HEARTH Project Director At The Nature Conservancy

Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters, and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably, and helping make cities more sustainable. One of our core values is our commitment to diversity. Therefore, we strive for a globally diverse and culturally competent workforce. Working in 72 countries, including all 50 United States, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.

Since establishing the Africa Program in 2007, The Nature Conservancy’s vision in Africa is to work towards fostering a sustainable future for people and nature, partnering with indigenous communities across 55 million acres on the continent. Our efforts are firmly rooted in people, leveraging scientific and technical expertise as we collaborate with governments and organizations to conserve and enhance Africa’s shared resources in the 9 countries we operate.

TNC’s work in Africa transcends three key pillars: securing ownership rights to lands and resources for indigenous people, strengthening leadership and resource management, and helping communities value nature through a holistic appreciation of its benefits while increasing revenue streams for conservation efforts and socio-economic development. Together with our partners, we are witnessing critical milestones in integrated land and fisheries management, ocean and source water protection, energy development, and sustainable food production working together and strengthening our resolve in tackling global challenges such as climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss that stand to adversely impact the nearly 1.4 billion people that share Africa.

TNC expects to lead a large USAID-funded project with multi-sector partners in the Upper Okavango landscape of Angola. The “HEARTH Alliance for the Upper Okavango” (HEARTH Okavango) project will leverage non-governmental organization (NGO), community, and private sector resources and expertise to reduce threats to biodiversity and their underlying drivers, with a focus on the long-term landscape sustainability of the region and protecting and restoring the Upper Okavango’s biodiversity and ecosystem services. The project will advance a water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus approach and will seek to improve gender equity and women’s empowerment. TNC and implementing partners’ work under this project will be complemented by private sector partners’ leveraged expertise and activities in the landscape.

YOUR POSITION WITH TNC

TNC seeks a HEARTH Project Director to oversee the HEARTH Okavango project. The HEARTH Project Director is responsible for overall program management, including providing leadership to attain objectives, ensuring adequate communication with USAID, and identifying and mitigating program risks. The HEARTH Project Director will set the overall technical direction of the activity, monitor its implementation, and maintain strong government, private sector, and NGO relationships and networks with responsibility for ensuring the activity meets stated targets on time and on budget. They will have a deep understanding of USAID program requirements, from hands-on financial and agreement management and work plan development to performance monitoring. They utilize their experience in the technical areas of the HEARTH Okavango project to pursue biodiversity and human well-being results related to freshwater fisheries; forests; gender and social inclusion; water resource management; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and rural sustainable energy access. This is a five-year term-limited position contingent on TNC receiving the public award and funder approval. Reporting to the TNC Okavango Program Director, the position will be based in Menongue or Luanda, Angola.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The HEARTH Project Director oversees all aspects of the HEARTH Okavango project, including program management, performance monitoring, and technical implementation and oversight. They will serve as the principal institutional liaison to USAID regarding the project and will maintain regular communication with the USAID Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR). They lead and manage the Alliance project team and serve as the principal contact to external project stakeholders, private Alliance partners, other project partners, and public ministries. They will ensure that the TNC-led project team coordinates activities with other USAID-funded projects that have complementarity with the Alliance as well as TNC’s wider Okavango conservation program. The HEARTH Project Director will develop key partnerships with public and private organizations in order to identify and resolve technical issues and to advance the goals and results of the project and the Alliance. They will develop innovative methods, analyses, tools, and frameworks to address the natural system and target community needs. Due to the significance of challenges and opportunities for conservation and communities in the landscape, the HEARTH Project Director will bring and utilize their relevant technical experience to ensure successful project implementation.

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

• Provides technical leadership for and supervisory management of the large, complex, and multi-sectoral USAID-funded Okavango Angola Alliance project.
• Serves as the primary project liaison with USAID communicates regularly with USAID and USAID-funded activities and attends all USAID partner meetings.
• Supervises the monitoring of key deliverables, outputs, and outcomes as per work plans and sub-awardee/contractor agreements.
• Cultivates and develops partnerships with key stakeholders including government agencies, the project’s private sector Alliance partners, implementing partners, collaborating partners, and communities.
• Manages high-quality and effective multi-disciplinary staff with responsibility for performance management, training, and career development and provides assistance to all levels of personnel on expertise-related issues and requests.
• Maintains optimal performance standards within budget.
• Manages all the project’s sub-awards/subcontracts.
• Prepares and submits annual work plans and quarterly and annual performance reports, and ensures progress towards program objectives, including through field visits.
• Supervises and provides technical input into the project’s monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning functions and ensures compliance with USAID monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) requirements including data quality assessments and data entry into USAID portals.
• Provides 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
• Disseminates best practices; provides training and analysis to best implement organizational measures of success; and develops key partnerships with public and private organizations in order to identify and resolve technical issues and to widely communicate solutions, innovative scientific methods, and tools to address the natural system and human wellbeing needs of the project area.
• Makes independent strategic decisions frequently based on analysis, ambiguous information, experience, and judgment.
• May require frequent travel domestically and evening and weekend hours.
• May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, and under physically demanding circumstances.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• BA/BS degree and 7 years experience in conservation practice, project management, rural development, natural resource management, water resource management, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing global development programs in low and middle-income countries.
• Demonstrated experience managing consortia of partners across institutions (e.g., academia, NGOs, private and government) and varying sectors.
• Demonstrated experience rapidly assembling and managing teams that have the appropriate skills and experience to effectively implement activities.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Technical skills and knowledge relevant to the HEARTH Okavango project.
• Proficiency in Portuguese and English.
• Experience negotiating complex agreements.
• Willingness to work and travel in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, and under physically demanding circumstances.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree or higher, and 7-10 years experience in conservation practice (e.g., fisheries, forestry, gender and social inclusion, water resource management, WASH) or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Relevant experience in Africa (preferably Angola or Southern Africa).
• Ability to develop practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for the purposes of project outcomes.
• Knowledge of current trends and practices in freshwater conservation, water resource management, WASH, and sustainable renewable and climate-resilient energy in rural settings.
• Effective and persuasive communication in English and Portuguese.
• Politically savvy.