Lead, Thriving Landscapes at Rainforest Alliance

POSITION SUMMARY:

• Thriving Landscapes are one of the two main offerings in the Rainforest Alliance 2030 strategy. They comprise tropical ecosystems with the greatest ecological, market, and social value where we will integrate our offerings and work in alliance with landscape stakeholders towards a time-bound, comprehensive, and shared vision that achieves positive, measurable impacts for people and nature. ​
• Through strategic alliances, and the integrated delivery of Rainforest Alliance’s products and services, Thriving Landscapes will construct a systems pathway to regenerative production, economic diversification, inclusive social development and ecosystem conservation and restoration. It will strengthen market commitments to responsible and/or certified sourcing, advocate for policies driving sustainable land use, and enable stakeholders to work collaboratively to define and implement context-specific actions for climate resilience, biodiversity conservation and improved livelihoods. A clear results framework will capture the impact.
• In the 2030 strategy, five Thriving Landscapes have been identified initially, one in each Region of Rainforest Alliance's work. In the East and Southern Africa Region, the identified Thriving Landscape is the Mount Kenya landscape in Kenya. The Lead, Thriving Landscapes, Mount Kenya, is responsible for coordinating and delivering the Thriving Landscapes vision for the Mount Kenya Thriving Landscape, enabling the Rainforest Alliance to achieve greater mission impact. The Lead will collaborate closely with a multi-disciplinary, local and international team of specialists.
• Identifying critical cross-departmental and external alliance growth opportunities as well as having the expertise and communication style to positively influence these successful collaborations is key to the success of this role.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The Rainforest Alliance’s Core Values are Impact, Change, Collaboration, Openness and Trust and as such they form the basis of the behaviours we demonstrate;
• Proactively lead and support the organization in achieving its 2030 Strategy, with a focus on its Thriving Landscapes offering, promoting speed, scale and simplification in design, implementation and impact creation;
• Coordinate with the Thriving Landscapes Global Lead and the Country Director, and support the design of Rainforest Alliance’s global Thriving Landscapes offering strategy;
• In service of the landscape communities, responsible for working in alliance with stakeholders to create a time-bound, comprehensive, and shared Thriving Landscape vision for Mount Kenya, achieving positive, measurable impacts for people and nature;
• Lead the development of a roadmap to reach the shared Thriving Landscape vision;
• Recognize local stakeholders’ aspirations in the design of the Thriving Landscape vision, clarifying the roles and responsibilities within collaborative landscape plans, and while pursuing further collaborative decision-making around the landscape management and related initiatives;
• Facilitate the implementation of the roadmap through advising on Rainforest Alliance’s and partners’ programs; landscape partnership development and facilitation, engaging in fundraising, corporate engagement, and advocacy;
• Ensure the programs executed towards the Thriving Landscapes vision is measured consistently and across the landscape, providing credible evidence to markets to generate impact claims outlining the returns on investment;
• Support the coordination, consistency, accountability, and continuous learning across the five Thriving Landscapes;
• Work closely with departments across the Rainforest Alliance to align and coordinate, e.g., on marketing and communication, impact measurement, fundraising, corporate engagements and partnerships, etc;
• Represent Rainforest Alliance at key events, presentations, policy forums and roundtables to promote the importance of landscape approaches to achieve biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, climate resilience and improved livelihoods and human rights;
• Cultivate a culture of positive and proactive collaboration, engage widely and inclusively across the organization, clearly demonstrating taking broad perspectives into consideration, report periodically on progress and risks, and embed continuous learning and simplification into all aspects of programmatic work; and;
• Other duties, as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Degree in Business Administration, Forestry, Agriculture, Biology, Social Sciences, or related field; master’s degree preferred;
• At least 10 years of relevant management experience including managing multi-stakeholder programs with public, private and financial stakeholders and experience in Integrated Landscape Management;
• Demonstrated track record of managing effective partnerships at the local level to build joint initiatives; 
• Demonstrated practical experience in working with forest communities and producers, putting their needs at the centre of all decisions;
• Extraordinary commitment, energy, and a positive mindset;
• Knowledge of sustainable development issues and commitment to Rainforest Alliance’s goals of strengthening livelihoods and securing human rights; conserving forests and other high-value ecosystems; restoring production systems and rural landscapes; and mitigating climate change and building climate resilience;
• Sound, demonstrated project management experience;

Key competencies:

• Transformational leadership, innovation, adaptability, persuasion, critical and reflective thinking, public speaking, resourcefulness, relationship builder based on trust, empathy and openness, and strong organizational skills to manage multiple priorities in a time sensitive manner; 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Spoken Kiswahili is a plus;
• Ability to travel a minimum of 30% per year, nationally and internationally.