Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience – Tanzania

Vacancy #:
7569

Unit:
ESARO - Coastal and Ocean Programme

Organisation:
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Location:
Tanzania Project Office, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania

Reporting to:
Regional Programme Coordinator / Country Representative, IUCN Tanzania

Work percentage:
100%

Grade:
SP

Expected start date:
01 May 2026

Type of contract:
Fixed-term (up to 24 months)

Closing date:
01 May 2026

BACKGROUND

THIS IS A LOCAL POSITION

BACKGROUND:

IUCN’s Tanzania Country Programme supports priorities defined under Tanzania's National Development Plan, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Climate Change Strategy, Agriculture and Water Sector Development Strategies and Marine and Fisheries Action Plans, Blue Economy Policies and Strategies, IUCN Intersessional Plan 2021-2024 as well as relevant multi-lateral environmental agreements. Our 2030 strategic goals include sustainable land and landscapes management, conservation of critical natural habitats, Integrated water resources management, capacity building for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and Coastal and Ocean Resilience (COR) building.

The Tanzania COR Programme is designed to feed into the Great Blue Wall Initiative. The Great Blue Wall is a Western Indian Ocean (WIO)-born, Africa-driven roadmap to achieve a nature positive world by 2030. It aims at unlocking unprecedented nature-based recovery efforts through the establishment of a transformational movement. Its goal is to dramatically accelerate and upscale ocean conservation actions while enhancing socio-ecological resilience and the development of a regenerative blue economy by catalyzing political leadership and financial support. This will be achieved by spearheading the establishment of a connected network of nature-people positive seascapes (or regenerative seascapes). This network of seascapes will be connected by a living blue wall that will act as a regional ecological corridor formed by conserved and restored critical blue ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and corals. While the Great Blue Wall will act as a wall against climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, it will also shelter coastal communities and create the enabling conditions and necessary mechanisms to empower local stakeholders to become stewards of the ocean while accelerating the development of a regenerative blue economy. The Great Blue Wall is an action-focused and action-driven regional response to 3 interconnected crises, i.e. Biodiversity - Climate – Socioeconomic with three clear objectives to be achieved by 2030:
- Effectively and equitably conserve at least 30% of the ocean by 2030
- Conserve and restore critical blue ecosystems to achieve net-gain by 2030
- Unlock the development of a regenerative blue economy that directly benefits coastal communities while also delivering conservation outcomes.

To deliver on these goals, IUCN seeks to recruit a Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience to provide strategic, institutional and portfolio-wide leadership for IUCN’s Coastal and Ocean Resilience work in Tanzania.
The role is responsible for shaping and leading a coherent, systems-based COR portfolio that integrates marine biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, blue economy development, ecosystem restoration, governance reform, and community resilience into a unified transformation agenda aligned with the Great Blue Wall and national Blue Economy priorities.
The Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent travel to the Country focus Seascapes and others in the Western Indian Ocean Region.

The Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent travel to the Country focus Seascapes and others in the Western Indian Ocean Region.

JOB DESCRIPTION

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under direct supervision of the Country Representative, Tanzania (and advisory support from the regional heads of Coastal and Ocean Resilience and Land Systems), the Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience will work closely with designated focal points from relevant Ministries, Government Institutions, Academic and Research Institutions, partner NGOs and donor.

The Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience, will move the COR portfolio from a collection of projects to a strategically integrated programme platform that:
Apply systems thinking and adaptive management
Catalyzes policy and institutional reform
Attracts large-scale financing with strategic emphasis on trade and investment
Positions IUCN as the leading technical and strategic partner in Tanzania’s blue economy transition.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:
The specific duties and responsibilities for the Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience include:

Strategic Portfolio Leadership and Systems Thinking (20%);
Define and drive the long-term (5–10 year) transformation vision for the COR portfolio in Tanzania.
Lead strategic coherence across all projects, seascapes and thematic areas (MPAs, NbS, plastic solutions, fisheries, governance, blue and green economy).
Lead and leverage systems thinking to identify leverage points across ecological, economic, institutional and community systems.
Oversee and provide guidance in aligning with national and global frameworks (IUCN Programme 2026–2029, NBSAP, Climate Strategy, National Blue Economy Strategy, Great Blue Wall, ReGen Africa).
Oversee integration and connectivity across terrestrial-coastal-marine systems.
Advance IUCN’s capability to design and scale innovative conservation?finance and bankable models, including blue carbon, biodiversity credit frameworks, community ecotourism and resilient small?scale fisheries value chains.

