Rare Overview:

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For over 45 years, across 60 countries, we have inspired and empowered millions of people and their communities to shift their behaviors and practices to protect our shared planet.

Fish Forever is Rare’s global initiative to restore near-shore fisheries in the developing tropics.  Fish Forever’s goal is to improve fishery productivity, profitability and sustainability while also boosting livelihoods, protecting habitats and enhancing coastal resilience to climate change.

Position Overview:

The Manager, Program Implementation supports the overall planning, implementation, and review of all projects within the Philippines and supports technical matters such as Managed Access Area and Reserve (MA +R) management, Fisheries Policy Development and Law Enforcement, and program monitoring and evaluations. The Manager will travel to project sites to conduct project planning and related activities based on agreed timelines and scope.

Primary Areas of Responsibility:

The Manager, Program Implementation, will exercise independent judgment regarding the following areas of significance:

Program Implementation

• Ensure that Fish Forever implementation achieves the basic principles of rights-based fisheries and community-based fisheries management through its core strategy of establishing managed access + reserves (MA +R);
• Lead program management, including integrated planning, budget leveraging, site-level oversight in implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and contribute to cluster-wide reporting;
• Generally, is primarily responsible in determining and coordinating the sharing of resources within the cluster to the overall benefit of the program;
• Sign off site-level roadmaps, to include the optimal mix of interventions and program approaches that can deliver functional MA +R supported by behavior change and economic resilience strategies;
• Ensuring that that site operations are aligned with overall Fish Forever standards and technical approaches; and,
• Provide staff supervision whenever appropriate.

Technical Support for Program Implementation

• Lead as resource person and expert on marine protected areas and governance and fisheries management topics and modules during capacity building activities at the sites to capacitate
• Managed Access + Reserve (MA+R) Management Boards and other site implementation partners;
• Act as coach/mentor to co-delivery partners such as provincial/regional collaborators to improve their partners’ capacities to support program implementation;
• Work closely with the Site Implementing Partners (province, LGUs and alliances, others) in the smooth execution of the program strategies particularly on governance, enforcement and monitoring aspect in each of the sites including:

Partnership Management

• Actively engage mayors in understanding, championing and supporting sustainable fisheries in their LGUs and alliances through the Coastal 500 network, Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs), Municipal Fisheries Ordinances (MFOs), and allocation of budget and personnel support to Fish Forever events and activities;
• Continuously scan for opportunities and prospects for partnership with other stakeholders to support sites and cluster-wide program implementation;
• Explore/Tap and manage co-delivery partnerships at the provincial/regional level for their continued support of site implementation;
• Support inter-municipal opportunities such as alliance building and be co-cognizant of the potential risks of such strategies; and,
• Manage and coordinate with other assisting organizations including leveraging of resources for each of the implementation sites, i.e., BFAR, DENR, provincial government, alliances and people’s organizations, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations supporting the program implementation.  

Reporting

• Participate in Program Implementation Team and other team meetings and communicate activities and progress and final outcomes of each program;
• Regularly input implementation progress data and other relevant information on the designated program tracker;
• Whenever possible represent the Program Implementation Team and/or Rare in community and LGU meetings, external partners’ meetings and staff meetings;
• Assist the Program Implementation Team and other teams in crafting presentations, reports, and other related materials about the program implementation, on marine governance and other activities;
• Capture experiences, insights, best practices and success stories from the field for sharing with other Fish Forever implementers and a wider circle of sustainable fisheries advocates, practitioners and decision-makers;
• Give presentations at staff meetings, other group gatherings, and in implementation sites as appropriate;
• Document lessons and project accomplishments and contribute to periodic reports to donors, knowledge management, and development of toolkits; and,

Project Finance and Administration

• In coordination with the Program Implementation Director and the Shared Services Group, and with guidance from the Finance Team, formulate annual work plans and budgets for their assigned cluster/s;
• Prepare event plans and estimate costs for activities following the annual work plan and budget, and coordinate with the Site Implementation Officers (SIOs) on logistical arrangements for the events onsite;
• Comply with cash management, procurement, and acquittal of project expenses, in accordance with Rare financial management guidelines, processes and systems;
• Review and monitor the program budget in accordance with Rare financial management guidelines, processes and systems;
• Assist implementing partners in preparing work and financial plans; and,
• Support project & program reporting, both financial and programmatic.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in fisheries, biology, marine biology, environmental science, social science, community development or relevant field; a master’s degree is a plus;
• At least 5 years’ experience in a multi-cultural office and team-based environment with a track record in assisting local governments and building organizational capacities of environmental/fisheries management organizations, community-based people’s organizations, and/or NGOs;
• Demonstrated program management skills in a development setting; preferably with training in project management;
  Experience in strengthening marine protected areas, fisheries governance and/or coastal resource management in partnership with local government units or with related experience in other conservation initiatives or community development programs;
• Knowledge of integrating/mainstreaming gender and climate change in local development plans and programs;
• Excellent skills in event organizing and facilitation, training management and delivery for various stakeholders including LGU partners and community-based organizations;
• Capacity to provide coaching to LGU and community partners;
• Experience in applying social marketing and/or behavior change interventions;
• Experience in writing development/conservation/management plans such as MPA management plans, coastal and fisheries resources management plans, eco-tourism development plans, and related plan documents;
• Must be adept in computer programs such as MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, with strong knowledge or experience in using mobile apps for productivity or business application and social media;
• Excellent oral a­nd written communication skills in English; proficiency in Filipino and any of the local languages in the assigned sites (including Cebuano) is preferred;
• Good interpersonal skills with the proven ability to build good working relationships both internally and externally;
• Willing and able to travel within the country;
• Skills in GIS mapping, graphic design and editing, and audio-visual production a plus.

Rare is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply.