| Description |
Purpose and General Description:
The Regional Vice President is responsible for leading the BC regional program of The Nature Conservancy of Canada. The RVP-BC will:
- Communicate a compelling vision that generates excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to NCC’s mission;
- Raise capital, endowment and operating funds;
- Ensure that the program has the capacity to effectively conserve priority natural areas in the province;
- Develop and implement short and long-range plans in support of NCC’s strategic and business plans consistent with the mission of protecting and managing biological diversity;
- Carry out land protection and management objectives;
- Direct the ongoing activities of regional staff.
As a senior manager within NCC the RVP-BC has direct responsibility for leading BC operations. As well, the RVP-BC participates in organizational decision-making including contributing to strategic planning, participating in senior staff meetings, providing advice and counsel to the VPC and President, and building relationships for NCC.
Key Objectives:
- Strategically build NCC operations in British Columbia by implementing growing and successful conservation programs, and by developing NCC’s relationships with major donors, partners and within the conservation community;
- Provide effective leadership and management to staff and organize administration to maximize operating efficiencies;
- Work diligently to foster a unified ‘One Conservancy’ ethic and approach within BC staff and across the organization.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide leadership for NCC's conservation activities in BC;
- Raise funds for general operations, conservation projects and endowment, including working with other regional and national staff on major gifts and partnerships, and acquiring, retaining and developing high-end donors;
- Prepare and implement annual regional business plans to achieve NCC’s strategic plan.
- Direct conservation planning and reporting at multiple scales including Conservation Blueprints, Priority Conservation Landscape plans, Property Management Plans, Baseline Document Reports (for covenants), and annual compliance monitoring;
- Direct strategic protection of significant natural areas through the use of expert resources and the full range of protection tools, including land donations, conservation covenants, purchases, and land/water tenures as consistent with NCC’s best practices;
- Direct management of important elements of natural biodiversity on NCC lands and other lands of concern to NCC, and ensure all lands for which NCC has legal responsibility are appropriately managed;
- Involve local, provincial, and regional programs of federal government agencies where necessary and useful in the accomplishment of NCC's mission;
- Develop and maintain broad public support from all sectors for the protection of biological diversity in the province;
- Assist in developing and maintaining an effective Regional Board, providing staff support for the Board, and liaising and formulating plans with the Board;
- Operate within, and assure compliance with, the policies of the Regional and National Boards and the operating policies and procedures of the President, or his delegate; develop written procedures and policies for regional activities and ensure compliance;
- Oversee NCC’s regional staffing activities including the hiring, retention, development and training of a multi-disciplinary team;
- Oversee the management and reporting of financial resources, ensuring regional controls and reporting mechanisms are in place and standards are adhered to;
- Oversee the review and coordination of all regional proposals for accuracy, consistency and compliance with funding requirements;
- Approve, within the authority delegated by the President and the VPCP and by NCC Standard Operating Procedures, contracts, agreements, project commitments and expenditures on behalf of NCC;
- Promote NCC to potential supporters and the general public, and represent NCC and its interests in the region as appropriate to landowners, the media, the general public, government agencies and ministries, other nonprofit organizations, individual donors, foundations, corporations and suppliers.
Skill Requirements:
You are a well-rounded professional with an employment background or strong interest in the environment, conservation, and/or or natural sciences. You are an excellent salesperson and communicator for NCC, with a personal desire to focus on external activities, such as developing relationships and raising money. You are also comfortable with leading, managing and delegating to staff, and with project and financial management. You appreciate and understand the dynamics of working with a Board of Directors and can work well with volunteers at all levels. A proven leader, you bring well-developed leadership skills and management experience at a senior level, and have demonstrated this through the successful management of a multi-disciplinary team. Experience working in a national/regional organizational context is an asset.
Leadership:
- Communicate with genuine charisma a compelling vision that generates excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to NCC’s mission;
- Think outside the box; identify and solve cross-functional problems; always consider external impact;
- Foster collaboration among teams as well as among team members; use teams to address relevant issues;
- Set a good ‘can do’ example; ensure that others buy into the team mission, goals, agenda, climate, tone and policy;
- Use team dynamics to maximize efforts;
- Contribute to development of staff; provide advice and counsel as appropriate;
- Demonstrate the ability to contribute to the continued improvement of national and regional processes;
- Fight the right battles; concede the others; understand what can change and what cannot.
Relationship Building:
- Understand underlying issues, other people’s underlying problems and the reasons for someone’s ongoing or long-term feelings, behaviors or concerns, while still exhibiting the strength to end unproductive or damaging situations that do not contribute to NCC’s mission;
- Work with a long-term perspective to address donor or business partner problems, perhaps trading off immediate costs for the sake of the long-term relationship; look for long-term benefits for both the donor and NCC, balance donor needs with organizational objectives;
- Activate diverse people and groups to work together and optimize results;
- Work cooperatively with national human resource expertise to prevent and address staffing concerns.
Communication:
- Comfortably speak to business partners within and outside own area of expertise; speak effectively to a broad, general audience and to all levels of the organization;
- Assert ideas, persuade others and gain support from others; negotiate effectively and with confidence; seek win-win solutions;
- Understand perspectives of listeners, tailor communications for specific groups;
- Bring others into the communications process to gain support for and ownership of ideas;
- Express complex or abstract ideas, values, and vision clearly; adjust communication style to the audience;
- Constantly create an atmosphere in which timely and high quality information flows smoothly;
- Listen to and communicate effectively with staff.
Management:
- Leverage an in-depth knowledge of the business, its objectives and strategies, and a general knowledge of major management disciplines (e.g. finance, marketing, organizational behavior) to optimize operations;
- Project a “can do” attitude, be optimistic, enthusiastic, committed to action;
- Consistently set sights on key business development issues and actions; push yourself and others to develop focused and effective plans;
- Identify and analyze relevant data and then define critical issues and alternatives; often seeing things others miss;
- Adopt best practices from other partners as benchmarks for improving NCC activities;
- Work effectively with different functional groups and levels of management.
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