Restoration Engagement Senior Manager

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Conservation International

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Remote

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Restoration Engagement Senior Manager

Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.

POSITION SUMMARY - This position could be based in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Madagascar, South Africa, Brazil, Belgium, or United Kingdom. Remote Possible.

As a core component of its Climate Strategy, Conservation International has set ambitious targets for scaling restoration globally as a climate solution. The Restoration Engagement Senior Manager works with teams across Conservation International and external partners to oversee and support the development and implementation of mechanisms to strengthen and harmonize policies at different scales, supporting a rapidly growing stream of restoration projects across different restoration strategies and providing the resources for CI to adaptively manage its rapidly scaling global restoration portfolios. This work will position CI as a thought leader and partner of choice in nuanced, data-driven, tailored, cost-effective restoration and contribute key knowledge to the global ecosystem restoration community derived from CI’s restoration portfolio. This position will be a key part of the Global Coordination Project of the GEF 8 Ecosystem Restoration Integrated program, an innovation initiative to support and scale ecosystem restoration in 20 countries for the next 6 years.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Restoration Engagement Senior Manager reports directly to the Restoration Partnerships Director in the Center for NaturalClimate Solutions and collaborates closely with the Global Restoration Lead and staff in the Restoration team, policy, finance, awards, and operations staff, as well as internal and external thought leaders.


The Restoration Engagement Senior Manager is responsible for convening, coordinating, managing, and facilitating cross-sectoral multistakeholder groups working on different themes, such as governance, best practices, policy, and others to promote and strengthen enabling conditions required for effective and inclusive ecosystem restoration.


To be successful, the Restoration Engagement Senior Manager needs demonstrable experience coordinating multistakeholder collaborations and leading analysis of policy think pieces related to nature and/or climate, experience working and/or collaborating with Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) is highly desirable. They must be comfortable working with multiple collaborators simultaneously, as well as ensuring diverse stakeholder engagement, actively supporting adaptive management of the program, and successfully informing CI’s strategy for implementing restoration at scale through data-driven implementation worldwide.

  • Coordinate and contribute to a multistakeholder diagnostic process to map barriers and opportunities around enabling conditions needed for ecosystem restoration.
  • Support the development of mechanisms for multistakeholder exchange and dialogue on best practices to develop, harmonize and integrate coherent policies, commitments, and plans to enable efficient and effective ecosystem restoration through cross-fertilization of experiences between countries.
  • Lead, facilitate, manage, and report on cross-sectoral multistakeholder discussion groups, supporting Ecosystem Restoration IP country programs and partners on harmonization and coherence of important themes (governance, policy, institutional strengthening, best practices, and others) that contribute and scale ecosystem restoration, ensuring participation and representation of diverse stakeholder groups.
  • Organize GEF 8 Ecosystem Restoration IP presence at key global events and conferences, including those provided by major policy events such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Conference of the Parties (COPs), United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) COPs, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COPs, Global Landscapes Forum events, and others.
  • Oversee and coordinate activities with other CI teams, partners, and contractors to ensure alignment and effective delivery of key outputs of the Ecosystem Restoration Integrated Program.
  • Coordinate and support CI’s work with communities of practices, working with key stakeholders and partners, ensuring inclusive stakeholder engagement and high-quality knowledge products produced in a timely manner.
  • Support strategic alignment of the restoration projects with global priorities and country priorities in restoration and identify opportunities for expanding or extending restoration projects, initiatives, or other initiatives linked to CI’s strategy.
  • Support the development of knowledge products to inform policy innovations, strengthening and harmonization in support of ecosystem restoration, contributing to national and MEA objectives.
  • Lead the identification, development, and uptake of relevant, high-priority case studies and briefs on enabling conditions for Ecosystem Restoration.
  • Support the development and implementation of a capacity-building program to Ecosystem Restoration IP countries on facilitation and institutional strengthening in collaboration with key partners.
  • Provide technical assistance and support the development of tools to address policy gaps and improve enabling conditions.
  • Maintains regular communication with the other GEF-funded IPs to share learning and experiences on implementing an integrated approach.
  • Support the development and implementation of a capacity-building program for Ecosystem Restoration IP countries to strengthen restoration action plans.

Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

WORKING CONDITIONS

  • Frequent travel (30%) to project sites and to international meetings.
  • Ability to work flexible and extended work hours to meet project deadlines.
  • Guidance on flexible work arrangements will be shared during the interview process.
  • For Europe or the UK candidates: “Candidates should be EU or UK nationals or have a valid work permit for Belgium or in the UK”.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in social or environmental policy, government, diplomacy, or equivalent discipline and 5 to 7 years of work experience with cross-sectoral multistakeholder partnerships, network development and facilitation, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Experience developing and maintaining partnerships on restoration and/or other Natural Climate Solutions with different sectors, including UN agencies.
  • Experience managing agreements with diverse stakeholders, including governments and implementing agencies, to ensure high-quality timely deliverables.
  • Experience working with GEF, GCF, and other multilateral programs.
  • Experience working at a global level and coordinating/overseeing multiple projects simultaneously and effectively.
  • Considerable experience developing knowledge products for diverse audiences, including government stakeholders and agencies
  • Proven ability to understand, interpret, and apply technical and scientific information and data to achieve tangible results.
  • Oral, written, and interpersonal communication experience on disseminating best practices in restoration and/or other Natural Climate Solutions to diverse audiences, including government agencies, officials, and national-level actors across many geographies, languages, and sectors.
  • Strong attention to detail and time management skills.
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office.
  • Proven ability to work in a team environment and work well across cultures and within and across organizations.
  • Excellent English oral and written communication skills.

Preferred

  • Ability to communicate in Spanish, Portuguese, or French.
  • Experience working with governments and with policy and governance.
  • Experience working with MEAs.

To apply for this position please submit a resume and cover letter.

See all Conservation International Career Opportunities HERE

Conservation International is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility-committed employer. We are proud to have a diverse, global workforce where employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, position requirements, business needs, market conditions, merit, and other legitimate nondiscriminatory factors.

As a science-based organization, CI follows CDC recommendations for COVID-19 and other vaccines. Accordingly, for the health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community, subject to applicable local law, all Conservation International staff are expected to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, vaccination is no longer a mandate or condition of employment and employees are not required to provide proof of vaccination. This means we will not require an individual to be vaccinated to enter a CI office, attend CI events or travel on CI-related trips. This applies for our community partners as well. This vaccine expectation applies to all team members working remotely, in a hybrid work arrangement, and on-site. Job applicants are NOT required to state their COVID-19 vaccine status in their application.