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.