Director – Science and Marine Governance

Position Overview

Rare Overview 

Rare is a global leader in reducing coastal overfishing and revitalizing coastal fisheries. Rare works across eight countries to strengthen how communities protect and manage coastal areas and habitats. In the Philippines, Rare has worked with 796 communities to establish more than 1.2 million hectares of Managed Access Areas, including approximately 10,000 hectares of no-take reserves, benefiting more than 1.2 million community members. 

Position Overview 

The Director of Science and Marine Governance reports to the Senior Director for Program Implementation and Shared Services and will be responsible for:   

Technical Expertise and Leadership 

• Overall management of science team, including budgeting, donor reporting, and personnel management.  
• Act as the key science expert for all science-related aspects of the program including marine spatial design and fisheries program design.  

• Represent Rare and build and cultivate relationships with various actors in national and local level fisheries space including academic institutions.  

• Provide thought leadership including, but not limited to, publishing research findings in peer-reviewed journals and presenting at conferences.  

• Create and execute research agenda.  

• Support technical aspects of project proposals.  

• Designing and executing the Science Team’s engagement in the Fish Forever Scale Strategy.  

• Lead Applied Science Community of Practice.  

Project and People Management 

• Drive team performance by setting clear goals, conducting regular performance evaluations, and providing continuous feedback to support employee development. 

• Manage administrative workflows such as timely approvals for leaves, expense reports, timesheets, and other compliance-related tasks. 

• Promote a safe, inclusive, and collaborative team environment through regular check-ins, conflict resolution, and alignment with company values. 

• Provide oversight into project execution, ensuring it is within schedule and scope by planning activities and timelines, allocating resources, and tracking key milestones. 

• Spot/forecast friction points and raise proactive solutions to maintain productivity and alignment 

Position Requirements 

• Master’s degree or PhD in Fisheries (expertise in population dynamics preferred), Socio-Ecological System Thinking, Marine Biology or Social Sciences.  

• Proven experience in Marine spatial planning and governance, and/or working with communities especially for data collection.  

• Proven ability in training and capacity building.  

• Management and collaborating with different teams.  

• Exceptional organizational skills to prioritize projects and initiate follow-through with meticulous attention to detail.  

• Willingness to travel for about 50% of the time. 

• Proven experience in team leadership, program design, and budget management.  

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, verbal and written, including the ability to effectively engage with staff and partners at all levels in a fast-paced work environment.  

• Sound business judgment and ability to manage shifting priorities and competing deadlines to ensure accuracy and high-quality standards while applying a system’s view of outcomes and impact.  

• Prior experience in an international, cross-cultural work environment is essential, and a willingness to work on flexible hours (even beyond the regular working hours) as needed.  

• Written and verbal fluency in English.  

Other Duties  

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

Rare is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.