Chief of Party - USAID Flagship Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Activity

Miami, Florida USA

Acceptable locations for this position are the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Miami-Florida, and Arlington-Virginia. Other locations where The Nature Conservancy-Caribbean has registered offices may be considered.

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.”

TNC seeks a Chief of Party (CoP) to lead the anticipated five-year $20 million Flagship Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Activity, funded by USAID. This project will chart a future for nature positive tourism in the Caribbean by engaging the tourism sector to reduce threats to coastal and marine biodiversity in priority areas in the Caribbean, particularly in key ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs, and key marine species. Proposed site specific implementation will be carried out in Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Grenada, Suriname, and Guyana, as well as regionally across 13 countries in the Caribbean region. The project will liaise with USAID, project partners, governments, and TNC staff to support on-time execution of deliverables under the award. Key activities will focus on marine protected area management, solid (plastic) waste reduction, and sustainable tourism through tourism actors in the region.

The CoP provides dynamic and effective leadership, overseeing all aspects of the project and ensuring quality implementation of the activities and timely delivery. They have overall responsibility for the project, providing strategic, technical, and administrative direction, managing the budget, and making decisions consistent with TNC’s mission and values.

The CoP is an inspirational leader who uses TNC’s code of conduct and competencies as a baseline to lead by example. They dedicate time to set expectations, guide, coach and develop staff knowing that being a great leader is as important as the technical knowledge.

Responsibilities include:

• Provides technical leadership for and supervisory management of the large, complex, and multi-sectoral USAID Flagship Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Activity.
• Represent TNC with USAID, government agencies, implementing partners, and regional organizations concerning project implementation, policy linkages, as well as involvement of the private sector and local communities.
• Overall responsibility for project compliance, financial oversight, operations, and quality assurance for all activities including budgeting and financial reporting.
• Oversee execution and management of grants and contracts required for successful project implementation, including ensuring technical quality of work performed by consultants and subcontractors to achieve project objectives.
• Manage and direct multi-disciplinary teams consisting of TNC staff, consortium members, sub-award partners, and/or contractors to analyze and adopt innovative approaches to solving marine biodiversity conservation challenges.
• Coordinate with TNC program directors and other staff to provide the required support, guidance, and direction to successfully implement the program activities and achieve targets.
• Ensures compliance under strict ethical standards and respect for partners and local communities.
• Lead and direct the preparation of quarterly, mid-year, and annual workplans, budgets, and reports to USAID and TNC, ensuring quality and timeliness of reporting.
• Oversees all financial and administrative matters.
• Oversee development and implementation of a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plan.
• Provide robust technical input and support to all components of the project and the staff and partners responsible for them, ensuring the project achieves lasting and meaningful outcomes and results.
• Makes independent strategic decisions frequently based on analysis, ambiguous information, experience, and judgment.
• Present findings in both written and oral presentations as required, serving as a visible spokesperson with governments, private sector, and stakeholders of the project.
• Guarantee the effective integration of the project into the institutional priorities and strategies of TNC’s Caribbean Division business unit.
• Overall, lead the team to ensure that goals and objectives are met, and documents and incorporates lessons learned into adaptive management decisions.
• Travel within the Caribbean Division. May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances.

This description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for this job.

• BA/BS degree and 10 years’ experience in conservation practice, natural resource management, marine sciences, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience directing a major program or project of strategic importance, including budgeting, reporting, and meeting strict external and internal deadlines.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and establishing strong working relationships with senior representatives of national and local governments, regional institutions, and the private sector.
• Record of managing complex donor-funded programs including private sector engagement and/or biodiversity conservation.
• Prior experience with USAID operating procedures, regulations, and reporting requirements.
• Experience in directing or participating in complex negotiations and presenting to and communicating with government officials, the private sector, and others.
• Experience with key marine conservation and development issues, protected areas management, as well as climate change policies, institutional development, and management issues in the Caribbean.
• Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives, and managing performance.
• Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and/or government agencies.
• Experience influencing, developing, and implementing conservation policy and plans at the country level.
• Experience with spoken and written English.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A minimum of five years of experience in senior management roles within similar organizations in the Caribbean with direct supervision of professional and support staff, and technical assistance in fields related to the subject matter of the program, such as marine biodiversity conservation, marine protected areas management, ecological restoration, solid waste management and sustainable fisheries.
• Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English.
• Multi- lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Advanced verbal and written communication skills in Spanish and French also desired.
• Experience in the administration of USAID or similar large public donor support programs in the Caribbean, with skills in strategic planning, supervision, and budgeting.
• Experience in application of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.
• Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives and experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Inspirational manager who has successfully motivated staff to achieve and sustain excellence.
• Leadership and visionary qualities and able to work effectively with and through others in a decentralized and geographically dispersed organization.
• Politically savvy.

An offer of employment and related start date are contingent upon execution of a Cooperative Agreement with USAID. This is a term-limited position, with an anticipated end-date of approximately five years from the execution of the Agreement.

To apply for Job ID 53978 , submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at https://careers.nature.org/ by 11:59 PM EST on September 25, 2023. Need help applying? Visit our recruitment page or contact applyhelp@tnc.org.

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.