The Nature Conservancy
JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE:
MANAGING DIRECTOR,
GLOBAL FRESHWATER TEAM
JOB FAMILY:
JOB NUMBER:
SALARY GRADE:
FLSA STATUS:
Conservation
250014
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Exempt
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
 BA/BS degree and 15 years experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and
experience.
 Experience in fundraising, particularly in identifying donor prospects and donor cultivation.
 Experience in designing, implementing, and directing complex or multiple projects of strategic importance,
including managing finances and supervising multidisciplinary professionals.
 Experience working with current trends and practices in sustainable water management and freshwater
conservation, including diversity of challenges across global regions.
 Experience in partnership development (corporations, community leaders, governments, non-profit
organizations, etc.) in multiple countries; experience with high-level conservation contacts.
 Experience working with methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives.
 Experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives involving multiple countries.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The Managing Director provides strategic leadership, management, and support for freshwater conservation, one
of the Conservancy’s top priorities. The Managing Director will lead the Global Freshwater Team, which focuses
on four key strategies: reducing the impact of water infrastructure development, reducing agriculture’s footprint
on freshwater resources, improving water management for both people and nature, and advancing system-scale
conservation and management of iconic great rivers around the world. S/he also provides overall coordination of
freshwater conservation initiatives across the organization, including developing opportunities for capacity
building. S/he serves as the principle freshwater contact to government agencies, other conservation
organizations, foundations and the academic community. S/he will work with philanthropy staff on donor
identification, cultivation, and stewardship. S/he works with staff to disseminate best practices and provide
training and analyses on thematic issues. Job duties include the following:
 Advances the Conservancy’s role as a global conservation leader.
 Works with the Chief Conservation Officer, the Chief Conservation Strategy Officer, the managing directors
for Climate Change, Marine, and Conservation Lands, and the Executive Team to establish clear objectives
for the organization’s freshwater efforts and the specific contributions of the Global Freshwater Team, along
with a timeline for achieving those objectives.
 Responsible for preparation of annual budgets for the Global Freshwater Team as well as periodic progress
reports against annual goals and objectives.
 Leads and manages a cross-functional team which designs, implements, and supports freshwater
conservation strategies.
 Accountable for raising public and private funds to meet annual budget needs for the Global Freshwater
Team, support growth in freshwater capacity, and support other organization-wide freshwater initiatives.
 Plays a leading role in managing major public agency and elected official relationships.
 Provides mechanisms for organization-wide dialogue, learning, and capacity building on freshwater.
 Works with key partners to develop and communicate solutions and best practices.
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Oversees development of innovative scientific methods, analyses, tools, and frameworks to advance and
measure freshwater conservation.
Negotiates complex and innovative solutions with government agencies, water managers, and landowners to
conserve and protect freshwater ecosystems and species.
This position will report to the Chief Conservation Officer. Location to be determined but must be in U.S.
location where TNC has an existing office or a country where TNC is legally registered and has an existing
office.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
 BA/BS degree and 15+ years experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and
experience. MA/MS strongly preferred.
 Demonstrated experience influencing, developing and implementing conservation policy and plans at the
regional, national and/or country/international level.
 Experience motivating team members, setting goals, and leading efforts.
 Proven ability to manage time and diverse activities under deadlines while delivering quality results.
 Proven ability to communicate clearly via written, spoken and graphical means in English. Ability to speak
other language(s) preferred.
 Successful experience in developing, directing and managing multiple projects.
 Demonstrated success as an inspirational manager who has successfully motivated staff to achieve and
sustain excellence.
 Demonstrated leadership and visionary qualities and able to work effectively with and through others in a
decentralized and geographically dispersed organization.
 Successful experience in partnership development (partners, community, government, etc) including
extensive networking with high-level conservation contacts; political savvy.
COMPLEXITY/PROBLEM SOLVING:
 Negotiates complex and sensitive agreements, sometimes in political or high tension environments.
 Develops and implements creative ideas to improve overall performance in conservation strategies.
 Formulates, evaluates and determines broad organizational policies and long-term programs.
 Anticipates, diagnoses and resolves complex problems and identifies creative solutions.
 Designs, implements and directs complex and diverse projects, encompassing multiple programs and
coordinating the work of other professionals, inside and outside the organization. Incorporates crossdisciplinary knowledge to support program objectives.
 Highly diversified work involves participation in the formulation and evaluation of broad policies and/or
long-term programs, or making decisions which typically have broad organizational impact.
 Directs major program of strategic importance to the Conservancy through management of multi-disciplinary
teams.
DISCRETION/LATITUDE/DECISION-MAKING:
 Assesses potential impact of decisions on colleagues’ work, public image, scientific credibility, and financial
and legal standings.
 Makes decisions based on incomplete or ambiguous information and accepts associated risks.
 Makes independent strategic decisions frequently based on analysis, experience, and judgment.
 Decisions may affect organization’s public image.
 Decisions may have maximum financial and/or legal impact on the organization.
RESPONSIBILITY/OVERSIGHT – FINANCIAL AND SUPERVISORY:
 Broad management and leadership responsibility.
 Recruit, retain and manage high quality and effective multi-disciplinary staff with responsibility for
performance management, training and career development.
 Establish clear directions and set stretch objectives.
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Management responsibility for 10+ staff members.
Develops long-term strategies and achieves strategic goals and objectives.
Identify, cultivate and solicit major donors in support of program activities.
Overall responsibility for financial management of program, including setting financial goals, analyzing
results and taking corrective actions.
Ensure that programmatic commitments, financial standards and legal requirements are met.
Ensures that program complies with TNC policies and procedures and external (donor/legal) requirements.
COMMUNICATIONS/INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS:
 Builds cooperative relationships and collaborates with diverse groups, including land owners, conservation
partners, government officials, donors, board members and the general public to recruit support for the
Conservancy and publicize Conservancy efforts.
 Commands attention, changes tactics midstream as necessary and manages group processes during
presentations or discussions.
 May speak with and in front of varied audiences on scientific topics and the Conservancy’s mission; interacts
and provides input/guidance to senior managers.
 Ability to establish excellent working relationships with outside partners, government agencies, land
managers, private landowners and the academic community. Leverages constructive and effective
relationships inside and outside the Conservancy.
 Works effectively in high-tension situations and maintains composure under pressure. Diffuses high-tension
situations comfortably.
 Works and communicates effectively with a diverse group of people, including scientists, conservation staff
and others, providing and obtaining needed information.
 Possesses ability to articulate lessons learned regarding conservation initiative successes and failures.
 Possesses ability to simplify and explain complex scientific data to general audiences.
 Creates and communicates a compelling vision; practices the Conservancy’s core values.
WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL EFFORT:
The Managing Director may work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous
terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances. These conditions may:
 Require occasional physical exertion and/or muscular strain;
 Present occasional possibility of injury; and/or
 Require long hours in isolated settings.
This position may also:
 Require frequent travel both inside and outside the U.S.; and/or
 Require evening and weekend hours.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 15, 2011
HOW TO APPLY:
Visit www.nature.org/careers and apply to job #12992. Complete entire application form, and then attach your
resume and cover letter as a single document. You must click “Save and Submit” to apply for the position.
Click “Save” if you want to be able to return to your application and submit it later. Once submitted,
applications cannot be revised or edited. All applications must be submitted in the system by April 15, 2011.
The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Visit us at www.nature.org
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