Project Director Project Finance for Permanence (Flexible Location) at The Nature Conservancy in Brunswick, Maine

Job Description:

OFFICE LOCATION

Arlington, Virginia, USA

#Li-Remote

#PDN

The location for this position is flexible within countries where The Nature Conservancy is a registered NGO and has an already established office. This position is not eligible for relocation or immigration assistance.

#Open until filled.

WHO WE ARE

The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we develop innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world's toughest environmental challenges so that people and nature can thrive. Our work is guided by our values, which include a commitment to diversity and respect for people, communities, and cultures. From a rewarding mission to career development and flexible schedules, there are many reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want to know more? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube to hear stories from staff or visit Glassdoor.

One of TNC's primary goals is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that employees around the globe have a sense of belonging and feel that their unique contributions are valued. We know we'll only achieve our mission by hiring and engaging a diverse staff that reflects the communities in which we work. Recognizing that people bring talent and skills that have been developed outside the scope of a job, we take a holistic approach to recruitment that considers life experience in addition to the professional requirements listed in our postings. Please apply - we'd love to hear from you. To quote a popular saying at TNC, "you'll join for the mission, and you'll stay for the people."

WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER

Join us as we tackle the intertwined global biodiversity and climate crises by delivering durable, representative, effectively managed, and inclusive protections through the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) approach. PFPs enable governments and local communities, in partnership with funders and NGOs, to secure long-term management and financing for networks of conservation areas in the form of a deal with a single closing agreement. Accelerating the deployment and impact of this strategy is an organizational priority to deliver lasting outcomes across our 2030 Conservation Goals for Biodiversity, Climate, and People. The Project Director, Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) supports the development and implementation of a set of PFP projects, such as in the Mongolia PFP and a Great Bear Sea PFP, with matrixed teams over various stages of a project lifecycle that secure durable conservation outcomes.

The Project Director will take the lead on the development and implementation of one or several projects at a time within our portfolio of PFP projects. For assigned projects, they lead the overall project ensuring the successful delivery and closing of those projects in close partnership with country and regional programs and partners. They are the owner of the project, and responsible for developing a transaction acceptable to all parties. They play a key role in establishing and leveraging strong external relationships with government ensuring strong buy-in for the project. They are responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of the project, including the quality, strategic guidance, and integration across all components of a PFP - strategy, scope, conservation planning, community development, governance, finance, and government engagement.

The Project Director will work collaboratively with complex, cross-functional project teams and key stakeholders - notably TNC country and regional teams, Impact Finance and Markets, Development, External Affairs, and the PFP team to ensure the successful closing of PFP transactions. As the project director, they will critically assess project scope and objectives, ensuring all risks and dependencies are addressed in the project plan, and work with the project manager to assemble the project team to deliver successful project results. The Project Director will obtain go/no-go decisions at all project decision points from relevant decision makers and identify and obtain approval for project deliverables from the appropriate staff or teams. Throughout the project lifecycle, the Project Director will monitor and measure project progress, conduct corrective action as necessary, and communicate project status information to all stakeholders.

This position reports to the Global Portfolio Director, Project Finance for Permanence. The location for this position is flexible within countries where The Nature Conservancy is a registered NGO and has an already established office. This position is not eligible for relocation or immigration assistance.

WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU

The Global Project Finance for Permanence team consists of a dedicated globally dispersed group of experts dedicated to our mission. We're looking for an individual with a passion for the mission of The Nature Conservancy - to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends - and who will enhance our ability to reach our 2030 goals.

We are looking for an experienced project director who is comfortable working at both a global and local level on large and complicated processes and projects within a matrixed organization, ideally with familiarity and experience across biological realms and extensive conservation experience.

Key responsibilities and scope:

