting, communication and work-balancing processes; facilitate communication and information flow between regions and departments and ensure timely recruiting, operations and logistics
Special Projects:
• Cultivate and steward relationships with external partners including conservation organizations, universities, institutions and government entities in relevant global regions, the United States and selected national and regional donors
• Participate in fundraising activities including donor relations, managing the funding pipeline in the region, identifying new opportunities for partnership and funding, writing and reviewing proposals, and participating in donor trips as needed
• Represent the Vice President on select internal Rare initiatives; seek opportunities to raise profile of Rare and the Regional Program with media and other audiences
Qualifications:
• Minimum of 7 years of senior project management experience, including proficiency with a wide range of formal project management tools & methods
• Strong people management skills and an ability to motivate, lead, set objectives and manage performance of a multi-disciplinary team without direct supervisory authority
• International management experience, preferably in developing countries
• Proven success managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders and partnerships
• Demonstrated record of success in building partnerships and strategic alliances that resulted in quantifiable outcomes
• Strategic thinker who also enjoys rolling up sleeves and diving into the details of “keeping the trains running on time”
• Ability to manage changing priorities, multiple tasks and competing deadlines to ensure accuracy and efficiency
• Established working relationships with key players in the national, regional and international conservation/development community preferred
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills;
• Written and spoken proficiency in English required; French proficiency preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or other relevant Master’s degree strongly preferred
• Public relations skills and ability to persuasively convey the mission of Rare and relevant programs to diverse groups, including internal leadership, donors, and partners
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally based on needs of the position (30-50%) and work extended hours outside the traditional 9-5 work day
Benefits
Rare not only inspires conservation, we also inspire our employees. In addition to fully covered health insurance, a retirement savings plan, and generous vacation/holiday leave time, Rare’s benefits include an annual training budget for continuous learning and growth, a bonus plan that ties to individual and organizational performance, and a flexible and fun work environment. And to make sure no one gets cabin fever, there’s an annual staff retreat that brings every staff member together to support our work around the world.
To Apply:
Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, both in Word format, to Steve Watkins at http://jobs.cgcareers.org/application.aspx?id=1587 with subject line “Regional Program Director.” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Rare is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
