Join us in achieving groundbreaking results through collaborative efforts, where collective expertise drives innovation and excellence. Together, we will cultivate a dynamic environment that fosters creativity, problem-solving, and sustained growth, empowering each team member to contribute meaningfully to our shared vision. By leveraging diverse perspectives and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, we will set new benchmarks in our industry and deliver unparalleled value to our stakeholders.
The Conservation Impact System Team (IST) within the Chief Conservation Office is instrumental in facilitating global conservation efforts. The IST collaborates with conservation teams, leaders, and executives to develop and apply evidence-based approaches for adaptive management and reporting, ensuring The Nature Conservancy (TNC) achieves its objectives in biodiversity, climate, and human well-being. Comprising the Conservation Data Team (CDT) and Conservation Strategy Team (CST), the IST collaborates closely to deliver comprehensive support. The CDT is tasked with enhancing conservation data capacity, ensuring data quality, advancing science and systems, and managing organizational reporting—including executive and global board recommendations. This role centers on empowering regional teams to consistently produce, validate, and utilize high-quality data and evidence through robust Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems, standards, and practices. The position involves close collaboration with regional MEL leads to align CDT support with regional priorities, processes, and operational frameworks.
Essential functions include ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements, overseeing daily operational activities, and maintaining accurate documentation. Additionally, the role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive process improvements, analyzing performance metrics to identify trends, and implementing corrective actions as needed. Responsibilities also encompass managing stakeholder communications, resolving escalated issues, and supporting strategic initiatives aligned with organizational objectives.
The Africa Regional Advisor will play a key role in enabling the CDT to deliver more targeted and cohesive support for conservation data, ensuring it aligns with the needs of conservation teams and leaders across TNC’s Africa Region. This position will focus on enhancing the generation and application of evidence to strengthen decision-making processes and maximize impact.
The Africa Regional Advisor will analyze and enhance customer satisfaction—specifically among TNC conservation teams and leaders—within the Africa region while facilitating the effective delivery of CDT support. In this role, the Advisor will act as a cross-cultural and organizational liaison, fostering knowledge sharing and advocating for continuous learning. This ensures that innovations and best practices developed in the Africa region—or adapted from other TNC regions—are disseminated and co-evolve to create a unified conservation data toolkit that is both standardized and tailored to local contexts.
The Africa Conservation Data Advisor will cultivate and sustain robust, trust-based partnerships with pivotal leadership and experts across the Africa Region, encompassing the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) regional team and specialists, scientists, and portfolio managers. This role will partner with Africa-based MEL staff to ensure CDT’s assistance aligns with their objectives for conservation science data, MEL, and reporting—thereby strengthening the evidence base for adaptive management within the Africa Portfolio. By engaging with regional MEL leaders and partners, the advisor will align science data support with critical priorities to enhance MEL data quality and adaptive management practices. Collaboration will extend to the Africa MEL lead, CDT colleagues, and the CST Africa regional counterpart to guarantee cohesive support across MEL and strategic initiatives. The position will facilitate the delivery of CDT offerings while providing technical and data science expertise. Emphasizing a hands-on, iterative methodology, the advisor will play a key role in developing, implementing, and refining CDT offerings to enable rapid learning and adaptation.
This position is offered on a two-year contract basis.
The Conservation Data Advisor – Africa position requires the candidate to be legally authorized to live and work in one of the designated TNC Africa program countries, which include Kenya, Tanzania, or Zambia.
We’re Looking for You:
Deliver specialized direction and assistance centered on producing and leveraging evidence for adaptive management, tailored to regional priorities and requirements.
Deliver hands-on assistance to teams, informed by agile methodologies, data science frameworks, and implementation science tenets.
Provide culturally and regionally tailored support to teams through collaborative design processes, engaging local contractors when necessary to ensure alignment with community needs and expectations.
Provide conservation data science support to teams in a manner that ensures alignment with and enhances the effectiveness of regional portfolio management and reporting processes.
Support teams in leveraging evidence syntheses and addressing critical science evidence gaps uncovered through their adaptive management approaches, thereby reinforcing confidence in the reported outcomes.
Assist regional team members in effectively utilizing conservation data tools to bolster support for high priority teams and programs.
Develop the foundational framework necessary to facilitate the creation and application of evidence-based insights for adaptive management and strategic prioritization across the Africa Region.
Develop strong, reliable partnerships with senior leadership within The Nature Conservancy’s Africa Region.
In partnership with the MEL Regional team and MEL Specialists, cultivate the necessary groundwork to facilitate the utilization of reliable evidence in adaptive management practices.
Working in close partnership with Africa MEL staff, you will refine data analytics processes to transform quality-assured, evidence-based data into actionable reporting and learning outputs—including impact briefs, analytical summaries, and data reports—that guide program, portfolio, and leadership decisions.
Partner with CDT team members to uphold the region’s conservation data quality and reporting requirements while assisting regional leadership in reinforcing adherence to these standards.
Collaborate with the Africa Regional Conservation and Strategies leadership team to pinpoint the most critical teams requiring conservation data and learning support, then prioritize assistance accordingly.
