Chief Conservation Officer (WWF)

JOB DESCRIPTION

• Position title: Chief Conservation Officer (CCO), WWF-Viet Nam
• Reports to: Chief Executive Officer, WWF-Viet Nam
• Supervises: Mekong Delta Landscape Lead, Conservation Practice Leads, NbS Lead, Policy & Advocacy Lead, USAID Chief of Party
• Location: Ha Noi, Viet Nam
• Date: Jan 2024

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home - the Earth?

Working at WWF could be your opportunity of a lifetime.

All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realization that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.

Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and wildlife.

What we do

We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainably.

About WWF-Viet Nam

WWF-Viet Nam was one of the first International non-government organizations working in Viet Nam. In 1985, WWF-Viet Nam began working on a national conservation strategy and since then has worked closely with the Vietnamese Government on a diverse range of environmental issues and implemented field activities across the country. Find out more at http://vietnam.panda.org/. WWF-Viet Nam recognizes that its employees are its most important asset. A competent workforce, thoroughly trained, properly motivated and bound together by mutual trust and common objectives is crucial to the success of WWF-Viet Nam.

We are looking for a committed, result-driven candidate for the position of Chief Conservation Officer (CCO), WWF-Viet Nam, based in Ha Noi.

Major Function

The CCO is a member of Country Management Team and will oversee the development, design and implementation of a country conservation strategy that delivers the greatest impact. The role ensures the fulfilment of WWF’s mission of ‘people living in harmony with nature’ by ensuring high impact conservation work, while contributing to people and development in Viet Nam. The position will provide thought leadership on key issues at the highest organisational level, in order to lead the strategic planning, conservation strategy and future institutional development of WWF-Viet Nam, enabling WWF-Viet Nam to not only be recognised as a leading conservation INGO in Viet Nam but also to play a significant role in the WWF Network.

The role has significant partnership and fundraising responsibilities; s/he will ensure that WWF-Viet Nam develops and maintains relationships with Government Aid Agencies (GAA), Foundations, Trusts, strategic corporate partners and the WWF Network; s/he will be responsible to oversee the Resource Mobilisation function to ensure the effective fundraising capacity in order to deliver conservation goals of the Country Office Strategic Plan, aligned with the Asia Pacific Regional Strategy and the Global Goals of the WWF Network.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop a common understanding of national priorities, regional trends and opportunities for delivering impact aligned with country conservation objectives and Practice Outcomes/Global Goals;
• Lead development, monitoring, reporting, and evaluating the country’s overall Strategic Plan, and specifically practice/drivers conservation strategies;
• Be accountable for the delivery of high-level conservation successes through the implementation of WWF-Viet Nam’s conservation programs as prescribed in the WWF-Viet Nam Strategic Plan;
• Be accountable for resource management of the Conservation Department;
• Provide timely advice to CEO, on emerging opportunities and challenges for conservation delivery at country level;
• Identify and prioritise the most promising opportunities for external partnerships to support delivering impact at country level;
• Ensure WWF’s conservation work on the ground is aligned to its social policies, clearly upholding the human rights of people and communities;
• Actively establish and monitor progress against social policy indicators across conservation programmes;
• Accelerate the development, design and implementation of the high-quality country-level programmes and projects, fully compliant with quality assurance and safeguards frameworks;
• Partner with CEO to identify and pursue crucial opportunities for joint action with other conservation groups locally and regionally, to co-lead and promote unified conservation agendas such as the global New Deal for Nature and People;
• Facilitate collaboration frameworks, guide and provide oversight and support for seamless delivery of - transboundary conservation initiatives;
• Lead an innovation agenda which supports the Practices in uncovering innovations within the country geographies and advise on how these can be best supported, incubated, prototyped and accelerated;
• Identify and address capacity and operational constraints to the effective implementation of programme strategies and Practice Initiatives (if applicable) at country level;
• Identify policy opportunities in line with both country conservation and Practice Strategies and represent WWF-Viet Nam in relevant fora;
• Represent WWF-Viet Nam with local partners and help to manage these relationships;
• Provide inputs to communications products/campaigns to ensure accurate information is published to promote the image of WWF-Viet Nam and its conservation activities;
• Act as spokesperson for conservation issues in the country to the media, WWF Network, partners and the outside world when required and in coordination with the Country Director and communications team;
• Ensure that WWF- Viet Nam has established solid baselines and SMART indicators for its biodiversity targets and footprint objectives at programme and project levels;
• Ensure effective performance monitoring of the implementation of conservation plans, by promoting timely and effective reporting against agreed Dashboard and KPIs, based on annual and strategic plans;
• Participate in and take up policy and partnership level engagement as necessary to influence change at all levels;
• Network, in collaboration with other country offices, and key government and private sector institutions, to grow key stakeholders/partners toward influencing conservation impact at scale;
• Support learning and ensure development of global communities of practice on best practices and partnerships for delivering conservation outcomes, practice initiatives and operational excellence;
• Undertake other tasks as requested and agreed with the CEO;
• Provide overall supervision to the Resource Mobilisation function to ensure the development and implementation of a Fundraising Strategy that effectively supports the delivery of the conservation goals of the Country Office Strategic Plan, aligned with the Regional Strategy and Global Goals.

