INDIGENOUS MARINE CONSERVATION

Position: Senior Project Manager, Coast Solutions Task Group
Organization: Coast Funds
Location: Vancouver BC / possibility of remote anywhere in BC

Coast Funds is dedicated to empowering First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii to achieve healthy and vibrant economies and communities in tandem with the conservation of their homelands for the benefit of future generations.

Coast Funds is a member of the Coast Solutions Task Group (CSTG) that has been tasked by regional First Nations and their representative bodies with developing a marine finance strategy to identify sustainable finance for Indigenous marine conservation and stewardship in the Pacific Northwest. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to support a unique and significant regional Indigenous-led conservation initiative to ensure future generations inherit the beauty and productivity of the Pacific Ocean.

In support of the CSTG, Coast Funds also serves on the Marine Finance Working Group (MFWG), which provides technical support for the development and implementation of CSTG’s comprehensive and integrated marine finance strategy. The MFWG utilizes the expertise of its members, First Nation’s community members, marine conservation organizations, and external contractors to determine the feasibility of a next Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. The MFWG informs strategy and implementation, generating briefings and other content for First Nations decisionmakers, their communities, government agencies and public and private funders to secure sustainable marine finance.

Based in BC, you will be accountable to the Coast Solutions Coast Solutions Task Group, the Marine Finance Working Group, and several other regional marine technical working taskforces, with line management and support from Coast Funds’ Manager of Stewardship Funding.

As the key resource person to the CSTG, you will:

• Lead planning, implementation and monitoring of the project for the CSTG and MFWG.
• Lean on your collaborative and influential style to work closely with and coordinate engagement with First Nation leaders, facilitators, and working group members including NGOs and contractors.
• Manage the development and implementation of the CSTG’s comprehensive and integrated marine finance strategy (the project), providing technical support as working groups develop supporting materials for potential philanthropic and Crown agency funders.
• Guide workplans and agendas while maintaining documents for the CSTG, MFWG and working groups that manage scope, time, budget, and risk, among multiple competing priorities.
• Coordinate the review and revision of critical feasibility questions being answered by the project teams based on input from CSTG leadership and public and private funders.
• Contribute to the development of proposals and associated reporting for contributions that enable CSTG’s mission, if required.
• Be available for intermittent travel to attend meetings and workshops. Day trips and overnight (two/three day) trips may be required.

As the Senior Project Manager, you'll lead the development of a model PFP on a global stage.

As the ideal candidate, you have:

• Five to ten years of experience in complex project management combined with a diploma or degree in a related discipline (e.g. Planning, Business Administration, Natural Resource management and Environmental Studies).
• Demonstrated ability to manage and coordinate large and multidisciplinary teams of experts and consultants, providing leadership in a complex working environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for facilitating relationships with First Nations leadership, senior staff, or other decision-makers.
• Understanding and respect for the inherent stewardship responsibilities First Nations have throughout their unceded territories, and their need for sustainable finance.
• Experience of Indigenous stewardship or conservation, including current knowledge of planning or policy work with Indigenous or Crown governments or industry on environmental management issues would be an asset.
• Lived or work experience in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii region. Familiarity with land and/or marine use issues in the Great Bear Rainforest region and the First Nations that participate in Coast Funds would be an asset.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills with an ability to balance multiple priorities in a dynamic and deadline-driven environment. Familiarity with project management software desirable.
• A naturally inquisitive mindset to assess and recommend a course of action based on experience, new information, or research that is proactively uncovered, and to identify risks and opportunities that may impact the project.
• Solid listening and compassion skills with a high level of emotional maturity. Able to hear what is not being said.

Benefits

Coast Funds’ competitive benefits package includes a flexible health and dental plan, RRSP contribution, committed colleagues, a culture of innovation, and the sense of accomplishment that comes contributing to a small team that’s working hard to make a difference in BC’s coastal communities.

Interested?

Interested candidates with the experience, drive and leadership that Coast Funds is looking are encouraged to apply through WMC by submitting your resume and cover letter in strict confidence to: careers.wmc.ca/#/posting/PR-4105

For more information feel free to contact Kataneh Sherkat at katanehs@wmc.bc.ca or Melanie Gotsis at gotsis@wmc.ca

Equity and diversity are essential to Coast Funds and WMC. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Indigenous People, Canadians, and permanent residents will be given priority.

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