A LITTLE ABOUT US
Founded in 1951, The Nature
Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to
conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by
science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s
toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We
are tackling climate change and conserving lands, waters and oceans at
unprecedented scale. One of our core values is our commitment to
diversity. Therefore, we strive for a globally diverse and culturally
competent workforce. Working in 72 countries, including all 50 United
States, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities,
governments, the private sector, and other partners.
TNC Africa
and TNC’s NatureVest impact investment team have developed the Africa
Conservation & Communities Tourism (ACCT) Fund in collaboration with
ThirdWay Partners, an Africa-focused investment management firm. The
ACCT Fund’s mandate is to raise and deploy impact investment capital to
support conservation tourism operators through the COVID-induced
economic downturn, which has reduced tourism footfall, resulting in job
losses and decreased funding for conservation areas. The ACCT Fund has
been structured to deliver on certain conservation outcomes and support
to local communities, including local employment opportunities. The
Fund’s investment capital must be deployed in the next several years.
TNC is the Conservation Advisor to the Fund and, in that capacity,
reviews and monitors each investment for conservation and community
outcome potential and delivery and sets a suite of conservation
covenants that each operator must adhere to over the life of the loan.
TNC will also chair the Fund’s Conservation Committee, which will
include members from ThirdWay Partners and third-party experts. Finally,
TNC is also primarily responsible for managing and monitoring any
environmental and social outcomes and risks associated with the Fund’s
work on the ground and providing detailed reports to investors and other
partners. The Fund’s priority geographies include: Kenya, Tanzania,
Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Botswana but other countries may be
considered.
More about The Nature Conservancy Africa: The Nature
Conservancy Africa program follows a holistic approach to protect vital
lands and waters, transform the way natural resources are used and
managed, and inspire to equip others to contribute to the shared vision
of a healthy and sustainable future for Africa’s lands, waters, wildlife
and people. We use a collaborative approach that engages local
communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To
learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature press on Twitter.
More
about NatureVest: NatureVest is the impact investment unit of The
Nature Conservancy. NatureVest’s mission is to create and transact
investable deals that deliver conservation results and financial returns
for investors. Our vision is based on the conviction that capital
markets, businesses and governments must invest in nature as the
long-term capital stock of a sustainable, equitable and more efficient
economy. To achieve our mission, we source and structure investment
products that support TNC’s global strategies, raise capital for these
investments, and share our knowledge and experience with the investment
and conservation communities to amplify our efforts in this emerging
area. To learn more, visit www.nature.org/naturevest.
YOUR POSITION WITH TNC
The
Conservation Tourism Environment & Social Officer (E&S Officer)
shall be primarily responsible for implementing the ACCT Fund’s
Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) as part of TNC’s
conservation advisory services to the ACCT Fund. This includes working
closely with the Fund’s portfolio of tourism operators to ensure that
E&S principles are integrated appropriately into the governance and
day-to-day decision making of the Fund to help deliver environmental and
social outcomes. In addition, they will be responsible for developing,
implementing and reporting on detailed environmental and social risk
management and monitoring processes to key cornerstone investors and
ensuring that any potential investment would meet the environmental and
social risk requirements over the life of the investment. The E&S
Officer will work closely with tourism operators, TNC’s local country
programs in the target geographies, ThirdWay Partners, and the
third-party investment management team. They will report to the
Conservation Tourism Manager on TNC’s NatureVest team. This position
will ideally be based at the TNC Regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, but
other locations in Africa where TNC has existing projects may be
considered.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The E&S Officer
shall manage all aspects of TNC’s conservation advisory services to the
ACCT Fund related to the ESMS. In this capacity, the E&S Officer
shall be responsible for conducting detailed environmental, conservation
and socio-economic diligence on conservation tourism companies. This
shall include leading detailed desktop and onsite diligence related to
environmental and social matters on tourism companies under
consideration to receive investment from the Fund. For existing
investments in the portfolio, this shall include ongoing monitoring,
such as on-site meetings and review of the operators’ environmental and
social performance against the benchmarks set by the Fund, and regular
evaluation of each company’s efforts to manage any environmental and/or
social risks identified during review.
