Ocean conservation, marine biodiversity conservation

Hiring: Conservation Director, Ocean Program
Organization: CPAWS-BC
Location: Vancouver, BC (with flexibility for remote work within British Columbia)

Position Overview

This is an 18-month leave coverage position from July 2025 to January 2027. The preferred start date is June 01 to provide overlap with the departing Conservation Director in support of a smooth transition.

The Conservation Director, Ocean Program, is central in leading the organization's efforts to protect BC’s incredible ocean and coastal ecosystems. This role oversees a team of staff, provides strategic leadership for all ocean campaign areas, financial management for the program, and participates in advisory committees on the implementation of marine protected areas. This role is a fit for you if you have experience with leading and managing strategic marine advocacy campaigns, collaborative partnerships with diverse sectors, advocating for evidence-based ocean conservation policies, and working with Indigenous Nations and crown governments. If you’ve got a knack for driving change and leading a dynamic team with impactful strategies, we’d love to hear from you!

Position Details

• Position type: Full-time (32 hours/week), leave coverage
• Location: Vancouver, BC (with flexibility for remote work within British Columbia)
• Work hours: Daily work hours are flexible, provided they overlap with the core work hours of 9am-3pm and abide by CPAWS-BC 4-day/32-hour work week, Monday through Thursday.
• Compensation: $86,100 annually plus benefits
• Posting date: March 6, 2025
• Closing deadline for applications: We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis, we encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible.
• Start date: Flexible, June 01 - July 01, 2025

Responsibilities & Duties

Ocean Conservation Program Leadership

• Lead the management and strategy of conservation campaigns for the Ocean Program at CPAWS-BC.
• Oversee the development and implementation of impactful ocean conservation campaigns, including monitoring and evaluating individual campaign performance, adjusting campaign strategies as needed, and being agile in responding to emerging opportunities.
• Guide and manage the Ocean Program team, providing support and feedback to foster growth and high-quality work.

Financial Management

• Identify funding opportunities and secure diverse funding sources, including grants and partnerships.
• Manage budgeting and financial planning for projects and campaigns.
• Responsible for grant reporting for the Ocean Program.

Collaboration & Partnership

• Collaborate with Indigenous communities, governmental bodies, NGOs, and stakeholders to foster respectful and impactful relationships.
• Enhance partnerships to align and advance CPAWS-BC's work with regional and national conservation strategies.
• Proactively seeks out collaboration opportunities to reach new audiences and increase overall program impact.

Policy Advocacy

• Advocate for evidence-based ocean conservation policies and practices related to ocean conservation.
• Represent CPAWS-BC in forums and meetings, advocating for strong ocean and marine ecosystem protection.
• Maintain strategic relations with key agencies and organizations across all ocean conservation campaigns.

People Leadership and Operations

• Mentor team members to promote professional growth, including bi-annual performance reviews.
• Recruit and integrate new team members as required.
• Collaborate with the CPAWS-BC Leadership Team for joint planning and resource allocation, including staff development and human resources planning.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

No minimum education is required. CPAWS-BC recognizes the value of both formal education and lived experiences. We invite applications from candidates who are excited about this role and bring some of the following skills and experience:

EDUCATION

• A Bachelor's Degree in ocean biology, ocean conservation, environmental science, political science or a similar field would be an asset.

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrated success in management of multiple ocean conservation campaign strategies and projects.
• Expertise in government and public relations.
• Successful history in securing and managing grant funding.
• Knowledgeable about ocean ecosystems, biodiversity, conservation.
• Experience working with First Nations and supporting Indigenous-led conservation.
• Skilled in team management and leadership in professional settings.
• Experience with Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) practices in the workplace is a significant asset.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Proficient in organizational and multi-project management.
• Strong in both written and verbal communication.
• Skilled in public speaking, adaptable to various audiences and media interactions.
• Excellent in leadership and mentorship skills, with strong communication skills with the team, including giving and receiving feedback.

