Senior Programme Coordinator International Union for Conservation of Nature Experience: 3 to 5 Years Frankfurt, Germany Apply By: 08-09-2024

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network—a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. Its work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff members in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in the public, NGO, and private sectors worldwide. Its headquarters are based in Gland, Switzerland.

The Forest and Grassland Team (FGT) at IUCN is responsible for developing and executing the global conservation program for forests and grasslands. This includes efforts in primary forest and native grassland conservation, ecosystem restoration on both area-based and landscape scales, and effective rangeland and drought reduction management. The team addresses threats such as climate change and large-scale deforestation by advocating and implementing practical solutions supported by scientific knowledge.

FGT is looking to hire a Senior Programme Coordinator to be based at the IUCN European Regional Office in Bonn, Germany. The Senior Programme Coordinator is responsible for delivering a substantive element of their team’s portfolio as assigned by their line manager. They are required to ensure that IUCN operational and programmatic procedures are observed in full and that implementation is accompanied by a robust and institutionally aligned monitoring and evaluation system. They have a remit for proactive partner engagement and resource mobilisation, prioritising institutional interests and needs, and keeping line management and other relevant staff informed. They are required to co-own and support institutional and group-wide decisions and demonstrate integrity, humility, and self-awareness in their interactions with other colleagues, including junior members of staff, IUCN members, and IUCN expert commissions. 

• Programme Development, Coordination and Implementation
• Provide vision, direction, strategic focus, and operational guidance for elements of the FGT program of work, managing internal and external collaborators and ensuring that clear lines of accountability support delivery.
• Provide overall supervision, quality assurance, technical inputs, and accountability for the development, implementation, and delivery of FGT projects and processes, meeting regularly with project managers, regional colleagues, and their teams to ensure cross-programme and project alignment for timely and coherent delivery and institutional operational consistency.
• Lead by providing supervision and quality assurance in developing, implementing, and delivering FGT business lines by working collaboratively with project managers, regional colleagues, and their teams to ensure cross-team and project alignment for timely and coherent delivery and institutional operational consistency.
• Support the Head, FGT, in reviewing the medium—to long-term stability of the current portfolio, obstacles to the effective and timely delivery of ongoing projects, the adequacy of project-based cost recovery, forecasted future staffing needs, and actively contribute to implementing any identified corrective measures.
• Provide technical support to IUCN senior management, external partners, and, in particular, other IUCN regional and technical units, including contributing to, reviewing, and appraising other projects under development on forest and grassland.
• As requested by the Director, CCA contributes to periodic strategic programmatic planning and review processes at the institutional or Center level.
• Coordinate and lead the development of large-scale (USD 20-100 million) initiatives/projects.

Project Design and Implementation, Technical Advice and Quality Assurance:

• Ensure institutional operational and programmatic standards and procedures for the design, development, and delivery of projects that are fully observed and put into effect in a timely and operationally efficient manner, including programmatic alignment; regional, commission, and member involvement; coherency and viability of Theory of Change; adequacy of and justification for cost recovery; and provision for effective accountability and results management (monitoring & evaluation).
• Lead on the direct management of specific projects of their expertise and other topics as agreed with Head FGT, ensuring the quality and timeliness of deliverables and donor reporting while overseeing quality assurance for other project reports through:
• Preparing and adapting project concepts, proposals, plans, and budgets;
• Coordinating project implementation with staff/partners/vendors – with emphasis on optimizing “fit for purpose” contributions across IUCN teams;
• Managing communication and information flow on projects and processes and ensuring coherency of implementation across a portfolio of projects.

Partner Engagement, Representation and Resource Mobilization:

• Facilitate and strengthen partner engagement on forest and grassland-related topics, ensuring the quality and timely delivery of materials and programs that address identified gaps in IUCN programs, projects, partners, governmental organizations, and communities.
• Foster and build partnerships with governments, multi-laterals, and NGOs that establish clear operational mandates for impact delivery of FGT strategy, thereby demonstrating to donors and investors the influence and demand-responsive nature of IUCN’s work.
• In close consultation with the Director—Strategic Partnership Unit, GEF/GCF Unit, and Head FGT, coordinate across IUCN to leverage project outcomes that facilitate and advance IUCN’s interests concerning resource mobilization. This includes networking with donors by identifying their needs and goals and aligning IUCN proposal and fundraising efforts accordingly.
• As directed by the Head, FGT leads or provides input as necessary to global, regional, and / or national project development processes, including GEF and GCF, ensuring the integration, where appropriate, of FGT projects.

Policy, Knowledge Management and Communications:

• In close collaboration with the FGT and Knowledge Management Team, ensure that any FGT project or process is accompanied by a robust and targeted knowledge management system which, inter alia, identifies key audiences and champions, identifies and proactively manages targeted knowledge uptake pathways, and establishes a publications timeline and communication plan.
• Work closely with the FGT and communications team to identify relevant and topical content that can contribute to IUCN corporate communications and reach and engage a broad audience.
• Maintain a current awareness of relevant international, regional, and national policies for the theme.
• Support the development of IUCN’s policy engagement in relevant arenas, in coordination with the International Policy Unit and with the input of relevant Commission experts.
• Support the monitoring of implementation and reporting on the resolutions and recommendations of the World Conservation Congress, which are the unit’s responsibility.

Staff supervision:

• Supervise, mentor, guide, and appraise any FGT staff, interns, or consultants as delegated by the Head FGT, on occasion acting as the Head of the FGT, ensuring that IUCN Human Resource management protocols are fully observed and that staff members have a clear idea of their role, responsibilities and how their performance is assessed.
• Ensure relevant FGT information and resources are shared amongst the team, regional, and other relevant IUCN units to facilitate the coordination of programme and project implementation.
• Support building junior FGT staff capacities to develop fundable projects that support and expand their work and that of the FGT.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, landscape ecology, soil health, spatial science, and related sectors focusing on forest and grassland conservation and restoration.
• A strong and verifiable programmatic delivery track record concerning deploying knowledge, evidence, and policy influence to facilitate and enable substantive and demonstrable place-based change.
• At least eight years of experience in field-based project delivery and management. Experience working and engaging with UNCCD is a plus.
• Impeccable writing skills. A track record of publications and quantitative analysis is desirable, though unnecessary. Experience in GIS/Remote sensing will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and work with multidisciplinary teams.
• Diplomacy, good networking skills, and excellent interpersonal skills. Track record of working effectively in a multicultural and diverse environment with colleagues at all levels.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including communicating complex issues to various audiences. A second language (French, Spanish) is highly desirable.
• Ability to travel frequently.