Associate Director

THI seeks to bring a paradigm shift in conserving and restoring nature, augmenting ecosystem services, and in transforming institutions for sustaining natural assets and meeting climate change threats in the Himalayas. Four distinct and interconnected action areas implemented in priority landscapes are:

• Assessment, Monitoring, and Conservation of Biodiversity
• Restoring Degraded Multi-Functional Landscapes
• Sustainable Use, Livelihoods and Climate Resilience
• Place-based research, conservation and action through Community Conservation Centres

The development of knowledge commons for plant and animal species, including bioresources forms an integral part of these focus areas, as also evidence and advocacy for mountain-specific policies.

THI fosters interdisciplinary research to identify and understand problems, develop replicable models for action, implement knowledge-based solutions, provide policy analysis and advocacy, conduct community outreach, build next generation leaders and institutional capacities, and contribute towards the achievement of national and international goals on biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate change.

Job Profile

The Associate Director Eastern Himalaya shall specifically focus on the Khangchendzonga Landscape and the THI s action areas around Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration, and Nature-based Livelihoods in the Eastern Himalaya-North East India. The position provides intellectual leadership and develops partnerships to achieve THI s strategies.

The position is responsible for the design, development, planning and implementation of the designated action areas and place-based conservation efforts in the Khangchendzonga landscape including research, policy outreach, fundraising, review and reporting of the THI progress, and collaboration with partners.

Scope of role

Reports to: Director- The Himalaya Initiative

Budget Responsibilities : Overall budget control of projects and regional office expenses

Duration of Engagement : Regular position with probation of six months.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the THI Director on the THI strategic direction and institutional policies, including preparation of the THI Strategy and Five-Year Action Plans.
• Work closely with the THI Director, Executive Director/Director of Programmes, and Director of Development for developing programmes, writing project proposals, fundraising, and financial sustainability of the THI.
• Manage the Eastern Himalaya-Northeast Office at Gangtok with responsibility for both administration and finances, following ATREE guidelines.
• Work closely with the THI Director in providing programmatic, thematic and scientific leadership to the THI.
• Guide the team members to ensure innovation, scientific rigour, and integration with ATREE s Programmes and Centres, Academy and Labs.
• Promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches for programme planning, research and implementation in the THI work areas.
• Ensure that ATREE s work has relevance to emerging development challenges and impact pathways are established and routinely evaluated.
• Work in developing partnerships for the action areas, and work closely with the Centre for Policy Design in providing policy support in its domain of work at the national and regional levels (Indian Himalayan states).
• Supervise staff in the respective action areas and projects to ensure the implementation of the THI in achieving strategic goals and objectives.
• Provide supervision on project management especially progress and performance as per the results framework and donor reporting requirements and compliance.
• Provide mentorship to staff, researchers, Masters and PhD scholars and interns.
• Ensure the action area and project teams publish papers in international and national journals, and articles for general and policy awareness.
• Identify Action Area and Project human resources needs, and guide the recruitment process. Align gender and equity guidelines of the institution in the THI.
• Represent ATREE in national, regional and international forums on thematic sharing, conferences and networking.
• Work closely with THI Director and the Communications Unit of ATREE in promoting external communications.
• Conduct staff performance appraisal for the THI action areas in line with ATREE s institutional process.
• Serve in various committees and task forces in ATREE as and when called for by the institution.

The Associate Director can pursue research projects outside of the core focus areas based on individual / domain interests, provided the time allocated for such interests is limited to not more than 20% of the total time for this role.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• PhD in Biodiversity, Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Environmental Science, Botany, Zoology, Forestry, Community Conservation etc. with experience in interdisciplinary work and with a good publication record to candidate s credit.
• At least 15 years of post-PhD work experience of which a part has preferably been in the mountain region.
• At least 5 years of experience in leading or managing long-term programmes and projects, preferably in a multicultural environment.
• Proven track record of leadership in implementation of multi-year projects and programmes.

Competencies

Knowledge: Possess state-of-the-art knowledge on subjects related to the action areas, with the ability to represent ATREE in national and international forums.

Management and coordination : The ability to plan and manage large-scale programs and projects, including financial overview, people management, and monitoring and evaluation.

Networking/stakeholder management : The ability to identify relevant partners, build new linkages, and effectively facilitate stakeholder processes including engagement with government departments, manage conflict, and negotiate major programmatic issues.

Communication and outreach : The ability to effectively present, discuss, convince, and influence people and target groups on different levels with tailored messages and ensure effective channels of communication across the ATREE.

Results/impact orientation : The ability to apply a proactive strategic approach within and outside the ATREE to generate concrete results leading to impacts.

Social/team competency : The ability to build effective teams including people from different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds and across the THI and ATREE; give and receive constructive feedback; provide information and share resources across ATREE to help make decisions collaboratively and solve mutual problems.

Report and proposal writing : The ability to write and coordinate the preparation of complex project and program reports, write successful proposals, and synthesise results from different research projects.