Deputy Director, Evaluation & Research – Evaluation & Research Program

Title: Deputy Director, Evaluation & Research – Evaluation & Research Program

Reports to: Director, Evaluation & Research – Evaluation & Research Program

Location: Washington DC

The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Based in New York City, with offices throughout the United States and worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.

Established in 2007, the Rainforest Alliance’s Evaluation & Research (E&R) Program is responsible for monitoring results and examining the impacts of the Rainforest Alliance’s work over time. The E&R program is a specialized unit working through our forestry, agriculture, tourism and climate programs, employing three levels of analysis to achieve goals, including:

• Collecting standardized information from all Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farm and forestry operations, as well as from tourism operations participating in our Best Management Practices program;

• Monitoring the results and impacts of technical assistance and capacity building initiatives, following the Rainforest Alliance's E&R policies and procedures and donor requirements; and

• Participating in research initiatives composed of narrowly focused case studies and sector-wide studies, conducted through research partnerships with universities and other research institutes, with the goal of implementing collaborative and third party impact analysis.

Position Summary:

This Deputy Director position requires a seasoned, proactive manager who will partner with the E&R Director in essential leadership and program management activities to build the organization’s science capacity and establish standard business systems and practices to credibly demonstrate Rainforest Alliance results and mission impacts. S/he will use scientific and management expertise and experience to provide primary leadership and strategic direction to technical staff to oversee the growing requirements for monitoring information generation and management. .

Responsibilities:

• Support the E&R Director, and where required represent the E&R Program to senior management to assist with the administration of the E&R Program and related functions;

• Assist in the E&R Program strategic planning and reporting, and in collaboration with entire E&R team and senior management, set an effective agenda and ensure performance goals are set and met;

• Lead collaborative processes with Rainforest Alliance program and field staff to achieve data centralization, standardization of collection, and quality control for tabular and geospatial data within Rainforest Alliance’s enterprise information system, to facilitate seamless linkage between science, information management, and evidence-based decisions and reporting;

• Lead design and development of Rainforest Alliance’s production unit (site-based) data management systems and processes, overseeing the integration of other site-based data (KBA, AZE, IBA, WDPA, etc.) into Rainforest Alliance’s enterprise information system;

• Support and development of web-based platforms, GIS tools and analytical functionality, to ensure that geospatial data is managed, developed and maintained at a high quality and in a coherent way;

• Work with staff and partners to ensure project and program theories of change inform information system design and execution;

• Act as E&R lead for development of and implementation of training strategies, ongoing capacity building and mentoring approaches for program and project field personnel to enable Rainforest Alliance staff to make best use of data and tools at different levels and across programs;

• Promote partnerships with other international conservation and development networks for the sharing of data as it contributes to the capacity of Rainforest Alliance to achieve its mission. Ensure that necessary agreements and procedures are in place for effective collaboration with potential partners;

• Assist in establishing policies to facilitate identification of priority needs for results and geospatial data collection and ensure the effective management and presentation of such information;

• In collaboration with IT and Communication staff, work for developing Rainforest Alliance’s website to be a well know and used source of significant data on conservation and sustainable production practices;

• Seek opportunities to develop and fund projects that can contribute to the strengthening of demonstrating Rainforest Alliance’s results and impacts, and take responsibility for project management and reporting to funders;

• In the absence of the E&R Director, serve as the Director of the Program, subject to the instructions of the E&R Director, and

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Bachelors Degree in Conservation Science, Bio Informatics, Natural Resource Management, or related field; Advanced degree preferred or an equivalent combination of experience and training;

• Minimum of 10 years of experience, minimum of 5 years experience in designing, managing and implementing conservation informatics programs in remote resource poor settings ;

• Experience applying theory of change principles and results-based management approaches to conservation and/or sustainable development projects;

• Strong understanding of issues in international biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, and the ability to work well with others from a wide range of cultural backgrounds;

• Demonstrated high level of technical ability covering design and use of complex data management systems, GIS and mobile based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools;

• Demonstrated understanding of Salesforce data management platform preferred;

• Operates with excellence in mind in all matters, with the confidence to defend/debate ideas without ego interfering;

• Track record delivering superior results, commanding respect, and assuming leadership roles;

• Demonstrated success in roles requiring execution of multiple projects/tasks while responding to multiple priorities and adhering to deadlines;

• Demonstrated ability to solve problems and generate new ideas focused on program and project management needs as well as technical developments;

• Collaborative and energetic work style, superior people skills and ability to motivate and delegate with a high level of enthusiasm for the issue and a sense of humor;

• Fluent in English;

• Proficiency in Spanish and/or working knowledge of French preferred;

• It is anticipated that this position will entail approximately 30% travel.

Salary:

Commensurate with experience. Competitive benefits package provided.

To apply:

Send resume, cover letter and salary history to Human Resources, Rainforest Alliance, 665 Broadway, Suite 500, New York, NY 10012; Fax: 212-677-2187; E-mail: Personnel@ra.org . If emailing, use the following format in the subject line: first name and last name, job title of position you are applying for.

The Rainforest Alliance is an equal opportunity employer.