Principal Officer, Global Conservation Initiatives

About the position The principal officer, Global Conservation Initiatives, Ocean Finance Lead, develops and implements a three-year pilot program with the Alliance that seeks to help three countries develop national marine finance strategies in pursuit of 30x30. This position works closely with the Alliance’s Conservation Finance Delivery Team, Country Leads, Conservation Finance Technical Lead, and Outreach and Resource Mobilization Lead. Reporting to the senior director, global conservation initiatives, the principal officer provides strategic oversight and coordination of program objectives such as cost models and marine finance plans, participates in high-level engagements with government agencies, financial institutions, donors, and NGOs, and coordinates between the core executing partners of the Alliance. Located in Pew’s Washington, DC, office, this position participates in Pew’s hybrid work program with core days in the office and the flexibility to telework the remaining days. Staff also enjoy four telework “flex weeks” per year. Committed funding is in place for this role through December 2027.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and operations of the pilot program over three years, providing strategic direction, vision, coordination, resource management, and supervision.
• Manage the program budget and oversee grant implementation, guaranteeing efficient and effective use of resources to reach the desired results of the project in accordance with the procedures of the donor.
• Oversee the work of multiple vendors and contractors supporting in-country efforts.
• Establish effective reporting, evaluation, and communication systems and direct the preparation of annual work plans and progress reports.
• Provide guidance and oversight over deliverables, such as financial models, financing mechanism analysis, and national marine financing plans, and oversee the completion of all technical requirements for said deliverables.
• Communicate with Alliance leadership and serve as the primary Alliance representative on the project and liaison with all internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as an active member of the Alliance Conservation Finance delivery team and Pew environment portfolio’s conservation finance community of practice, led by the portfolio’s conservation support team.
• Engage with potential funders, government donors, and financial institutions to mobilize financial resources and structure deals.
• Represent Blue Nature Alliance publicly at conferences, seminars, and official forums and by authoring articles for newspapers, magazines, peer-reviewed journals, online publications, and social media platforms.
• Participate in activities that support program and Alliance’s objectives.
• Foster a work environment that inspires excellence, values impact, encourages transparency, builds mutual trust and respect, embraces and values diversity, and is collaborative, caring, and compassionate.
• Lead, guide and mentor network team members of the project including technical experts who are employed by partner organizations, contractors around the globe, and staff who participate in the Alliance conservation finance delivery team.

Requirements

• Proven leadership including skills in conservation finance, marine conservation, strategic planning, management, supervision, and budgeting.
• Experience and knowledge of relevant donor regulations, policies and procedures with demonstrated success managing international projects of similar scope and scale.
• Experience leading and guiding in a matrix organizational structure.
• Proven aptitude to engage and collaborate effectively and establish strong working relationships with senior representatives of national and local government, the private sector, and civil society.
• Demonstrated experience implementing projects with rigorous timelines and deliverables and tracking program quality through donor-approved monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Superb technical and analytical skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with written and oral English fluency required.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience; advanced degree in relevant discipline preferred.
• Generally, ten years of applicable experience, including staff, project, and/or consultant management experience, with a focus on implementing multi-sector programs on the international stage.

Nice-to-haves

• Deep conservation finance background, including general understanding of the development of robust cost models for conservation and identification, design, establishment of finance mechanisms and marine conservation.
• Skilled at working productively with a wide array of stakeholder groups, including governments; interpersonal skills that exhibit diplomacy and cultural sensitivity.
• Demonstrates experience or capacity to fully operate programs with a high degree of independence.

Benefits

• comprehensive, affordable health care through medical, dental, and vision coverage
• financial security with life and disability insurance
• opportunities to save using health savings and flexible spending accounts
• retirement benefits to help prepare for the future
• work/life benefits to maintain a good balance