Core & Behavioural Competencies

CORE Competencies

These are the essential skills and attributes that we expect all those in director-level positions to bring to their teams and work at CPAWS-BC:

• Strategic decision making: Provide and act on analysis of a shifting political landscape and dynamic, small-team workplace to guide campaign and workplans to meet organizational goals and targets.
• Builds Partnerships: Effectively builds formal and informal relationships with partners outside the organization. Balances the needs of multiple organizational partners and CPAWS-BC’s mandate to find and advance shared goals together.
• Planning and project management: Effectively prioritizes work to advance the conservation team's campaign goals and appropriately reacts to changing priorities.
• Financial planning & reporting: Ensures financial sustainability to support campaign goals and organizational capacity.

Behavioural Competencies

These are the essential skills and attributes that we expect all staff members to bring to the workplace at CPAWS-BC:

• Collaborates: Build partnerships and work collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Values differences: Seek to understand different perspectives and cultures; contribute to a work climate where differences are valued and supported; apply others’ diverse experiences, staples, backgrounds and perspectives to get results.
• Demonstrates self-awareness: Use a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses; willing to admit mistakes and gain insights from experiences.
• Self-development: Show personal commitment and take action to continuously improve; accept assignments that broaden capabilities; learn from new experiences and others as well as structured learning; make the most of available development resources.
• Instills trust: Gain the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

About CPAWS-BC

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) is part of one of Canada’s oldest non-profit conservation groups. We have been defending lands and waters in BC since 1978 and are dedicated to keeping BC’s natural environment thriving forever. Nature is BC’s best hope.

CPAWS-BC works on the unceded territories of Indigenous Peoples. We recognize that all people have the right to a healthy environment. Identity, culture, and survival are often deeply rooted in people’s connection to the land and ocean. However, not all people have equal access to and decision-making powers over the use of land and ocean. As a conservation organization, we have a responsibility to uphold the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion of marginalized voices and perspectives.

We are a small, dedicated team working hard to protect land and waters in every corner of BC and deep into the ocean. Join us and help safeguard homes for grizzly bears, huge colonies of seabirds, threatened grasslands, endangered orca habitats, and vital stretches of boreal forest, keeping British Columbia wild forever.

Our office is located on the shared, unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

THE BENEFITS OF BEING ON OUR TEAM:

• Work from home or hybrid work environment, including in-person all staff strategy and team building sessions.
• Flexible work schedule (outside of our 9 am - 3 pm core working hours).
• Our vacation entitlement starts at 3 weeks.
• CPAWS-BC provides an additional paid break over the December holiday period.
• Support your physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, and caregiving responsibilities with up to 10 paid sick and personal days annually.
• After three months of employment, an extended health, vision and dental benefits package, which includes life insurance and long-term disability.
• A completely free and confidential employee and family assistance program (EFAP) to assist with counselling, financial advice, nutrition, addiction, childcare arrangements and more.
• Invest in your growth with $500 professional development support for training.

Application Process

To apply, please submit one combined PDF document that includes a one-page cover letter and your resume to hiring@cpawsbc.org with the subject line: Conservation Director, Ocean Program

We encourage you to use your cover letter to tell us how your background and experience align with this role and share any information about yourself that you think is important for your application.

Please mention you saw this at GoodWork.ca.

You will receive an auto-response informing you that your application has been received.

CPAWS-BC is committed to expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive conservation movement. We are invested in creating an organization representative of a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, cultural ways of knowing and life experiences, and welcome applications from Indigenous, Black, and racialized people, and those who face systemic barriers to employment.

We know research shows that society has conditioned communities of colour, trans and gender non-conforming people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized candidates to more frequently not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all the qualifications listed even if they are qualified. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you.

Our Commitment to Decolonization

CPAWS-BC works on the stolen lands and waters of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples have stewarded their territories since time immemorial and continue to do so today.

The conservation movement in Canada was founded on white supremacy and actively sought to erase Indigenous Peoples. One way was the forcible removal of Indigenous Peoples from their lands and waters, and the attempted severing from their culture. The whiteness of conservation remains in both leadership and values, which continues to perpetuate systemic oppression and erasure of Indigenous Peoples. But Indigenous Peoples have resisted and endured. As a conservation organization, we have a responsibility to decolonize our work and to ensure that we are supporting Indigenous stewardship, resilience, and resurgence.

The staff and Board at CPAWS-BC recognize that decolonization is an ongoing process that requires all of us to be actively involved and responsible. CPAWS-BC is committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within every aspect of our work to protect lands, inland waters, and ocean.