Senior Programme Officer, Coastal and Ocean Resilience

Vacancy #:
7570

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:
P2

Expected start date:
01 May 2026

Type of contract:
(up to 24 months)

Closing date:
24 April 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.

Coastal and Ocean Resilience – Tanzania Senior Programme Officer provides strategic, institutional and portfolio-wide leadership for IUCN’s Coastal and Ocean Resilience work in Tanzania.
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 Senior Programme Officer, Coastal and Ocean Resilience (SPO) to provide portfolio-wide support for IUCN’s Coastal and Ocean Resilience work in Tanzania.

The incumbent will support portfolio-wide integration, adaptive management processes, programme development, monitoring and learning architecture and donor engagement processes.

The Senior Programme Officer, Coastal and Ocean Resilience will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent travel to the Tanga-Pemba, Unguja North, Unguja South and Mtwara Seascapes.

JOB DESCRIPTION

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under direct supervision of the Portfolio Manager, Coastal and Ocean Resilience – Tanzania, the Senior Programme Officer, Coastal and Ocean Resilience (SPO) will work closely with designated focal points from relevant Ministries, Government Institutions, Academic and Research Institutions, partner NGOs and donor. The Senior Programme Officer, Coastal and Ocean Resilience, will provide senior-level technical, operational and programme coordination support to the Coastal and Ocean Resilience team.

The SPO will play a central role in ensuring coherence, quality, and integration across the COR portfolio, translating strategic direction into coordinated implementation frameworks, systems-based programming approaches, and high-quality delivery standards.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

The specific duties and responsibilities for the SPO:

Portfolio Coordination and Integration (30%);
Support operationalization of the Coastal and Ocean Resilience–Tanzania strategy and Theory of Change.
Ensure coherence and alignment across all coastal and marine projects (biodiversity, MPAs, restoration, pollution, fisheries governance, institutional strengthening).
Facilitate cross?project coordination, learning sessions and identification of synergies to reduce duplication.
Support integration of systems-thinking tools into programme design and implementation for adaptive management reviews and reflection processes.
Coordinate integration of ecological, socio-economic and governance data to identify leverage points for scaling impact.

Programme Delivery and Performance Monitoring (30%);
Support day-to-day delivery of portfolio projects
Strengthen oversight of portfolio workplans, budgets, implementation schedules and performance targets.
Consolidate programme-wide performance data and ensure reporting meets IUCN, donor, and portfolio-level standards.
Support risk management, safeguards monitoring and documentation of compliance requirements.
Maintain oversight of reporting calendars, monitoring systems and portfolio-level data portals.

usiness and Financing Development (20%)
Contribute to development of funding concepts, proposals, budgets and results frameworks.
Support development of multi-year resource mobilisation pipelines.
Support engagement with government ministries, institutions and policy platforms through preparation of briefs, technical notes and coordinated inputs to national consultations.
Support identification of opportunities presented by other projects and accommodate them, where possible, to bolster any business opportunities and models created beyond the focus project
Maintain updated stakeholder mapping, partnership tracking and support strengthening of institutional relationships.
Support fundraising efforts through identifying and securing funding opportunities to operationalise the GBW and private sector engagement, as a continuation or leverage to the ongoing projects.

Knowledge Management and Communications (20%);
Develop and coordinate knowledge products (technical briefs, lessons learned, case studies) and ensure learning feeds into national, regional, and Great Blue Wall processes.
Support creation of high?quality communications outputs and regional/global reporting contributions.
Provide technical backstopping to project teams and contribute to team capacity building in programme management and systems-approach tools.
Assist with preparation of annual workplans, consolidated budgets and alignment between country and regional COR priorities.

Any other duties;
Carry out other relevant tasks assigned by and mutually agreed with the line manager.

REQUIREMENTS

• POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Education;
Advanced university degree in environmental or climate studies or related fields with postgraduate qualifications preferred, if possible, with a specialization in business and sustainability topics.

Work Experience;
Minimum 10 years of experience in management of complex projects related to livelihood diversification, nature-based solutions, climate resilience and market systems development.
Experience with result-based portfolio and project cycle management, monitoring and evaluation methodologies and principles and facilitation skills.
Demonstrated experience in reporting skills
Good knowledge and networks in blue economy and climate adaptation-relevant sectors with public institutions, research organisations and private sector in Tanzania.
Deep understanding of go-to market and growth strategies for businesses in blue economy and climate adaptation-relevant sectors in accordance with programme goals.
Demonstrated experience in people management and coordination skills.
Ability to work effectively within a large, decentralized workforce of professionals of different nationalities and to mobilize it towards common goals.
Programme-level coordination (not only project delivery), multi-stakeholder coordination experience.
Hands-on, highly motivated, autonomous, innovative, solution oriented, results driven and resourceful individual

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, multi ethnic 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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