Location:

There is a strong preference for this position to be based in the Philippines or Indonesia. Please note that you must already be authorized to work in one of these countries to be considered for the role. 

About Rare & Fish Forever

Rare is a global non-profit with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, USA, and teams based in over 10 countries. It focuses on people and behavior-centered solutions to environmental challenges, and has issue-specific programs focused on regenerative agriculture, climate change, and coastal waters, with cross-cutting programs on behavior science and innovative finance.

Fish Forever is Rare’s coastal waters initiative. It is an innovative global movement to transform the management of near-shore ecosystems and fisheries. It has ambitious goals to combat chronic overfishing, recover fish stocks, and protect the most biologically diverse marine habitats while building local leadership capacity to ensure sustainability. The impact of this work can increase the economic value of local fisheries, ensure food security, and contribute to the climate change resilience of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Fish Forever focuses on implementing areas that combine the protection of critical habitats with sustainable use practices tied to secure preferential rights for local fishing communities. Its team works at multiple levels, from communities and networks of local governments to sub-national, national, and global levels, to help build capacity, create or strengthen enabling conditions, and enhance collective action.

To date, Fish Forever is working in 8 countries (Brazil, FSM, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Mozambique, Palau, and the Philippines), and has an ambitious scale strategy for expansion within existing and new geographies. It has grown rapidly over the last 10 years, and now has over 100 staff spread out across 5 continents. Its senior leadership team, the Fish Forever Leadership Team or FFLT, includes 5 country/region leads, 4 shared service team leads, and a managing director.

Position Overview

The Director for Program Development & Special Projects will work directly and closely with the Fish Forever Managing Director (based in the Philippines) and its Leadership Team. They will play a key role in ensuring alignment, identifying and supporting the implementation of opportunities, and anticipating risks as the program implements its ambitious scale strategy. They will need to collaborate closely with members of the FFLT as well as Rare’s cross-cutting programs (Center for Behavior and Environment and Innovative Finance) to facilitate agreement around goals and troubleshoot and support agreed-upon actions. They will also provide programmatic inputs to Rare/organizational initiatives or products, such as presentations to the Board, internal and external communications, etc.

They will ensure that the Fish Forever Leadership Team operates optimally, in alignment with individual roles and responsibilities, is agile enough to respond to opportunities, and is increasing its capacity for growth. They will function as the Managing Director’s Chief of Staff with an action-oriented lens to ensure priorities are moving forward and needs are being met.

Responsibilities:

Strategy Management

Working closely with the Fish Forever MD and Leadership Team, the Director for Program Development & Special Projects shall:

• Track progress on the implementation of the FF 3.0 Strategy, identifying areas that need further attention or development, including managing the process for goal and target setting aligned with funding opportunities.
• Develop the Fish Forever Annual Operations Plan, linked to its Departmental Balanced Scorecard, which will guide country and shared services teams in their own planning and review processes.
• Convene and project manage working groups as needed to review progress and adaptively manage specific elements of the strategy, such as the prototyping of lighter touch ‘supported’ and ‘influenced’ delivery pathways by country teams.
• Continuously ensure that Fish Forever teams, Rare leadership and staff, and partners and funders have an updated understanding of the Fish Forever strategy, as it evolves and adapts to shifting contexts and opportunities.

Fish Forever Leadership Team

The Director for Program Development and Special Projects shall work to ensure optimal effectiveness of the FFLT by:

• Develop the FFLT work plan, to include special projects/opportunities that arise.
• Plan and lead bi-monthly FFLT meetings and oversee follow-through as needed.
• Convene and project manage sub-groups as needed to address shared issues/opportunities that may arise as a result of the work.

Fish Forever and Rare Internal Communications

In partnership with the FFLT, this position will ensure clear, consistent, and inclusive communications regarding the program across Fish Forever’s leadership and staff. This will include but is not limited to:

• Support the Program Operations team on the design of monthly All-Fins calls.
• Bi-monthly report-outs/interaction with the FFLT to complement FF Progress Updates.
• Provide Fish Forever program input to Rare All Staff Calls, internal emails from leadership, and board engagement materials.

Special Projects and Other Needs

This position will also directly support the FF Managing Director in:

• Developing new opportunities that are still under exploration and have not yet been assigned to specific teams, e.g., new forms of support in new geographies.
• Direct supervision and coaching of the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director to support professional development and increased effectiveness.

Position Requirements

• At least 10 years of experience in strategy and program development, preferably in the environmental or social development sector.
• Organized, with advanced program management skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, capable of nuanced and culturally competent interactions.
• Demonstrates clear leadership competencies, but is also willing to do the work themself.
• Seen as a facilitator and bridge-builder.
• Embraces ambiguity and change, excited by possibilities.
• Fluency in English (verbal and written) is required. Fluency in one or more of the following languages is strongly preferred: Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa, Tagalog.

Rare is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.