Partner with Africa Regional Conservation and Strategies leadership to leverage conservation data for enhanced prioritization and strategic decision-making, thereby driving greater impact across the region. This includes collaborating on the creation of dashboards to facilitate portfolio management and inform key leadership choices.
Collaborate with Africa Regional leadership team members to foster and enhance enabling conditions across the region, thereby improving data quality and its application in adaptive management and prioritization efforts. Additionally, work to further integrate conservation and financial data and planning processes.
Enhance and expand CDT’s sphere of influence by leveraging strategic initiatives to amplify its reach, efficacy, and long-term sustainability across target markets and stakeholder networks. Spearhead efforts to strengthen organizational visibility, forge meaningful partnerships, and cultivate high-impact programs that drive measurable growth and reinforce CDT’s position as a leader in its field. Develop and execute tailored strategies to engage diverse audiences, secure additional resources, and foster innovation, ensuring CDT’s continued relevance and competitive advantage in an evolving landscape. Collaborate cross-functionally with leadership, teams, and external stakeholders to align efforts with overarching goals, optimize resource allocation, and maximize the organization’s broader societal contribution.
Assess and track the value delivered by CDT support within the designated region.
Identify avenues to enhance support models, thereby scaling their capacity to address regional requirements and amplify CDT’s influence, in collaboration with fellow regional CDT leaders.
Offer recommendations to CDT regarding potential enhancements or optimizations for support models, developed in partnership with regional leadership.
Assist in uncovering potential enhancements where CDT tools or processes could more effectively align with team requirements.
Employ a hands-on methodology to evaluate, refine, and enhance CDT support continuously.
Support CDT’s initiatives in additional regions by actively identifying potential collaboration opportunities, documenting and disseminating key learnings, and engaging in cross-regional knowledge-sharing activities.
What You’ll Bring:
A Master’s Degree in a science-related field, coupled with at least four years of professional experience in enhancing data quality and leveraging data for management and business purposes, is required. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in large conservation or development organizations or agencies, or an equivalent blend of education and practical expertise.
Proficiency in conservation and/or development metrics, along with their monitoring and evaluation frameworks, is required. Experience in impact measurement and results-based reporting for programs and portfolios is essential.
Demonstrated expertise in ensuring rigor, consistency, and validation of program indicator methodologies is essential.
Proficiency in data analysis and visualization tools, including Power BI, Tableau, GIS, Python, Excel, and R, is essential to effectively guide the design of analytics, evaluate outputs, and enhance the analytical capabilities of regional teams.
Demonstrates a proven track record of leading and mentoring teams while enhancing the capabilities of individual team members.
Provides evidence-based support for conservation strategies and decision-making processes through comprehensive data analysis and documentation.
Demonstrated ability to lead or contribute effectively within multidisciplinary team environments.
Demonstrated ability to accommodate flexible working hours to ensure alignment with global time zones.
Demonstrates proficiency in independently exploring intricate and unbounded projects to successfully accomplish desired results.
Professional expertise in, and dedication to, integrating equity, justice, and inclusion principles and practices in a professional environment.
Professional experience collaborating and maintaining clear communication with diverse individuals across various backgrounds and roles.
Demonstrates strong cross-cultural adaptability and collaboration skills in diverse international and regional settings.
Proven ability to establish and maintain positive professional relationships through effective communication and collaboration.
Proficiency in navigating and thriving within diverse cultural contexts across multiple African countries.
Must possess legal eligibility and authorization to live and work in the designated program locations within TNC Africa, specifically Kenya, Tanzania, or Zambia, along with the flexibility to travel to additional countries in the region, including Gabon, Angola, and South Africa.
Fluency in written and spoken English is essential for this role.
Seeking candidates with a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, coupled with a minimum of three years of hands-on experience in a comparable role. Proficiency in industry-standard software and tools is essential, along with strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. The ideal applicant will demonstrate adaptability in fast-paced environments and a commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
Proven experience in scaling conservation strategies or solutions through data-driven approaches, including the implementation of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems for ecosystem markets.
Domain expertise is required in one or more of the following areas: large-scale land, freshwater, or ocean protection and management; climate or biodiversity policy development; siting for renewable energy projects; implementation of natural climate solutions; conservation finance and market mechanisms; regenerative agricultural practices; sustainable fisheries or aquaculture systems; watershed management strategies; community-led conservation initiatives; or equitable conservation approaches.
Seasoned professional with a proven track record in overseeing multifaceted projects, encompassing financial management and cross-functional team coordination. Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives from inception to completion while fostering collaboration among stakeholders and external partners.
Driven by initiative and a proactive mindset, consistently demonstrating a strong bias for taking decisive action.
Proficient in utilizing cutting-edge technology to deliver optimal outcomes.
I thrive on the energy of collaborating within an agile team that continuously refines and improves its processes.
Proven expertise in Indigenous and Traditional knowledge systems is required.
Individuals should demonstrate a growth mindset, characterized by adaptability, innovative thinking, and the ability to leverage available resources effectively.
Proven expertise in strategic planning and the execution of strategic initiatives is required.
Proficiency in a second language, specifically French or Portuguese, is required.
Qualifications
MBA/MSc/MA
Experience Required
4 years
