Director, Conservation Planning & Evaluation

POSITION DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE:            Director, Conservation Planning and Evaluation

DEPARTMENT:                Science and Evaluation

FLSA:                                   Exempt

STATUS:                            Full Time

REPORTS TO:                    Chief Conservation Officer

POSITIONS REPORTING

TO THIS POSITION:         One

LOCATION:                      Washington, DC

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director, Conservation Planning and Evaluation, is dedicated to advancing the Foundation to continually improve its planning and evaluation. Under the leadership of the Chief Conservation Officer, the Director is responsible for working with the Foundation’s staff and Board of Directors, federal agencies, and other conservation partners to update and implement an outcome-based investment and impact monitoring and evaluation framework and strategy for the Foundation’s conservation programs. The Director will use their facilitation skills to build consensus among many stakeholders and expand NFWF’s role as a convener among broader regional and national conservation communities. In collaboration with other members of NFWF’s Science and Evaluation team, the Director will serve as a spokesperson and will work to advance the Foundation’s conservation planning.

The Director will work closely with other Science staff to ensure that the Foundation’s core portfolio of programs are designed to achieve long-term impact with measurable outcomes. The Director will serve as a catalyst within the Foundation to create new combinations of people, processes, methodologies, and ideas that will lead to efficient and effective approaches to planning and measuring the outcomes of the Foundation’s programs by working with partners to create a strong culture of conservation impact assessment. The Director will manage and oversee the work of the Conservation Planning and Evaluation team and will work closely with Science and Program staff to develop and institutionalize standardized impact monitoring and program evaluation protocols that evaluate our grantmaking impact in accordance with the Foundation’s vision and strategic plan.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Institutionalizing Planning and Evaluation into NFWF Processes

• • Through engagement with staff and key partners, update and build planning and evaluation as core components of NFWF grantmaking to achieve and measure conservation outcomes.
  • Lead the Conservation Planning and Evaluation staff to update the Foundation’s conservation strategy framework, conservation planning processes, and goal development, making them more adaptable to change and emerging opportunities, while remaining outcome focused.
  • Work with NFWF’s Data Science team to develop, implement, and refine NFWF’s program evaluation and impact monitoring strategy to help ensure we have standard processes for measuring progress across multiple scales of grant making and for providing quality information for both program improvement and accountability purposes.
  • Build understanding among Foundation staff, grantees, and external partners of the importance for using rigorous impact monitoring and program evaluation for learning and adaptive management.
  • Improve integration of conservation planning, assessments, program evaluation, with reporting of results.
  • Contribute to team effort by offering information and opinion and accomplishing special projects as needed.

Lead Conservation Planning

• • Lead coordination of conservation planning efforts, decisions, and timelines with the Chief Conservation Officer, Regional Directors, and Board of Directors.
  • Facilitate the design and development of programmatic plans and strategies that achieve broad support within the conservation community and are adaptable to emerging needs and opportunities.
• Ensure that NFWF priorities remain relevant and impactful, and plans are nimble enough to capitalize on new opportunities that align with goals for conservation outcomes.
  • Support the Data Science team in their efforts to develop internal data collection and reporting systems for more efficiently compiling, aggregating, and disseminating project and program outcomes to both internal (staff, Board) and external (funding partners, grantees, etc.) audiences.

Oversee Assessments and Evaluations

• • Supervise the Senior Evaluation Officer conducting internal assessments of conservation programs as well as cross-program priorities to inform future decision-making and assist Regional Offices in the development of plans to implement assessment recommendations.
  • Support the Senior Evaluation Officer in the development of monitoring and evaluation plans for guiding and tracking progress towards conservation plan goals.
  • Oversee the development and implementation of third-party program evaluations.
  • Conduct site visits in accordance with Foundation policy.

Share Learning

• • Foster NFWF as a thought leader in conservation planning and measurement.
  • Share NFWF’s planning processes and system for Foundation-wide program evaluation and impact monitoring with external partners and prospective funders.
  • Disseminate results and lessons learned from NFWF assessments to various internal and external audiences.
  • Respond to requests for planning and evaluation assistance from key federal, corporate, or foundation partners.
  • Communicate with Foundation staff and Board of Directors regarding assessments of our conservation impact to ensure strong understanding and use.
  • Assist in the preparation of briefing materials and recommendations to support decision making by the Foundation’s Board.
  • Represent the Foundation at appropriate meetings, conferences, including the Conservation Measures Partnership and American Evaluation Association.

Management

• • Manage Conservation Planning and Evaluation staff to support the Foundation’s core conservation planning, program evaluation, and impact monitoring needs.
  • Mentor Conservation Planning and Evaluation staff to develop staff’s technical, communication, and leadership skills.

SECONDARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• • Support the development of public and private partnerships to secure operational and programmatic funding for Science and Evaluation in coordination with the Chief Conservation Officer, External Affairs Staff, and Regional Offices.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

(EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, SKILLS)

• • PhD or Master’s degree with equivalent experience. Eight years professional experience developing regional or national conservation plans that include impact monitoring, program evaluation, and effectiveness reporting is required. It is highly desirable that this experience be in a natural resource-oriented organization. Demonstrated knowledge of participatory facilitation processes, contemporary evaluative techniques, and adaptive management.
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively with internal staff to create and maintain a highly integrated and effective conservation planning department.
  • Experience as a facilitator of groups of varying sizes containing a diversity of stakeholders with contrasting viewpoints and priorities.
  • Demonstrated experience in the human, social, or economic dimensions of conservation preferred.
  • Ability to organize and prioritize work on multiple simultaneous tasks and meet deadlines.
  • Strong speaking and writing skills.
  • Strong interpersonal skills.
  • High proficiency in software used to compile, partition, and analyze large datasets (spreadsheets, relational databases, R). Willingness to travel.

Disclaimer

The statements contained herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position. Other responsibilities, duties, and skills may be assigned and management retains the right to add or change the responsibilities, duties, and skills at any time.