Programme Integration, Adaptive Management and Impact Architecture (20%;
Lead development and refinement of a portfolio-level Theory of Change encompassing biodiversity, climate, governance, livelihoods and finance.
Institutionalize adaptive management processes, reflection loops and cross?project learning architecture (knowledge platforms, policy dialogues, learning labs).
Monitor and implement ecological, socio-economic and governance data inform strategic decisions.
Promote landscape–seascape connectivity and coordination across key sectors (fisheries, tourism, infrastructure, coastal urban development).
Oversee portfolio-level results frameworks aligned with 2030 biodiversity and climate targets and promote outcome harvesting and evidence generation for scaling.

Programme Development, Resource Mobilisation and Strategic Partnerships (20%);
Lead design of large-scale, multi-year, multi-donor programmes (GEF, GCF, EU, bilateral agencies, philanthropy).
Cultivate and promote strategic partnerships with government ministries, development partners, private sector actors (blue finance, fisheries, tourism) and WIO regional platforms.
Identify and leverage blended and innovative finance mechanisms.
Ensure a strong funding pipeline beyond current programme cycles, including mapping emerging funding opportunities and development of multi-year resource mobilisation pipelines.

Policy Influence and Institutional Reform (20%);
Lead high-level policy engagement and strategic dialogue with government, ensuring strong; science–policy linkages.
Support regulatory and governance reforms related to coastal forest management, community-based resource governance, plastic regulation and blue economy investment frameworks.
Represent IUCN at national, regional and international fora.
Strengthen institutional relationships to shape policy environments conducive to coastal and ocean resilience.
Position IUCN Tanzania as the lead convener for regenerative blue economy programming.
Strengthen IUCN’s science to business to policy interface.

Portfolio Delivery Oversight, Team Leadership and Organisational Positioning (20%);
Provide strategic guidance to senior programme staff, including project and technical/thematic leads.
Ensure delivery excellence, financial sustainability, risk management and safeguards compliance across the portfolio.
Drive performance coherence between programme- and project-level teams.
Support leadership development for senior staff and cultivate high-performing teams.
Position IUCN as a thought leader in Tanzania and the WIO region by driving publication of strategic insights, policy briefs, and transformation narratives, and fostering regional exchanges.

REQUIREMENTS

• Position requirements:

Education;
Advanced degree with 12 years’ experience in environmental sciences, natural resources management, strategic management, sustainable development or any other discipline that is relevant to nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

Work Experience;
We’re looking for an outstanding, hands-on, highly motivated, autonomous, innovative, solution-oriented, result-driven and resourceful individual with the following progressive experience:

12 years of progressive leadership experience in conservation, climate resilience, or environmental programme management.
Experience in leading multi-project or multi-donor portfolios, including strategy development, systems thinking, and long-term programme visioning.
Demonstrate proven track record in designing and securing large-scale donor-funded programmes
Experience and knowledge in policy engagement and governance reform, including representation in high-level national or regional fora.
Expertise in integrated coastal/landscape-seascape management and cross-sector coordination
Experience applying adaptive management, Theory of Change approaches, and results-based frameworks aligned with global biodiversity/climate targets.
Demonstrate proven team leadership and organizational strengthening experience, including senior leadership experience and ensuring high-quality programme delivery.

Language requirement;
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Swahili.

Core Competencies;
Transparency: Able to build trust and contribute to informed and responsible decision-making by carrying out the work of IUCN in a transparent manner; provides clear guidance to ensure that objectives and desired measurable results are understood by members of the team.
Inclusiveness: Understands and accepts cultural diversity, and provides a tolerant, positive and supportive working environment that fosters respect for diversity, demonstrates ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
Professionalism: Promote the organization’s interests, objectives and values in a diligent and professional manner.
Accountability: Takes responsibility of individual and collective actions, promotes the IUCN One Programme approach.

Functional competencies;
Adheres to IUCN core values of Transparency, Inclusiveness, Professionalism and Accountability.
Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite applications.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Good organizational, administrative, reporting and communication skills.
A motivated self-starter with ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of output.
A team player with a strong interest to work in an international environment.
Be willing to undertake frequent travel and interact with different stakeholders at national/sub-national levels.

APPLICATIONS

Applicants are requested to apply online through the HR Management System, by opening the vacancy announcement and pressing the "Apply" button.

Applicants will be asked to create an account and submit their profile information. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date. The vacancy closes at midnight, Swiss time (GMT+1 / GMT+2 during Daylight Saving Time, DST). Please note that only selected applicants will be personally contacted for interviews.

Other job opportunities are published in the IUCN website: https://www.iucn.org/involved/jobs/

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 16,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

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