Forest restoration is one of The Nature Conservancy’s top priorities in its Shared Conservation Agenda. The Forest and Climate Manager is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and implementation of a comprehensive program to regenerate and to restore forests contributing to natural climate solutions, freshwater and biodiversity conservation and the local economy. This needs to be in full alignment with national or sub-national strategies pursuing such goals, while recurring to global and regional knowledge and resources which may facilitate the deployment of sound forest conservation and sustainable management actions. The Forest and Climate Manager should drive TNC efforts to engage multiple stakeholders in the development of strategic actions to both conserve natural forests and create a new forest economy, recognized as the most significant means through which to deliver on the country’s commitment to reducing climate change.
The Forest and Climate Manager oversees all aspects of the forest initiative in the Argentina Operating Unit and works together the manager of the Forest Restoration strategy in the Latin America Region. S/he provides strategic leadership and supports the Conservancy’s conservation planning work, establishes overall conservation priorities for forest restoration and coordinates with other strategy coordinators and the Conservation program director to integrate cross-cutting themes in the forestry and climate agenda. The position reports to Argentina’s Conservation Director.
The Forest and Climate Manager possess the knowledge to identify and resolve technical issues and to widely communicate solutions, innovative scientific methods, analysis, tools and frameworks to address the natural system needs. S/he defines leads thought and action in support of any national or sub-national strategies, developing further key partnerships with public & private organizations in order to continue to consolidate Conservancy as major conservation partner within forest and climate in Argentina and Latin America. S/he liaises with Conservancy Global Forestry group in order to progress work aligned with state of the art thinking on the forest economy.
At local level, s/he serves as contact to government agencies, other conservation organizations, foundations and the academic community. S/he also engages local community support for local conservation efforts, negotiates complex and innovative solutions with government agencies and landowners to conserve and protect natural communities.
RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE
- Geographic/programmatic size and scope is that of a large, complex business unit, multiple small to mid-sized business units, division/regional or a large program area spanning parts of multiple states/divisions.
- Plan and direct work on national or sub-national strategies’ lines of work and projects.
- Work across teams to integrate activities with those pertaining to other strategies in country.
- Maintain project management and records related to transactions.
- Engage and cultivate relationship with different stakeholders.
- Maintain pulse on developments progressed by Conservancy’s global strategy teams, in particular on climate and forestry.
- May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.
- Ability and willingness to travel frequently and on short notice, sometimes on weekends.
- Experience working with current trends and practices in forest restoration, conservation and/or forestry.
- Experience in Certified Emission Reductions (CER) mechanisms, including REDD+.
- Experience influencing, developing and implementing policy and plans at the state or country level
- Experience in working in multi-disciplinary teams across different geographies and meeting deadlines.
- Strong team player who can build relationships and work collaboratively across the organization and with Conservancy partners
- Experience developing partnerships (partners, community, government).
- Negotiation skills.
- Experience with financial management of a large program.
- Fluency in Spanish and English.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Developing practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation/ forest restoration purposes, including REDD+ and CER.
- Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives and experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives towards forest-based knowledge sharing and exchange.
- Knowledge of methods and activities linked with Carbon mitigation and Carbon Markets.
- Communicating clearly via written or spoken means in Portuguese.
- Politically savvy and experienced in partnership development (partners, community, government)