Senior Project Director - Initiative for Conservation Education

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 is based in Arlington-VA or Arizona (remote)

Conservation International (CI) is partnering with a large university in the United States to reimagine conservation education. Our vision is to create and advance a global conservation community that reflects the communities we serve, and which is better prepared to protect and restore the diversity of life on Earth in a complex and changing world. CI and partners will catalyze a global network of partners with context-specific models for teaching, learning, and discovery that support and ignite place-based planetary health efforts around the world. We seek to accelerate the development of conservation leaders generally but to also create the conditions for the emergence of a new type of conservation leader—one who is better prepared to contribute to a complex, inclusive, and thriving future.

The Senior Project Director will lead CI’s team to work in close partnership with the university to develop an innovative conservation curriculum and hands-on learning opportunities for students and conservation practitioners. They will collaborate with CI staff across CI’s offices worldwide to develop and deliver short and long-term, real-world conservation educational experiences.

Hiring for this position is contingent on funding. Qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview. This five-year project is anticipated to start on/about early 2025.

Responsibilities

Project Leadership and Strategic Planning:

• Implement the workforce development and conservation education project focusing on curriculum development and place-based learning opportunities.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to identify workforce trends, gaps, and opportunities in conservation.
• Oversee all project operations, including planning, budgeting, staffing, and reporting.
• Manage timelines, deliverables, and quality assurance processes to ensure project success.
• Use data-driven approaches to monitor progress and adapt strategies as needed.
  
  

Workforce Development

• Collaborate and coordinate with internal stakeholders such as CI field offices and the Learning and Development team and external partners to design and oversee place-based learning opportunities that equip participants with skills for conservation-focused careers.
• Collaborate with the Learning and Development team at CI on staff capacity building through the curriculum and place-based learning, including tracking and reporting of CI staff participation.
  
  

Conservation Education

• Co-develop and collaborate on conservation principles, sustainability practices, and environmental stewardship etc. to inform conservation curriculum and courses offered to students.
• Build a strong partnership with the prime to ensure conservation education curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the conservation sector.
  
  

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders including the prime partner, the donor, CI field offices, and other relevant internal CI stakeholders such as Global Field Programs, Moore Center for Science, Global Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Center, CI People and Culture to ensure delivery of the scope of work.
• Facilitate stakeholder meetings, workshops, and advisory panels to drive collaboration and feedback.
  
  

Team Management

• Supervise and mentor up to five project staff, fostering a collaborative and results-driven work environment.
• Oversee hiring, training, and performance evaluation of team members.
  
  

Grant And Financial Management

• Develop and manage project budgets, ensuring efficient use of resources.
• Lead the preparation and submit high-quality written reports to the donor.
• Manage the project budget in collaboration with finance and operations staff.
• Present financial and progress reports to funders and stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with donor agreement.
• Lead fundraising and grant-writing efforts to secure project funding, if needed.
  
  

Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Frequent travel to partner site and other office locations.
• Comfortable working out of doors for extended periods.
• Ability to work extended work hours to meet project deadlines.
• Guidance on flexible work arrangements will be shared during the interview process.
  
  

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree
• 10 years or more of direct project management experience, preferably in conservation education, workforce development, curriculum development, and training, NGO, advocacy, or related arena.
• 5 or more years of experience supervising and motivating others including multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience on donor-funded projects with a focus on education and multistakeholder partnerships with academic institutions and workforce development.
• Deep understanding of conservation especially gaps in workforce development.
• Excellent project management skills including an understanding of partnership management, budget, and a strong focus on using monitoring and evaluation to achieve project targets.
• Team player and able to work effectively with diverse work groups in a multicultural environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work well under pressure, multitask, set priorities, and deliver quality results.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and under minimal supervision
• Experience with diverse knowledge systems and communities, such as systems thinking, intellectual humility, communications, facilitation, and other skills and capacities that support inclusive and effective engagement.
• Experience with addressing and overcoming academic silos and other artificial barriers that prevent collaborative inquiry and inclusive knowledge generation. These include system-level barriers to global and institutional collaboration such as accreditation rules and academic cultures of exclusivity.
  
  

Preferred

• Master's degree
• Fluency in French, Portuguese, or Spanish.
  
  

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.