The Environmental Portfolio at The Pew Charitable Trusts
For more than 30 years, Pew has been a major force in engaging the public and policy makers about the causes, consequences, and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Our environment work spans all seven continents with more than 250 professionals working at the local, national, and international levels to reduce the scope and severity of global environmental problems, such as the erosion of large natural ecosystems that contain a great part of the world’s remaining biodiversity, and the destruction of the marine environment. Pew’s global environmental program focuses on science-based, nonpartisan, and sustainable solutions to help protect the planet and people. We work in partnership with governments, Indigenous rights holders, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, local stakeholders, scientists, and other researchers to advance public policy so that nature and communities can thrive.
Since 1990, Pew has worked in North America, South America and Australia to protect large and critically important terrestrial ecosystems, including rivers and other freshwater resources, coastal temperate rainforests, interior mountain ranges, the northern boreal forests, Australia’s Outback, and Chilean Patagonia. We work to ensure these natural systems remain bountiful, functioning, and resilient, providing essential ecological services such as clean air and clean water, sustenance and food security for local communities and more broadly for the welfare of current and future generations. Our work relies on the sciences of conservation, sociology, biology, and economics to advocate for practical and durable solutions to the loss of biodiversity.
In the sea, reforms to how our oceans are managed are essential to address overfishing, pollution, and loss of habitat. Pew began its oceans program in the United States, focusing on ending overfishing and protecting fragile marine habitat. Starting in 2005, Pew’s ocean conservation program expanded around the world and played a significant role in reforming marine fisheries management in the European Union and on the high seas and creating large scale marine reserves around the world. Our work is grounded in the best available science and pursues domestic and international conservation measures that are long-term and provide permanent, durable protections for marine ecosystems. We also work to address systemic threats to the ocean, including from plastics, over-and-illegal fishing, seabed mining, and climate change.
Conserving Nature for Chile
Chile’s Patagonia is one of the last remaining intact wilderness areas of the world, yet today it is both under-recognized and under-protected. Pew and its partners are working to change that by promoting this region’s unique value in the world and developing and implementing policies to secure the long-term protection of this remarkable landscape.
Chilean Patagonia is on the west coast of the southern cone of South America, where the continent tapers toward the Antarctic Ocean. While many of Chile’s natural lands all have important ecological values, Patagonia is special because of its high degree of intactness, endemism and exceptional land and sea interconnectedness.
Approximately 80 percent of this area remains unspoiled, therefore making it similar in ecological condition to Australia’s Outback and Canada’s Boreal, other places where Pew works. Although it is approximately one-fifth the size of the continental-scale Boreal in Canada and Outback, Chile’s Patagonia stretches over several hundred miles of important wilderness that features unique geography, oceanography and ecological productivity, including a lush temperate rainforest, glacier-carved valleys, windy grasslands, inland shorelines, and countless fjords and islands.
In partnership with a network of non-governmental organizations, academia, government agencies and local governments and communities in Chile, Pew will work to improve and enhance the protection of this landscape through the country’s park and reserve system, while also promoting public-private partnerships for new conservation efforts in terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats.
At the institutional level, Chile faces a unique opportunity while implementing the new Service of Protected Areas and Biodiversity.
Position Overview
Reporting to the director, Conserving Nature for Chile, the officer will support efforts to coordinate in-country activities related to improving the conservation of biodiversity and management of Chile’s protected areas. The officer will focus on pursuing conservation, policy, and community development opportunities that support the designation of new protected areas and improvement of existing protected areas management, developing partnerships with diverse key strategic allies, including government officials, policy makers, private sector, academia, other nonprofit organizations, local community leaders, and beneficiaries. This position requires expertise in full cycle project management, report preparation and presentation to senior management and institutional event coordination at local, national and international levels.
This position is based remotely in Pucón X Region, Southern Chile.
Responsibilities
Foster a work environment that inspires excellence, values impact, encourages transparency, builds mutual trust and respect, embraces and values diversity, and is collaborative, caring and compassionate.
In collaboration with the director and senior staff, support the development and implementation of effective strategies to deliver the project’s objective to help Chile achieve its ambitious conservation commitments by protecting a wide range of its unique ecosystems’ country-wide, and ensuring that these protections have the social and political support, and financial and institutional structures necessary for long-term durability.
Engage with a wide range of new subnational authorities, academic institutions, communities and key stakeholders to advance the project strategy by expanding Pew’s geographic scope of work beyond Patagonia and strengthen partnerships at regional and local levels across Chile.
Advance the project’s existing efforts to safeguard the ecological integrity of the Chilean Patagonia region by supporting the designation of new protected areas and strengthening the management of existing terrestrial, marine, and freshwater protections, including advancing sustainable finance mechanisms and durable institutions.
Track progress towards the completion of project deliverables and achieving project objectives, ensuring and optimizing coordination and effective collaboration amongst team members and partners.
Support the development and management of grants, contracts, and contractors to advance the goals of the project, using Pew’s systems and platforms (e.g., Ironclad).
Collaborate with other allies and organizations to maximize the impact of campaign strategies and identify potential partners and experts who will further Pew's objectives.
Plan, organize, and coordinate virtual and in-person meetings, workshops, and convenings for policymakers and other key audiences.
Liaise with colleagues in other departments and external partners, as needed, to develop and finalize project-related goals, including, but not limited to, collaboration with our key partner in Chile, the Austral Patagonia Program at Austral University and Academia Universitaria Austral, among others.
Develop issue briefs, web features, newsletters, and similar products, ensuring factual accuracy.
Represent Pew in key government meetings, coalition meetings, conferences, and events.
Participate in activities that support program and Pew-wide objectives.
Requirements
Effective professional proficiency in written and oral communication skills in both Spanish and English.
Skilled at informing and influencing internal and external audiences through written and oral communications.
Demonstrated experience working effectively within a matrixed organization while leveraging a variety of technical systems. Capacity to drive complex projects to successful completion with measurable results.
Aptitude to apply a non-partisan, evidence-based approach to projects and campaigns that require support across the political spectrum.
Excellent strategic and analytical skills applied to public policy issues, including synthesizing large sets of information, identifying key themes, and focusing quickly on the essence of an issue.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Generally, eight years of applicable experience.
Key attributes and preferred experience:
Develops and moves projects forward with a high degree of independence and autonomy.
Skilled at developing and managing productive and collaborative relationships.
Experience with national and/or intergovernmental institutions.
Comfortable managing and meeting multiple time limits.
Experience setting short- and long-term planning goals in line with program strategies.
Diplomatic skills with the capacity to work productively with a wide array of different people and institutions that may disagree with and are in competition with one another.
Experience working with a wide array of stakeholders, including international government officials, the private sector, academic and non-profit community.
Proficiency in soft skills such as conflict management, seeking support, proactive communication, empathy, resilience, adaptability, self-awareness, emotional regulation, reframing, and mindfulness are valued.
Travel
This position requires travel within Chile and occasional travel to meetings and conferences abroad.
Work Authorization
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Chile.
Salary Range
Chile Pay Range: $45,050,000 - $50,350,000The salary range represents a reasonable estimate of the annual salary based on Pew’s commitment to provide equitable and market-competitive pay. The actual salary offered will take into consideration many factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills and experience, internal pay equity, and business need.
Total Rewards
This position offers a competitive salary and benefit program.
Pew is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or any other protected characteristics.