Head, Singapore Conservation

Overview

Position title : Head, Singapore Conservation & Community Science

Reports to : Director/Assistant Director, WWF-Singapore

Location : Singapore

About World Wide Fund for Nature, Singapore (WWF)

WWF-Singapore is a Singapore-registered charity, a network member of WWF International – one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. WWF-Singapore protects critical resources for people in Singapore by driving change across government, business, civil society and local communities. To meet key conservation goals, we address issues such as deforestation, haze pollution, seafood sustainability and illegal wildlife trade in Singapore and around the region. We deliver transformational corporate partnerships, fundraising to execute local and global conservation programmes and projects and community outreach to achieve WWF’s global goals for food, forests, oceans, water, wildlife, and climate and energy. As one of WWF’s global hubs, WWF-Singapore supports a global network that spans over 100 countries.

The Head is responsible for leading the theory of change for our local conservation and community science programmes. S/he will be managing team members of the education & outreach arm of the Conservation and Science Department within WWF Singapore. The education & outreach team aims to develop future conservation and sustainability champions in Singapore by bringing conservation and sustainability education and awareness to various groups. The post holder will lead the team to design and implement flagship education and outreach programmes and a suite of outdoor nature-based programmes.

This role will also involve strategic development of new initiatives, management of day-to-day administration of all team activities, have oversight of staff who variously manage citizen scientists, youth programmes and public/corporate programmes. You will be involved in work across the organisation - including but not limited to Operations, Fundraising and Communications, Finance in developing and delivering high quality education and outreach programmes to educational institutions, corporations, and the public.

• Create and implement strategic team workplans.
• Strategize, create and implement our flagship education and outdoor nature-based programmes (e.g. Eco-Schools, #WeGotThis, Cyber Spotters Programme) with staff and volunteers.
• Closely partner with the fundraising and public sector partnership teams to identify and pursue key sources of funding, partnerships and grants, to raise critical resources to support the implementation of our programmes.
• Oversee, develop and deliver with the team, high quality science-based content on nature conservation and sustainability including talks, workshops, training, nature guiding, educational materials, outdoor education, regional field trips, exhibitions, citizen science surveys.
• Manage MoU partnership commitments and establish on new partnerships.
• Monitor engagement requests from internal teams and external partners; prioritise and manage a calendar of engagement activities and coordinate their execution with staff.
• Supervise the team to identify and recruit vendors to ensure high quality.
• Liaise with schools, tertiary institutions, universities, corporates, public and ministries for the various educational and outreach endeavors of WWF.
• Train staff, volunteers, students, partners, teachers as needed to ensure that they are equipped with knowledge, materials to assist &/or leverage on the education outreach programmes/initiatives.
• Provide input for media responses and be a media spokesperson when needed, in partnership with the communications team when required.
• Formulate and review long & short-term strategies and operation plans for the team. This will include both traditional and non-traditional approaches including leveraging on new and social media to expand educational outreach efforts.
• Ensure and evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies and recommend renewal plans accordingly.
• Conceptualize, budget for, monitor and implement existing and new programmes.
• Actively collaborate with WWF network and other teams to developing high value education and engagement projects
• Represent the office at key events, donor and stakeholder meetings within WWF network and externally
• Maintain good working relationships with key stakeholders such as education practitioners including principals, teachers, administrators, sponsors, partner organisations, advocates etc. This will include developing collaborative relationships with new partners, including government and non-governmental organisations, youth groups, youth-centric commercial brands etc.
• Facilitate conservation related events, learning activities and outdoor engagements for various demographics

• PhD/Master’s degree in Biology, Environmental Sciences, Geography or related fields
• 8-10 years’ professional experience in Singapore nature conservation, or related areas, education and outreach events
• At least 3 years leading and managing a team
• Proven success to developing and manage local conservation projects
• Experience of working in a multi-stakeholder environment
• Excellent communication, public speaking and group facilitation skills
• Knowledge on local biodiversity, especially native flora and fauna
• Passion for environmental issues, nature, advocacy and change
• Knowledge of the not-for-profit sector is a bonus

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.