The Program Specialist for the Allen Coral Atlas project in National Geographic Society’s Geographic Visualization Lab will assist with day-to-day management for initiatives and activities related to the Allen Coral Atlas (“the Atlas”). The Atlas project works with external and internal partners to create remotely sensed maps of global coral reefs from frequent satellite images. The Program Specialist will help the Atlas develop regionally, and then globally, by supporting the geographic visualization, field verification, and community engagement components of the project.
- Liaise with individuals and organizations collecting coral benthic data, supporting capacity development as warranted, working with trainers and/or regional coordinators. Draft program content, including training and outreach materials. Support the roll out of tools and methods to collect, store and analyze data for calibration and validation of Atlas maps in collaboration with project partners (25%)
- Under the Supervision of the Senior Director for the Atlas, support management of the day to day implementation of the work plan for the NGS Allen Coral Atlas portfolio. This includes working with Geographic Visualization Lab and Atlas team members, subject matter experts and other key stakeholders from the coral reef science, monitoring, and management community to implement program activities collaboratively, including writing program documents. (20%)
- Support the Senior Director for the Atlas across all aspects of program management to ensure institutional and partnership priorities are met. Includes assisting in work plan development, tracking project milestones and deliverables, supporting the execution of contracts for services, arranging travel and supporting the execution of in-person events. (20%)
- Work with other team members in the Geographic Visualization Lab, other NGS Labs, NGS impact initiatives, marketing and storytelling and external partners to reach achieve programmatic goals (20%)
- Conduct relevant assessments, e.g. of existing ecosystem monitoring platforms, ongoing monitoring efforts in regions, various organizations’ capacity and needs (15%)
- 3+ years demonstrated experience in project or program management support roles.
- Experience and/or education in conservation, marine ecology, monitoring, machine learning, and/or data science required.
- Experience in coral reef ecosystems and working internationally and with coalitions and diverse and matrixed teams preferred.
- Familiarity with coral reef ecology, conservation or protected area management, and policy making in the conservation space
- Familiarity with remote sensing and GIS, data visualization technology and approaches, digital integration, and ideally, machine learning algorithms
- Excellent collaboration skills and good cross-cultural sensitivity, with ability to work with individuals in other countries and across organizations
- Ability to manage multiple diverse work streams with attention to detail while balancing competing priorities, meeting deadlines and delivering quality results
- Demonstrated experience in project management
- Strong written and oral communication
- Experience with capacity development, training and outreach, and managing events
- Creative thinking, problem solving, flexibility, attention to detail, and proactive demeanor extremely important
National Geographic's headquarters is located in the heart of Washington, D.C. In addition to a unique and dynamic work environment, National Geographic offers its employees a comprehensive benefits package, including health and dental benefits, generous vacation and leave time, a 401(k) plan, and flexible work options. National Geographic is an Equal Opportunity Employer