Reports to: Program Director
Working location: Kekoldi, Costa Rica
Start date: ASAP
About GVI
Our planet is in crisis and inequality affects people around the globe. At GVI, our teams are choosing to take action. We bring a range of specialised skills together for a common goal: supporting a more sustainable future.
GVI is an international multi-award-winning social enterprise. We offer conservation and community development programs in 13 countries, all aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and led by our teams and experts from the communities we operate in.
Working at GVI is fast-paced and fun. We value passion, authenticity and innovation, and we treat each other with respect. But we can do better than words to show you who we are! To see what it's really like to work for GVI, click here.
About the role
The Program Manager’s role on this hub is to deliver world-leading volunteer and internship programs and manage the GVI hub, by focusing on growth, learning and impact. This person is responsible for ensuring effective day-to-day running of the program operations, building and maintaining partnerships with the community, effectively managing staff and participants, and achieving the financial and quality goals of the organization.
Role and responsibilities:
- Connect and liaise with in-country partners to build and maintain relationships, ensuring projects are locally driven and have a maximum valuable impact
- Design local development theory in line with GVI central theory, and implement project monitoring across participants, staff, community members and partners and periodic evaluation of impact.
- Responsible for financial and overall reporting of the hub and working with the line manager to utilize the recommended detailed analysis of the participant plan, hub costs and staff costs data to manage the hub in an efficient manner.
- Work with the line manager to roll out defined best practices covering all key aspects of the hub’s programs and operations.
- Provide recommendations to the line manager and liaise with Central Support to develop and implement new programs and initiatives as required.
- Ensure the successful implementation and delivery of all GVI marketing and internal communication initiatives.
- Work with central to ensure in-country legal compliance and maintain desired legal status through accurate and timely reporting.
- Oversee the overall day-to-day delivery of projects, including quality, impact and safety, and the overall effective functioning of the hub including the following:
- In conjunction with the People function and line manager, ensure the availability of full- and part-time skilled, fully- trained and motivated field staff to meet the requirements outlined in the hub’s field model staffing plan.
- Oversee training and onboarding of all new staff and participants.
- Effectively manage any issues that come up in the field on a day-to-day basis, including participant complaints, medical issues, natural disasters etc.
- Oversee day-to-day logistics of the project including participant arrivals, departures, visits off base, day-to-day needs, base schedule, ensuring all participants know what they’re doing, when, and the day to day functions smoothly
- Assist the staff team to deliver on hub focus areas (ex. science, education, etc.)
- Oversee Health and Safety protocols to ensure the safety of all participants, staff and other visitors to the hub.
- Work with the line manager to roll out and regularly improve a set of operating practices and experience standards (“OPES”) covering all key aspects of the hub’s programs.
About you
If you are ambitious, purpose-driven, and you have a great sense of humour, we want to meet you. As an organisation, we know that welcoming a broad range of people with unique identities makes us powerful and we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Personal attributes:
- Excellent time management skills and ability to effectively prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
- Excellent people management skills
- The ability to identify problem areas and utilize problem-solving skills to put an action plan in place to rapidly improve
- Strong decision-making skills
- Strong program management and program development skills
- Ability to identify and maintain minimum standards and best practices
- Great attention to detail and strong admin skills
Professional skills and experience
Required:
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2-5 years of experience successfully managing staff
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2-5 years of volunteer management experience
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Wildlife conservation experience
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Education background in science/wildlife conservation
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Health and safety trained
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Strong people, communication and time management skills
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Commitment, drive and enthusiasm to develop yourself and others
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Hardworking, with the ability to lead and problem solve
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Flexible, open-minded, adaptable team player
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Safety management experience
Advantageous:
Benefits
Here’s what our global team enjoys:
- Collaborative, flexible culture
- Transparency – hear directly from the CEO consistently
- We laugh a lot, genuinely care about and support each other, and do the occasional dress-up
- Leadership development
- In-house counselling support
- Growth opportunities across our 17 locations!
Package includes:
- Monthly salary
- Accommodation
- Food
- Visa costs (if applicable)
- Emergency medical and travel insurance
To apply:
Please send your CV along with a cover letter stating why you feel you would be best suited to this position at GVI.
You can find out more about the type of work GVI does and who we are as an organisation here.