Project and Outreach Manager at Coral Reef Alliance

Project and Outreach Manager

• Position Classification: Full-time, 24-month position
• Position Location: USA (Remote); must be eligible to work in the US

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is an environmental NGO that is on a mission to save the world’s coral reefs. Founded in 1994, CORAL has a history of working collaboratively with communities to reduce direct threats to reefs. In parallel, CORAL is actively expanding the scientific understanding of how corals adapt to climate change and is applying this information to give reefs around the world the best chance to thrive for generations to come.

Our conservation science team is dedicated to translating this adaptation science into action by building alliances with and across coral conservation efforts, focusing on long-term success and partnerships.

Position Description

CORAL, in partnership with the Allen Coral Atlas (Atlas), the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science at Arizona State University, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is seeking a Project and Outreach Manager to help bridge the gap between Atlas satellite products, on-the-ground conservation scientists and local communities. The Project Manager will help develop and validate Atlas products by providing new and coordinated field information related to bleaching and water quality alerts, and will develop context-appropriate mitigation/response plans with appropriate resources and training materials for communities experiencing a bleaching event. This is a 24-month term position, with possibility of extension dependent upon funding.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop a bleaching data collection framework, reviewing, harmonizing, and building on established practical experience and field methodologies.
  • Compare their strengths and weaknesses for different audiences (e.g., citizen scientists, professional scientists)
  • Develop initial recommendations on indicators and organize a collaborative (online) workshop with major collectors of bleaching data that could contribute to Atlas bleaching model development and validation as well as provide useful information for other audiences.
• Develop materials and provide resources and training to support field scientists, local organizations and communities during a bleaching event in order to:
  • Support monitoring partners who can get in the water and collect data in response to bleaching and water quality alerts
  • Empower communities to use threat alerts to improve local management and ideally the root causes of ocean warming and thus mass coral bleaching
• Liaise between core partners to ensure smooth coordination
  • Lead project management to ensure activities are on track and measure progress towards deliverables
  • Regularly convene and facilitate communication between project partners, to provide updates and track action items
  • Manage budgets and contracts

Other responsibilities and duties as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or PhD degree preferred.
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience in project or program management roles.

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Experience with and/or education in coral reef ecology, underwater coral reef monitoring, coastal conservation, natural resources management and/or policy
• Experience with coral reef underwater monitoring protocols and working with field teams; SCUBA dive certification preferred
• Excellent collaboration skills and cross-cultural sensitivity, with ability to work with individuals in other countries and across organizations; working internationally and with coalitions and diverse and matrixed teams preferred
• Familiarity with remote sensing and GIS, data visualization technology and approaches, digital integration, and ideally, machine learning
• Ability to manage spreadsheets and complex datasets and create summaries of data, ideally in R
• Demonstrated leadership in project management using online collaborative tools (e.g., Google Docs/Sheets, Trello, SmartSheets, etc.)
• Ability to manage multiple diverse work streams with attention to detail while balancing competing priorities, meeting deadlines and delivering quality and on-time results
• Demonstrated experience in desk research skills (e.g., synthesizing existing documents, preparing written reports, etc.)
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience with public speaking, capacity development, training and outreach, and managing events

The Coral Reef Alliance is committed to workforce diversity. Qualified applicants will receive full consideration without regard to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, health status or national origin.