Project Director (PFP)

Project Director, Project Finance For Permanence

Join us as we tackle the intertwined global biodiversity and climate crises by delivering durable, representative, effectively managed, and inclusive protections through the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) approach. PFPs enable governments and local communities, in partnership with funders and NGOs, to secure long-term management and financing for networks of conservation areas in the form of a deal with a single closing agreement. Accelerating the deployment and impact of this strategy is an organizational priority to deliver lasting outcomes across our 2030 Conservation Goals for Biodiversity, Climate, and People. The Project Director, Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) supports the development and implementation of a set of PFP projects, such as in the Mongolia PFP and a Great Bear Sea PFP, with matrixed teams over various stages of a project lifecycle that secure durable conservation outcomes.

The Project Director will take the lead on the development and implementation of one or several projects at a time within our portfolio of PFP projects. The initial projects assigned to this role will include projects in Guatemala and Mexico. For assigned projects, they lead the overall project, ensuring the successful delivery and closing of those projects in close partnership with country and regional programs and partners. They are the owner of the project and are responsible for developing a transaction acceptable to all parties. They play a key role in establishing and leveraging strong external relationships with government, building partnerships, and ensuring strong buy-in for the project. They are responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of the project, including the quality, strategic guidance, and integration across all components of a PFP strategy, scope, conservation planning, community development, governance, finance, and government engagement.

The Project Director will work collaboratively with complex, cross-functional project teams and key stakeholders, notably TNC country and regional teams, Impact Finance and Markets, Development, External Affairs, and the PFP team to ensure the successful closing of PFP transactions. A significant component of this role will be creating partnership coalitions with in-country partners. As the project director, they will critically assess project scope and objectives, ensuring all risks and dependencies are addressed in the project plan, and work with the project manager to assemble the project team to deliver successful project results. The Project Director will obtain go / no-go decisions at all project decision points from relevant decision makers and identify and obtain approval for project deliverables from the appropriate staff or teams. Throughout the project lifecycle, the Project Director will monitor and measure project progress, conduct corrective action as necessary, and communicate project status information to all stakeholders.

This position reports to the Global Portfolio Director, Project Finance for Permanence. The location for this position is flexible within countries where The Nature Conservancy is a registered NGO and has an already established office. This position is not eligible for relocation or immigration assistance.

We're Looking for You :

The Global Project Finance for Permanence team consists of a dedicated, globally dispersed group of experts dedicated to our mission. We're looking for an individual with a passion for the mission of The Nature Conservancy - to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends - and who will enhance our ability to reach our 2030 goals.

We are looking for an experienced project director who is comfortable working at both a global and local level on large and complicated processes and projects within a matrixed organization, ideally with familiarity and experience across biological realms and extensive conservation experience.

Key responsibilities and scope :

• In close partnership with the in-country and global teams, advances and maintains a clear PFP project vision and scope.
• Be ultimately responsible for the Project's quality and content, ensuring the project results in the desired conservation outcomes.
• Ensure government commitment to and active participation in the project.
• Establishes and manages partnership coalitions, building shared strategies and defining roles and contributions across partners.
• Builds strong relationships with internal and external partners. Serves as the primary Global PFP counterpart to the country program and other members the Global Protect Business Unit.
• Leads several cross-functional and matrixed teams to foster and maintain team cohesion and strong communication channels.
• Makes independent strategic decisions frequently based on analysis, ambiguous information, experience and judgment.
• Works closely with the project manager to define deliverables and provide guidance for subject matter expert's input.
• Develop and review interim and final deliverables, support project teams in delivering work products at the required standard and in managing dependencies between projects.
• Keeps the leadership group informed of progress and updates, identifies obstacles and potential delays, proposes adaptive action and decisions required, ensures effective communication between the leadership group and project teams.
• Support efficient decision making at key decision points, working with relevant decision makers and the appropriate staff or teams.
• Assess project progress and risks, conduct corrective action as necessary, and resolve or proactively escalate challenges as needed.
• Perform issue resolution, negotiate trade-offs, manage conflicts, and collaboratively solve complex problems.
• They may advise TNC communications, marketing, and philanthropy staff on issues related to assigned projects and related issues.
• Will be required to work across multiple time zones which may include working outside normal working hours.
• Requires willingness and ability to travel up to 50% both domestically and internationally, and to work occasional weekends and evenings.

What You'll Bring :

Desired Qualifications

Salary Information :

This position may be based in any country where TNC has an established entity, taking into consideration legal restrictions, such as non-national ratios and immigration processing times. For U.S. based applicants only, the starting pay range for this position is generally within the range of $75,000 - $120,000 for annual base salary and is based on location, qualifications, specific skills, and experience. This range only applies to candidates whose country of employment is the USA. For all other applicants, pay ranges will be in local currency, the pay range will be based on the local labor market, and not tied to the above pay range. Your geographic location will be confirmed during the recruitment and used to determine your actual pay range. Additionally, for all applicants, actual pay will fall within a range based on a variety of factors including, for example, the candidate's qualifications, specific skills, and experience.

Who We Are

The Nature Conservancy's mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive.