Regional Director
Position Summary Expectations - Duties, Responsibilities
Purpose:
- Lead on the delivery of Fauna & Flora’s strategy and agreed approaches within the Asia Pacific region (currently Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam) and be accountable for the programme’s delivery, impacts and outcomes
- Be responsible for the overall management of the Asia Pacific programme and teams, including overseeing the management of operational risks and enabling Country and Cross-cutting Programme Directors/Leads and partners design and deliver programmes and projects that deliver our strategy, in line with our values
- As a member of Fauna & Flora’s Management Team, actively encourage collaboration among and across the programmes (regional, cross-cutting, operations, fundraising, and communications) to ensure effective conservation project design and delivery, leveraging Fauna & Flora’s talent to maximise mission impact
- Strategy and Leadership
- Be responsible for and provide oversight of the Asia Pacific programme, ensuring delivery and approaches align with Fauna & Flora strategy, taking into consideration feasibility, conservation impact and long-term sustainability
- Lead the Asia Pacific programme through consistently demonstrating Fauna & Flora's values and ensuring the necessary capacity, capability, and culture are established
- Collaborate with colleagues across Fauna & Flora to capture learning and stay informed about new and emerging issues and trends, while contributing regional knowledge and experience into learning and project design processes.
- As a member of Management Team, actively contribute to Fauna & Flora’s strategic development and review processes, feeding in regional perspectives and facilitating engagement from the wider Asia Pacific teams, and nurture/promote an active understanding of Fauna & Flora’s strategic priorities, strategic approaches and wider values within the Asia Pacific region
- Keep current with socio-political and environmental contexts across the Asia Pacific region and within Fauna & Flora’s countries of operation to identify potential challenges and opportunities, and assist in guiding and adjusting projects and country programmes as needed
- Representation
- Represent Fauna & Flora within Asia Pacific and more widely as requested, actively developing and nurturing relationships, proactively positioning and promoting Fauna & Flora priorities with key decision makers and centres of influence, including within government and diplomatic agencies, national and international for-profit and non-profit entities, academic institutions, donors, and media
- Represent Fauna & Flora in relevant thematic and geographic fora to expand the organisation’s learning and shape conservation responses across the Asia Pacific region
- Represent Fauna & Flora in priority policy dialogues with a view to exerting positive influence on targeted policies that impact on biodiversity conservation including locally-led approaches within the region and more widely in line with Fauna & Flora’s strategic priorities
- As agreed by the Senior Leadership Team, represent Fauna & Flora on the Board(s) of partner organisations
- Programme Management
- Oversee the delivery of the Asia Pacific programme, ensuring adherence to Fauna & Flora's operating standards, policies, and procedures, and compliance with all contractual obligations and grant agreements
- Provide strategic and technical advice, input and evaluation to both Fauna & Flora and partner organisations on a wide range of issues including conservation issues and priorities, community conservation and locally-led conservation approaches, project design, development, implementation and monitoring, and personnel management
- Provide excellent and motivational line management to direct reports through objective setting, continuous performance management, performance reviews, training provision and personal development planning to enable the effective and timely delivery of the country and regional programme
- Support Country Leads and other Programme Leads to ensure projects are implemented in adherence to Fauna & Flora’s project cycle, operating standards, policies and procedures, donor requirements and to a high quality and within budget
- Ensure close collaboration between the Asia Pacific teams and Fauna & Flora’s technical cross-cutting, operations and communications teams to:
- Ensure co-design and co-delivery of projects in line with Fauna & Flora strategy, priorities and procedures
- Implement effective matrix-management mechanisms
- Shape partnerships and strategic collaborations needed for delivery
- Enable the development of in-country capacity as a basis for long-term sustainability
- Encourage appropriate regional team input to wider organisational positioning and engagement, including thematic initiatives
- Ensure country teams are enabled to contribute to Fauna & Flora influencing and profile-raising ambitions, including dialogue with government agencies and engagement of local NGO and community partners
- Actively advise on the decision-making and development of strategic partnerships across Asia, aligning with organisational strategy and programme goals, ensuring meaningful engagement with and adequate resourcing of partners
- Be responsible for the Asia Pacific regional programme budget and overall financial management, ensuring efficient and effective use of resources and compliance with financial regulations/policies and adherence to co-finance agreements
- Ensure that staff structures and resources are appropriately in place to deliver the Asia Pacific programme, working closely with the People Team to ensure aligned, transparent, and equitable processes within the region, while aligning where appropriate with global practices, and contribute to the recruitment and selection of regional, cross-cutting, and other relevant staff
- Ensure effective mechanisms are in place to identify, monitor and mitigate operational, financial, health and safety and safeguarding risks, ensuring these are reported and addressed promptly according to Fauna & Flora policies and procedures
- Take responsibility for ensuring identification, minimisation and management of social safeguards and human rights issues and risks within the Asia Pacific programme and the implementation of country-specific safeguarding priorities accordingly
- Oversee the governance and management of Fauna & Flora entities by verifying their in-country registration and securing necessary government and third-party approvals for operations within the country
- Take responsibility for reporting on Asia Pacific programmes to the Senior Conservation Director, wider Senior Leadership Team and Fauna & Flora’s governing body as required and within agreed formats and timescales
- Development
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of both internal and external funding processes and ensure Asia Pacific teams can effectively engage with them to optimise funding outcomes
- Facilitate collaboration between regional and fundraising teams to build Fauna & Flora’s reputation with donors
- Secure resources needed for Fauna & Flora activities in the Asia Pacific region
- With guidance from fundraising teams, cultivate and nurture key relationships with specified donors
- Lead development, or where appropriate enable in-country teams to lead development, of in-country funding relationships and opportunities; ensuring key Fauna & Flora teams are brought in as applicable
- Provide oversight and input to funding requests, assuming management for these where appropriate and contribute to proposals as required
- Skills, Knowledge and Experience
- Essential
- Ability to provide strategic leadership and develop high-level strategic relationships to advance organisational goals and enhance conservation efforts
- Substantial understanding of conservation, including social and ecological aspects, and credibility within the conservation arena
- Significant conservation experience, including technical design of conservation interventions at species and ecosystem/landscape level
- Proven track record in managing multicultural teams and delivering complex initiatives across diverse operational contexts
- Proven ability to analyse, interpret and manage risk, ensuring the delivery of secure and impactful conservation programmes
- Extensive experience in delivering integrated biodiversity conservation or related disciplines, with substantial field experience in the Asia Pacific region
- Comprehensive understanding of regulatory and statutory frameworks applicable to international NGOs and donors in the Asia Pacific region
- Experience collaborating with government agencies, partner NGOs, and private entities to advance conservation efforts
- Substantial experience in programme development, fundraising, and donor engagement, specifically tailored to the Asia Pacific operational landscape
- Proven ability to manage large-scale, statutory-funded programmes and partnerships effectively
- Desirable
- Proficiency in additional languages relevant to the Asia Pacific region
- Postgraduate qualification in conservation, social and/or environmental science, or related disciplines
- Proven insight into global conservation policy and participation in high-level forums and advocacy initiatives
- Behavioural qualities
- Demonstrates Fauna & Flora’s values
- Collaborative leadership style, fostering inclusivity and harnessing diverse perspectives
- Outcome-driven focus, with an emphasis on achieving measurable impact and delivering results efficiently
- Diplomatic approach, enabling effective operations within sensitive or politically complex environments
- Inclusive relationship-building, facilitating cross-disciplinary collaboration and promoting cultural sensitivity
- Dedication to ethical governance, compliance, and upholding organisational integrity and accountability
- Decisive and adaptable under pressure, demonstrating proactive problem-solving and readiness to pivot when priorities shift
- Other
- Ability to undertake international travel at short notice