Profile

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in business management, conservation, natural resource management, development studies, relevant fields or equivalent experience;
• At least 10 years’ experience in the development and/ or environment field, including, ideally, at least three years in the WWF network;
• Familiar with conservation and natural resource management issues in Viet Nam and/ or Greater Mekong Region;
• A demonstrable understanding of biodiversity issues related to forests, species, wildlife trade, freshwater ecosystems and climate change;
• Excellent understanding of development partnerships: fund-raising, donor strategies, and international relations;
• Experience in developing and writing project proposals to government aid agencies and foundations;
• Successful fundraising experience with large-scale, multi country proposals (>5M USD);
• Experience of working and negotiating with Government bodies, donors and partner at all levels.

Required Skills and Competencies:

• Strong leadership skills;
• Strategic thinking and development of strategic plans;
• Report writing skills for a variety of audiences;
• Proposal development and writing skills for a variety of donor sectors;
• Excellent representation, presentation, communications, public speaking and negotiation skills;
• Interpersonal and influencing skills;
• English fluency;
• Identifies and aligns with the core values of WWF: Courage, Collaboration, Respect & Integrity.
• Adheres to WWF’s brand values, which are: Knowledgeable, Optimistic, Determined and Engaging.

Working Relationships

• Internal: Interact on a regular basis with Regional Management Team members, Regional Hub and Initiative, Technical Advisors from WWF-Asia Pacific, Regional and Global Programs. Engage with and support WWF Greater Mekong Hub staff. Coordinate and consult with Fundraising Unit at WWF International and other WWF Network staff, especially those who have relations with partners in the region (e.g., PSP Gatekeepers in the National Offices).
• External: Interact with senior government staff, government aid agencies, other donors, partnership organisations, specialists and consultants and other stakeholders

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organisational needs.

Requirement

• Master’s degree in business management, conservation, natural resource management, development studies, relevant fields, or equivalent experience.
• At least 10 years’ experience in the development and/ or environment field, including, ideally, at least three years in the WWF network.
• Familiar with conservation and natural resource management issues in Viet Nam and/ or Greater Mekong Region.
• A demonstrable understanding of biodiversity issues related to forests, species, wildlife trade, freshwater ecosystems, and climate change.
• Excellent understanding of development partnerships: fund-raising, donor strategies, and international relations.
• Identifies and aligns with the core values of the WWF organization: Courage, Collaboration, Respect & Integrity.
• Adheres to WWF’s values, which are: Knowledgeable, Optimistic, Determined and Engaging.

How to apply

• The detailed JDs are attached to this mail. Send us your curriculum vitae & cover letter in English, naming each file: “Fullname - CV/CL”.
• Please send your applications to recruitment.vn@wwf.org.vn stating in the subject line: CCO - Fullname 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

“WWF is an equal opportunity employer and committed to having a diverse workforce.”

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