Oceania Lead

The Oceania Lead provides senior leadership and acts as a conservation strategist across a portfolio of country programs in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The role is accountable for the collective performance and impact of the Oceania grouping, ensuring delivery of measurable conservation outcomes at scale, alignment with the organisation's priorities, and adherence to TNC's values.

The Oceania Lead aligns and integrates conservation, policy, finance and partnerships across countries to address priority threats and opportunities, ensuring resources, capabilities and programs are effectively coordinated for maximum impact. They lead Country Directors and provide matrix leadership across partnership services enabling rather than replacing local leadership, and strengthening collective performance through influence and alignment.

Working collaboratively across TNC, the role mobilises and contributes intellectual, financial and human resources to cross‐cutting and regional initiatives, ensuring Oceania meaningfully contributes to Asia Pacific and global priorities. They support the translation of strategy into execution, including scaling successful approaches and strengthening policy and finance mechanisms that enable lasting conservation outcomes.

The Oceania Lead serves as TNC's senior external representative across Oceania and is accountable for building strategic relationships with donors, philanthropic families, corporate leaders, governments and conservation partners. Working in close partnership with the Chair of the Oceania Advisory Board, the Oceania Lead will help establish, develop and support a high‐performing Oceania Advisory Board that advances conservation impact, influence and philanthropy across the region. The role is expected to be a visible and compelling fundraiser, mobilising support and investment for TNC's priorities throughout Oceania.

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

• Regional Leadership and Alignment: Provide leadership across Oceania to ensure alignment of country programs with Asia Pacific and global priorities. Lead and support Country Directors to deliver strong performance, accountability and collaboration across Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
• Conservation Impact and Strategy Delivery: Build on existing programs and momentum, identifying opportunities to strengthen and scale impact without unnecessary disruption or re‐framing. Ensure coordinated delivery of high impact conservation outcomes at scale across climate, lands, oceans, freshwater and people.
• Advisory Board Leadership: Partner closely with the Chair of the Oceania Advisory Board to build, recruit, engage and steward a highly effective advisory board.
• Policy, Partnerships and External Influence: Coordinate and elevate policy engagement across Oceania countries to influence enabling environments for conservation.
• Resource Mobilisation and Financial Sustainability: Lead fundraising performance across Oceania and be accountable for achieving agreed philanthropic revenue goals.
• Shared Services and Operational Effectiveness: Provide matrix leadership to shared services functions (HR, Finance & Operations and others) to ensure effective support across countries.
• People Leadership and Culture: Support a high‐performing, inclusive and collaborative leadership cohort across Oceania.
• Cross Cutting Contributions: Contribute Oceania capabilities, insights and resources to Asia Pacific and global initiatives.

We're Looking for You: Are you looking for work you can believe in? At TNC we strive to embody a philosophy of Work that You Can Believe in where you can feel like you are making a difference every day. We're looking for someone with strong experience in leading a diverse, multi‐disciplinary team.

What You'll Bring: Bachelor's degree and minimum of 7 years of experience as a leader in the conservation arena, non‐profit sector, advocacy, or related for‐profit area. Extensive and proven management experience including ability to motivate, lead, set objectives, and manage performance of a large multi‐disciplinary team.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCES

• Strategic Leadership and Collaborative Management: Demonstrated ability to lead large‐scale, complex systems initiatives.
• Financial, Operational and Shared Services Leadership: Experience overseeing shared services or enterprise‐wide functions.
• Fundraising and External Influence: Proven success securing funding from diverse sources (public and private).
• Managing for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Demonstrated commitment to inclusive leadership and culturally responsive practices.
• Interpersonal Communication and Influence: Ability to communicate authentically, clearly and persuasively.

Who We Are: The Nature Conservancy's mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science‐based organization, we create innovative, on‐the‐ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive.

What We Bring: Since 1951, TNC has been doing work you can believe in. Through grassroots action, we have grown from a small non‐profit into one of the most effective and wide‐reaching environmental organizations in the world.

Benefits: TNC offers competitive and comprehensive benefits packages tailored to the individual countries where we work. These may include health care benefits, retirement benefits, parental leave, paid time off, life insurance, and disability coverage.