Global Director, Indigenous and Community Leadership in Conservation

The Nature Conservancy

24d•$122,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

The Global Director of Indigenous and Community Leadership in Conservation (ICLC) is a bold, strategic, and visionary leader responsible for advancing one of TNC’s most critical global priorities. Reporting to the Global Managing Director, Equitable Conservation, this position will lead a global team and is responsible for advancing Indigenous and Community Leadership in Conservation as a cross-cutting transformative practice across TNC. The Director supervises a small, specialized global unit and works through a complex matrix of regional, country, and global teams, providing strategic leadership, influence, and coordination to advance shared conservation outcomes with and for Indigenous Peoples, Tribal Nations, and local communities. This role will drive a global strategy that advances Indigenous and community leadership across TNC’s conservation work, shape how TNC delivers on its 2030 goals and beyond through equitable, durable, and community-led outcomes, influence systems, financing, partnerships, and governance to align with self-determined stewardship and rights-based approaches, and partner with Equitable Conservation teammates on a vision of biocultural restoration for the planet. The Global Director, ICLC operates at the most senior levels of the organization, leading across boundaries to catalyze change at scale and position TNC as a global leader in shifting power to communities. The Global Director, ICLC leads the design and execution of a global transformative practice that crosscuts all of TNC’s work. The Director leads a global team of ~6 staff, works across regions and functions, and engages senior internal and external stakeholders to accelerate a shift toward conservation models rooted in equity, rights, and local leadership. They lead the global strategy of Indigenous and Community Leadership in Conservation, partnering closely with regional and global teams as well as local communities, rightsholders and stakeholders to deliver conservation outcomes that respect and advance Indigenous rights and sovereignty. They will manage a team toward a vision of self-determination. They provide strategic direction, organizational influence, and management oversight to ensure that Indigenous and community leadership is embedded in conservation outcomes, partnerships, and systems. They also have the ability to understand enabling conditions as they shift, and adjust strategy and team accordingly, while grounded in global community reality and expectations. They serve as the primary spokesperson for TNC to internal and external audiences (including staff, volunteers, Board of Trustees, public and private donors, government agencies and officials, community leaders and other partners) and cultivates these audiences to support and promote TNC’s mission and vision. This role is remote and can be based in Angola, Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada (Alberta, Ontario, or Northwest Territories only), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Gabon, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Papau New Guinea, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, USA, or Zambia. This role may include travel up to 25% of total time.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and minimum of 7 years of experience as a leader in the conservation arena, non-profit sector, advocacy, or related for-profit area
Majority of experience gained outside the U.S. with an emphasis on the global south along with a demonstrated commitment to developing and practicing global literacy (Please do not apply if you do not have this.)
Management experience including leading and managing a global multi-disciplinary team
Experience working in or as a partner to global, matrixed organizations
Written and verbal fluency in English is required
People management experience, whether direct supervision or project supervision
Executive decision-making abilities and a bias for strategy-driven approaches
Experience communicating with and presenting to diverse audiences including donors, board members, employees, outside partners, or equivalent

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree and minimum of 10+ years’ experience as a proven leader in the conservation arena, advocacy, Indigenous and tribal governance or related area
Deep professional and/or lived expertise in Indigenous rights, community leadership, governance and/or equitable conservation
Extensive management experience including ability to motivate, lead, set objectives, and manage performance of a large multi-disciplinary team towards established vision
Demonstrated ability to influence organizational strategy and systems
Success as an inspirational leader who has successfully motivated staff to achieve and sustain excellence. Proven managerial talent in budgeting, staffing, and performance management
Experience in fundraising and budget management
High energy, forward thinking, creative individual with high ethical standards. Outstanding leadership and visionary qualities and able to work effectively with and through others in a decentralized and geographically dispersed organization
Proven technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus. Demonstrated operational, implementation and detail-oriented perspective
Well organized and self-directed; politically savvy and a team player

Responsibilities

Lead and evolve TNC’s global ICLC strategy, ensuring alignment with team and organizational priorities as well as external movements
Translate vision into actionable frameworks, priorities, partnerships and investments, including evaluation and adaptive management
Drive integration of ICLC across conservation, climate and policy programs and influence high-level decision-making
Embed Indigenous and community leadership into core programmatic strategies
Advance strategies for governance and decision-making, funding allocation and finance mechanisms, and external partnerships
Position ICLC as a central driver of conservation impact and organizational transformation, influencing global and regional conservation strategies and outcomes
Strengthen organizational capacity to partner effectively with Indigenous Peoples and local communities
Lead and manage a global, multi-disciplinary and geographically dispersed team
Build a high-performing, inclusive culture aligned with TNC’s values
Serve on Conservation Leadership Team and Equitable Conservation Leadership Team as an expert on Indigenous-led approaches
Develop a succession plan for ICLC leadership
Serve as a global thought leader and spokesperson for Indigenous and community-led conservation
Build and sustain partnerships with Indigenous leaders and community organizations, as well as global NGOs, multilaterals and funders
Represent TNC in global forums and influence the broader conservation and climate fields
Advance and support global fundraising and donor engagement strategies
Align resources and investments with ICLC global priorities
Ensure effective delivery of programs and measurable conservation outcomes
Collaborate across Equitable Conservation and other TNC functions, such as Global Protect, Provide, Climate, Science, Policy and Public Funding and Impact Finance and Markets teams
Lead and contribute to enterprise-wide initiatives and cross-boundary efforts
Ensure strong alignment between global strategy and regional implementation