The Regional Director proactively leads the implementation of RRI’s projects and events and ensuring accelerated achievement of RRI goals in the Asia region.   Main responsibilities include leading the annual country and regional planning process to set collective goals, agree on strategies to reach them, and develop concrete plans for action and engagement. The incumbent would also supervise the work of a Regional Facilitator, helping Partners and Collaborators to identify and build new relationships and synergize and optimize their efforts.  The Regional Director conducts this work in collaboration with RRG's Management, RRI Partners and Collaborators, and with the support of the Regional Facilitator who is based in Asia, and the Regional Associate, based in Washington, D.C.

The Regional Director also contributes to the global activities and outreach of RRI, and ensures that RRI's global knowledge informs strategic action in Asia. These responsibilities require effective and proactive decision-making to link the engagement and activities in the Africa region to the broader goals and vision and thematic areas agreed to by RRI.

The Regional Director will fulfill these responsibilities through a broad range of technical and administrative duties. This is a full-time position based in Washington DC.

Responsibilities

    1. Program Management and Technical Assistance (55 %):

• Manage the Asia country and regional Program working closely with the Sr. Director, CRP;

• Guide the Asia country and regional planning processes for identifying strategic activities towards the RRI objectives as proposed by Partners and Collaborators and as ratified by Partners/Collaborators active in Asia and RRG, building capacity and ensuring effective communication;

• Provide intellectual leadership and contribute to fostering optimal design and maximizing impact of RRI country and regional programs at country and regional level; ensuring strategic orientation, intervention to reach RRI’s tenure and poverty targets; and strengthening local organizational capacity to advance RRI’s agenda of tenure, policy and market reforms; in the field of tenure rights policies;

• Work closely with RRI Partners and Collaborators;

• Guide the preparation of concept notes and contracts against approved activities and manage consultants directly contracted by RRG, including negotiating compensation, TOR development and tracking and review of deliverables;

• Prepare technical, progress and monitoring and evaluation inputs and reports in accordance with RRI and donor guidelines;

• Strengthen networks of civil society organizations working on tenure policy reform in Asia with the Regional facilitators, using intimate knowledge of the technical capacities of the organizations and political contexts to build effective learning networks across the region and in priority countries;

• Contribute in the preparation of financial reports and financial projections related to project implementation.

    2. Staff Management (15 %):

• Manage and supervise the work of the Regional Associate, overseeing adherence to RRG protocols in monitoring and evaluation, reporting of CRP programs, proper documentation of program activities and narrative contributions;

• Oversee the work of Asia facilitator(s), closely coordinating assignments and work performed, and assisting the host institution, where appropriate, with the facilitator(s)’ orientation and supervision;

• Contribute to the recruitment of facilitator(s) as required.

    3. Contribution to Strategic Thinking and Global Programs (25%):

• Contribute significantly to one or two global programs activities according to professional/personal interest and fit with country-regional program, and other demands of the organization;

• Contribute with intellectual knowledge to strategic themes of RRI knowledge gathering and strategic analysis, providing strategic and critical comments to analysis/studies produced by Partners and Collaborators;

• Give presentations on behalf of RRI related to RRI mission and objectives, contribute to publications, and write and contribute to text describing RRI activities and programs in Asia and communications outreach, in multiple languages if appropriate;

• Oversee the development, management and timely updating of the Asia program content on the RRI website.

    4. Participate in organization wide governance and planning meetings and periodic assessments of RRI progress and performance (5%)

Qualifications

• A strong background in land tenure reforms, natural resource management or forestry, rural development policies. An advanced degree is required; PhD preferred or a strong mix of academic training and country, field level experience.

• 10 to 15 years experience working with policy reform processes that deal with rights-based forest conservation, rural development, poverty alleviation, and/or human rights in the relevant region.

• Demonstrated ability to initiate and coordinate projects without intensive supervision.

• Demonstrated ability to manage personnel and lead teams.

• Demonstrated fluency in spoken and written English and a relevant Asian language are required.

• Strong writing and analytical skills.

• Ability and confidence to effectively and respectfully facilitate meetings that include a range of diverse participants, from representatives of forest communities to high-ranking government ministers.

• Respect for different cultural perspectives and approaches toward accomplishing shared goals.

• Willingness and ability to undertake frequent international travel.

Preferred candidates will have:

Please send your resume, cover letter, and a writing sample to hr@rightsandresources.org with the position title “Regional Director for Asia – 2012” in the subject line. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. Please, no phone calls or recruiters.

Rights and Resources Group is a non-profit organization that serves as the coordinating mechanism for the Rights and Resources Initiative, a global coalition to advance forest tenure, policy and market reforms. Rights and Resources Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

•  Provide general administrative and communications support to Global Programs.

• Monitor and administer contracts, including liaising with collaborators and vendors, RRI’s Finance & Administration Program, tracking deliverables and arranging payments, updating budget.

• Maintain team and internal calendars.

• Contribute to ongoing planning of Global Programs activities.

• Willingly take on other tasks as requested by Global Programs team.

• Work closely with the Communications and Outreach Manager and the Senior Associate, Networking Support, other colleagues and office interns to support RRI’s mission.

• Participate in Global Programs and Country and Regional Programs team meetings and provide weekly status updates of ongoing projects.

• Ensure RRI website www.rightsandresources.org is updated so that it fully represents the events, country programs and networking activities of the Coalition in all applicable languages.

• Support communications response to requests from RRI Partners and Collaborator, Fellows and RRG staff

• Facilitate the planning, logistics, meals, registration, travel and visa arrangements, etc., for RRI-supported major domestic and international events and meetings, in collaboration with RRG staff.

• Provide administrative support for RRI events, liaise with RRI’s travel agency, collaborators and vendors as needed.

• Coordinate outreach to participants both prior to and after international and domestic events, workshops and study tours.
• Maintain close communication with participants to make sure they provide us required information and are fully aware of logistics arrangements.

1. Bachelors degree in Social Sciences or comparable field of study highly preferred combined with 2-3 years of relevant professional experience, preferably including major event planning.

    Candidates without a relevant degree should have at least 5 years of relevant professional experience and must have major event planning experience.

2. Exceptional organization and planning skills, with attention to meticulous detail.

3. Ability to prioritize competing demands and projects in both short and long term.

4. Excellent communications skills:

 i. Ability to write clear, concise, and grammatically correct content for outreach and reporting.

 ii.Ability to edit and summarize text written by others, to make complex text more accessible without compromising message and content.

5. Exceptional interpersonal skills, comfortable liaising with diverse array of collaborators from across the globe and ability to sense and convey contextually appropriate tone and style for formal and informal communication to individuals from various cultural backgrounds.

6. Must be fluent in English. Fluency in a second language is preferred, particularly Spanish and/or French..

7. Excellent computer skills and knowledge of Adobe InDesign, and prior experience with web content management systems (such as Convio or Constant Contact).

8. Experience living/working abroad preferred.

Strong candidates will also have an interest in social justice, equity, and human rights and a passion to be part of a team to advance global progress on these issues.

To Apply