About Rare

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For 50 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. We are a global leader in driving social change for people and nature and believe that the cumulative power of individual and community action is a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands, and climate.  Rare’s organizational culture is results-oriented, and entrepreneurial, and our global programs cover the thematic areas of climate change, fisheries and marine conservation, sustainable agriculture food security, and Green Recovery.

Project Overview

Spanning 5,358.93 km², the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS) is the Philippines’ largest Marine Protected Area (MPA). However, its globally significant ecosystem is under pressure from human exploitation and climate change. Despite its status as an IUCN category V MPA, effective management and protection of the TSPS are considered to be weak, due to various constraints. As a result, fisher families face declining fish catch and deteriorating livelihoods.

Rare, in partnership with Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), aims to enhance the effective and inclusive management of the TSPS through Atong Tañon, a project that aims to unlock the effective management of the Philippines’ largest Marine Protected Area. It will work to address the key challenges related to governance and regulations, technical capacity, enforcement, sustainable financing, as well as community participation and livelihood opportunities.

Position Overview

Rare is looking to onboard a talented professional to fill the role of Senior Manager, Program Implementation who will provide strategic leadership and management in the planning, execution, tracking, and coordination of the key programmatic interventions for the effective and sustainable management of the TSPS. The position holder will perform a range of high-level supervision in site operations, stakeholder management and engagement, collaborative partnerships, and delivery of targets in alignment with the goals of the project. S/he will provide strategic, operational, and technical guidance by leveraging current and exploring new opportunities and influence stakeholders to advance the program objectives.

This position is based in San Carlos City.

Essential Functions

Program Strategy, Leadership, and Technical Oversight

• Develop a strategic plan and budget that will guide the execution of programmatic interventions on management effectiveness and enforcement by leveraging the revision cycle of the TSPS’s General Management Plan (2026-2035).
• Work with the Training Manager in enhancing the capacity of the partners by crafting a training program that identifies, analyzes, and addresses the competency requirements, gaps, and over-all training needs of the government partners. The training program is envisioned to capacitate the partners for long-term financial planning and sustainable management of the TSPS.
• Work to improve the enforcement of fishing and conservation regulations, including the concretization of the project’s plan to deploy cutting-edge surveillance technology that efficiently connects enforcement authorities with 250 deputized and capacitated fish wardens.
  • Define measures to materialize sustainable finance through the project’s aim to double the financial utilization from the Integrated Protected Area Fund (IPAF) towards effective management and enforcement measures.
  • Design financial inclusion structures and sustainable livelihood programs that support the improvement of fisheries value chains and provision of alternative income opportunities.
  • Foster and infuse principles of gender-equality and coastal and marine protection in the creation of programs and frameworks.
• Act as lead in forging relevant alliances and collaborations such as the Five Inter-Local Government Unit (Inter-LGU) Alliances, which is to be empowered to harmonize policies and coordination between higher level government and local communities, ensuring inclusive approaches to management effectiveness.
  • Create mechanisms, opportunities, and tools to share best practices with the Department for Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior Local Government (DILG), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the Coastal 500 network for peer-peer learning, positioning TSPS as a model for marine protected area governance in the Philippines.
  • Apply methods and approaches that facilitate engagement from community members in crucial processes such as decision-making, developing solutions, or designing/planning activities.
  • Ensure clarity of roles and goals, regular discussion and exchanges, and active engagement among the partners and contractors.
  • Serve as thought partner and collaborator to partners, encouraging inclusivity and participation in decision-making, developing solutions and designing/planning activities.
• Take over-all responsibility of the program ensuring strategic alignment, timely and high-quality delivery of goals, efficient management of resources, and provision of team guidance.
  • Prepare, manage, and monitor workplans, budgets, contracts, and sub-agreements
  • Identify, analyze, and manage issues and risks
  • Ensure project finances and expenditures are in line with implementation plans so that early detection of under or over expenditure is appropriately addressed and projects end on-budget
  • In coordination with MEL Lead and Global Team, lead the development of an agreed monitoring and evaluation plan for the project, including a minimum set of indicators required by the donor and by Rare, ensuring alignment with the Global M&E Plan for Fish Forever
  • In coordination with the country team and FF central teams, identify gaps in capacities and systems and proposes solutions to improve the project operations.
• Responsible for maintaining donor relationships, ensuring that high quality donor reports are completed and submitted in a timely manner and regular and up-to-date communication with the donor and with Rare.
• Ensure that project implementation is regularly assessed and monitored, changes flagged, and potential solutions identified and shared with country team and Rare central teams.
• Lead the development, implementation, tracking, control, and evaluation of program strategy, plans, and resources, ensuring that risks are researched, analyzed, and mitigated.
• Manage, coach, and mentor the project team to optimize project team and program performance. 
• Devise communication strategy and plan to generate and convey project information in a timely, accurate, and effective manner, according to prescribed standards.

Education and Experience

• Degree in Sociology, Economics, Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, Finance, Social Sciences or other related fields.
• Demonstrated experience in program and project leadership and management, organizational development, strategy development, community development, partnership management, and negotiation and risk management skills
• Proven experience in facilitating inclusive and participatory processes to amplify engagement and leadership of local communities.
• Solid experience in working with diverse stakeholders including government partners, coastal communities, and others.
• Demonstrated knowledge on financial and gender inclusion in designing programs.
• Comfortable working with coastal communities, a multi-stakeholder and multi-cultural environment.
• Comfortable in managing ambiguities and a critical thinker
• Strategic and results oriented
• Willingness to work flexible hours to accommodate virtual, international meetings, and support main program partners with challenging schedules
• Has strong verbal and written communication skills in English and Filipino. Ability to speak Cebuano is an advantage.

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.