• In close partnership with the in-country and global teams, advances a clear and maintains an integrated PFP project vision and scope.
• Be ultimately responsible for the Project's quality and content, ensuring the project results in the desired conservation outcomes.
• Ensure government commitment to and active participation in the project.
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external partners. Serves as the primary Global PFP counterpart to the country program and other members the Global Protect Business Unit.
• Leads several cross-functional and matrixed teams to foster and maintain team cohesion and strong communication channels.
• Makes independent strategic decisions frequently based on analysis, ambiguous information, experience and judgment.
• Develop and review interim and final deliverables, support project teams in delivering work products at the required standard and in managing dependencies between projects.
• Keeps the leadership group informed of progress and updates, identifies obstacles and potential delays, proposes adaptive action and decisions required, ensures effective communication between the leadership group and project teams.
• Support efficient decision making at key decision points, working with relevant decision makers and the appropriate staff or teams.
• Assess project progress and risks, conduct corrective action as necessary, and resolve or proactively escalate challenges as needed.
• Perform issue resolution, negotiate trade-offs, manage conflicts, and collaboratively solve complex problems.
• They may advise TNC communications, marketing, and philanthropy staff on issues related to priority projects and related issues.
• Will be required to work across multiple time zones which may include working outside normal working hours.
• Requires willingness and ability to travel up to 50% both domestically and internationally, and to work occasional weekends and evenings.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• BA/BS degree and 7 years' experience in conservation practice or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience directing a major complex program or project of strategic importance, including management/supervision of multi-disciplinary teams and meeting deadlines.
• Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives and managing performance.
• Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and government agencies. Able to influence and work productively with these stakeholders.
• Experience writing and editing promotional and informational material.
• Experience presenting to and/or communicating with government or legislative staff, community or business leaders, program leadership and/or similar audiences
• Experience negotiating complex agreements, ideally with governments.
• Experience with financial management of very large programs and bringing these to a successful close.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in a relevant discipline and 10 years of experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Experience working with current trends and practices in relevant discipline(s) (e.g., government relations, biodiversity, climate mitigation, community development).
• Experience developing business plans or major strategy assessments, particularly with deal structuring, and government negotiations.
• Experience influencing, developing, and implementing conservation policy and plans with sub national and/or national governments.
• Experience working in a matrix organizational setting.
• Experience with innovative conservation finance and/or conservation trust funds.
• Strong strategic development skills.
• Strong English language communications skills, including ability to communicating clearly via written, oral, and graphical forms, and ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
• Fluency in language other than English (e.g. Spanish, Portuguese, French).
• Knowledge of politics and society with respect to environmental and international affairs.
• Willingness to learn and develop expertise in new conservation strategies, economic drivers, management tools, and global affairs.
• Strong team player who can build relationships and work collaboratively across the organization, including with senior management, and with partners.

WHAT WE BRING

Since 1951, TNC has been doing work you can believe in. Through grassroots action, we have grown from a small non-profit into one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than 1 million members, over 400 scientists, and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and partners, we impact conservation around the world!

TNC offers competitive and comprehensive benefits packages tailored to the individual countries where we work. These may include health care benefits, retirement benefits, parental leave, paid time off, life insurance, and disability coverage as well as an employee assistance program and other life and well-being benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our Culture Tab on nature.org/careers.

We're proud to offer a flexible work environment that supports the health and well-being of the people we employ.

SALARY INFORMATION

This position may be based in any country where TNC has an established entity, taking into consideration legal restrictions, such as non-national ratios and immigration processing times. For U.S. based applicants only, the starting pay range for this position is generally within the range of $80,000 - $120,000 for annual base salary and is based on location, qualifications, specific skills, and experience. This range only applies to candidates whose country of employment is the USA. For all other applicants, pay ranges will be in local currency, the pay range will be based on the local labor market, and not tied to the above pay range. Your geographic location will be confirmed during the recruitment and used to determine your actual pay range. Additionally, for all applicants, actual pay will fall within a range based on a variety of factors including, for example, the candidate's qualifications, specific skills, and experience.

APPLY NOW

To apply for job ID 55566, submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at https://careers.nature.org/. Need help applying? Visit our recruitment page or contact applyhelp@tnc.org.

Our recruiting process is a rolling interview process to ensure we engage applicants in a timely manner. This means we review applications in the order in which they are received. Once a strong candidate pool is identified, the role will be unposted. The timeline may vary depending on the expressed interest in the role, so we highly encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible.

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.

TNC is committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send a note to applyhelp@tnc.org with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.

An attractive salary and benefits package is part of TNC's value proposition to our employees. TNC strives to provide competitive pay and bases salaries on the geographic location of the role committing to being equitable across groups and providing hiring salary ranges when possible.

Since we support flexible and remote work for our employees, many positions have a flexible location within countries where we're registered as a Non-government Organization and established as an employer. This may mean we're unable to provide a hiring salary range in the posting for some of our positions. However, candidates invited to be part of our interview process will be provided their location specific range upon request.

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