The E&S officer shall
support the Conservation Tourism Manager to develop detailed written
recommendations to the Fund’s Conservation Committee outlining (i)
whether a conservation tourism company meets the Fund’s conservation and
E&S criteria, (ii) what mitigation measures may need to be
implemented to adequately address identified E&S risks and impacts,
(iii) what outcomes (impact metrics) each conservation tourism company
should seek to achieve over the life of their loan, and (iv) what
conservation/E&S covenants should be put in place to hold the
tourism companies accountable to these impact metrics. The role will
also work closely with the Conservation Tourism Manager and key
cornerstone investors to review and amend the ESMS as needed during the
term of the Fund based on lessons learned and incorporate any new
developments in global trends in this area.
They shall also be
responsible for preparing regular summary performance reports to the
Fund’s Conservation Committee and its investors and support the
Conservation Tourism Manager in coordinating the Conservation
Committee’s meetings, developing any necessary materials (including the
conservation recommendation memos) in advance of those meetings, and
providing any necessary follow-up to the Conservation Committee.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Undertakes
detailed conservation, environmental and social diligence (assessment)
on selected tourism operators in eastern and southern Africa. - For
new investments, prepares summary recommendations to the Conservation
Tourism Manager on the environmental, conservation and social impact
potential of a given investment based on the results of their diligence
processes and the overall impact objectives of the ACCT Fund. - Supports
the Conservation Tourism Manager in preparing detailed recommendations
to the Conservation Committee for environmental and social activities to
be undertaken by tourism operators, including specific environmental
and social impact criteria for investments on a case-by-case basis, in
formal memoranda. - Works with the tourism operators and
third-party investment manager to ensure that appropriate environmental
and social considerations, including covenants, are incorporated into
loan agreements for each operator. - Monitors on a bi-annual basis
the impact of the environmental and social activities being undertaken
by tourism operators receiving investment from the Fund, assesses
performance against targeted Fund benchmarks and monitoring and
mitigation plans, and details that assessment in formal memoranda. - Monitors
as necessary the environmental and social risk profile of the companies
that have received investment from the Fund and works closely with
cornerstone investors to meet their risk and outcome reporting needs. - Provides
technical guidance and assistance on E&S issues to the Conservation
Tourism Manager, the Conservation Committee and tourism operators
receiving investment from the Fund. - Reviews, and if necessary,
revises E&S guidelines each year in coordination with the
Conservation Tourism Manager, the Conservation Committee, the
third-party investment manager and related investors. - Works
closely with TNC Africa staff and/or other key partners, as necessary,
to identify opportunities where the diligence process and any targeted
impact requirements may be designed to advance TNC’s existing priorities
in the region. - Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% both
domestically and internationally, and to work on occasional weekends
and/or evenings.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s
degree in Business, Conservation, Finance, Tourism Management or
related field and 3 years of related experience such as tourism,
conservation, or conservation finance focused on the landscapes of
Africa, or equivalent combination of education and experience. - Experience
in global environmental and social monitoring standards, frameworks and
procedures (such as those developed by World Bank and International
Finance Corporation). - International work experience.
- Experience in project management and tracking and meeting deadlines for multiple projects simultaneously.
- Experience making written and oral recommendations and presentations.
- Experience developing end products with software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- At
least 3 -5 years of relevant professional experience with environmental
and/or social impact monitoring or risk management systems. - Strong
team player who can build relationships and work collaboratively across
the organization, including with senior management, TNC Africa
conservation staff and with Conservancy partners. - Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience.
- Confident self-starter with ability to generate work products with limited support.
- Experience developing, presenting and writing-up complex materials in briefing notes and/or memoranda.
- Knowledge of environmental and social safeguards and/or risk management issues as applied to conservation in Africa.
- Willingness
to learn and develop expertise in new conservation strategies, economic
drivers, management tools, and global affairs.
APPLY NOW
To apply for job ID 50928, submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at https://careers.nature.org/. Need help applying? Visit our recruitment page or contact [email protected].
The
Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to
diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best
advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse
backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to
create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a
priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors,
religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status,
sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status
or other status protected by law.
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experience? Visit our U.S. Military Skills Translator to match your
military experience with our current job openings!
TNC is
committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with
disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If
you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send
a note to [email protected] with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.
