Job Description

Rare Overview

Rare is a global leader in reducing coastal overfishing and revitalizing coastal fisheries. Rare is working across eight countries to strengthen how communities protect and manage coastal areas and habitats. In the Philippines, Rare has worked with 796 communities to establish 1.2+ million hectares of Managed Access Areas, of which 10,000 hectares are no-take reserves, benefiting over 1.2 million community members.

Project Overview

This project is part of Rare’s global Regional Programs initiative, which empowers coastal communities, local governments, and partner institutions to sustainably manage fisheries and marine ecosystems through community-led conservation. Supported by the Ecological Restoration Fund, the project will strengthen the implementation of coastal resource management plans across 13 coastal municipalities in Zamboanga Sibugay, one of the Philippines’ most ecologically important marine landscapes.

Working closely with local government units, provincial agencies, fisherfolk associations, and regional government partners, the program will focus on improving coastal governance, strengthening community participation in marine conservation, and building the capacity of local institutions to co-manage municipal waters. The program seeks to improve the protection and management of critical marine and coastal habitats, strengthen local leadership and accountability, and create the conditions for durable, locally driven stewardship of fisheries resources. Through a combination of capacity building, partnership development, learning exchanges, and community engagement, the program will contribute to healthier marine ecosystems and more resilient coastal communities in Zamboanga Sibugay.

The Manager, Program Implementation supports the overall planning, implementation, and review of the project. The Manager will travel to project sites to conduct project planning and related activities based on agreed timelines and scope.

Primary Areas of Responsibility

Program Implementation

• Ensure that project implementation achieves its basic principles through its core strategy;
• Lead program management, including integrated planning, budget leveraging, site-level oversight in implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, and contribute to cluster-wide reporting;
• Ensure that that site operations are aligned with overall project standards and technical approaches; and,
• Provide staff supervision whenever appropriate.

Technical Support for Program Implementation

• Lead as resource person and expert on marine protected areas and governance and fisheries management, and blue carbon initiatives during capacity building activities at the sites.
• Manage site implementation partners.
• Act as coach/mentor to co-delivery partners to improve their partners’ capacities to support program implementation.
• Execute program strategies particularly on governance, enforcement, and monitoring aspect in each of the sites.

Partnership Management

• Actively engage mayors in understanding, championing and supporting sustainable fisheries in their LGUs and alliances through the Coastal 500 network, in partnership with the Coastal 500 manager
• Explore/Tap and manage co-delivery partnerships at the provincial/regional level for their continued support of site implementation.
• Support inter-municipal opportunities such as alliance building and harmonization of plans
• Manage and coordinate with other assisting organizations, including leveraging resources for each of the implementation sites.

Reporting

• Participate in Program Implementation Team and other team meetings and communicate activities and progress and final outcomes of each program.
• Regularly input implementation progress data and other relevant information on the designated program tracker.
• Assist the Program Implementation Team and other teams in crafting presentations, reports, and other related materials about the program implementation, on marine governance and other activities.
• Capture experiences, insights, best practices and success stories from the field for sharing with other Regional Programs implementers and a wider circle of sustainable fisheries advocates, practitioners and decision-makers.
• Give presentations at staff meetings, other group gatherings, and implementation sites as appropriate.
• Document lessons and project accomplishments and contribute to periodic reports to donors, knowledge management, and development of toolkits.

Project Finance and Administration

• In coordination with the Program Implementation Director and the Shared Services Group, and with guidance from the Finance Team, formulate annual work plans and budgets for their assigned cluster/s.
• Prepare event plans and estimate costs for activities following the annual work plan and budget, and coordinate with the Site Implementation Officer (SIO) on logistical arrangements for the events onsite.
• Comply with cash management, procurement, and acquittal of project expenses, in accordance with Rare financial management guidelines, processes and systems.
• Review and monitor the program budget in accordance with Rare financial management guidelines, processes and systems.
• Assist implementing partners in preparing work and financial plans; and,
• Support project & program reporting, both financial and programmatic.

Project and People Management

• Drive team performance by setting clear goals, conducting regular performance evaluations, and providing continuous feedback to support employee development.
• Manage administrative workflows such as timely approvals for leaves, expense reports, timesheets, and other compliance-related tasks.
• Promote a safe, inclusive, and collaborative team environment through regular check-ins, conflict resolution, and alignment with company values.
• Provide oversight into the project's execution, ensuring it is within schedule and scope by planning activities and timelines, allocating resources, and tracking key milestones.
• Spot/forecast friction points and raise proactive solutions to maintain productivity and alignment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in fisheries, biology, marine biology, environmental science, social science, community development or relevant field; a master’s degree is a plus.
• At least 5 years’ experience in a multi-cultural office and team-based environment with a track record in assisting local governments and building organizational capacities of environmental/fisheries management organizations, community-based people’s organizations, and/or NGOs.
• Demonstrated program management skills in a development setting; preferably with training in project management.
• Experience in blue carbon initiatives, strengthening marine protected areas, fisheries governance and/or coastal resource management in partnership with local government units, or with related experience in other conservation initiatives or community development programs.
• Excellent skills in event organizing and facilitation, training management and delivery for various stakeholders including LGU partners and community-based organizations.
• Capacity to provide coaching to LGU and community partners.
• Experience in applying social marketing and/or behavior change interventions.
• Experience in writing development/conservation/management plans such as MPA management plans, coastal and fisheries resources management plans, eco-tourism development plans, and related plan documents.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and comfortable using mobile apps for work and social media platforms.
• Good interpersonal skills with the proven ability to build good working relationships both internally and externally.
• Willing and able to travel within the country.
• Skills in GIS mapping, graphic design and editing, and audio-visual production, a plus.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time.

Rare is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic. All employment-related decisions are based solely upon legitimate, job-related factors such as skill, ability, past performance, attendance, and length of service.