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Chief Program Officer
Operations · Full-time
Posted on Sep 16, 2026
Position Title: Chief Program Officer
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Remote
About Us
Island Conservation envisions a world filled with vibrant biodiversity, resilient oceans, and thriving island communities. We are the only international non-profit conservation organization with the mission to restore islands for nature and people worldwide. Islands are special places that provide outsized returns on our conservation investments. Island Conservation is committed to holistic island-marine ecosystem restorations that combine efforts to improve community livelihoods and climate resiliency, manage invasive species, and reestablish native animals and plants. Learn more about us at www.islandconservation.org.
Position Overview
Island Conservation is seeking a Chief Program Officer (CPO) to lead the performance, integration, and delivery of our global program portfolio.
Reporting to the CEO and serving as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, the CPO will oversee senior leaders across Impact & Innovation, Partnerships, Operations, Latin America, and the Pacific.
This is a highly collaborative, execution-focused leadership role for someone who knows how to turn strategy into action. The CPO will ensure that priorities are clear, leaders are aligned, resources are focused on the highest-impact opportunities, and commitments translate into measurable conservation outcomes.
While primarily focused on leading and strengthening the organization internally, the CPO will also play an important role in fundraising, Board engagement, and strategic partnerships. The successful candidate will bring together people, programs, resources, and systems so that Island Conservation can deliver its mission effectively at a global scale.
What Success Looks Like
- Program priorities are clear, owned, and consistently delivered without requiring ongoing CEO oversight to maintain momentum.
- Senior Directors operate as an aligned, high-performing leadership team with strong accountability and collaboration.
- Simple and transparent systems provide visibility into priorities, progress, risks, and results.
- Teams and functions work together effectively, reducing duplication and increasing conservation impact.
- Risks, capacity constraints, and trade-offs are surfaced early enough to make thoughtful decisions and realistically sequence commitments.
- Programmatic priorities are clearly articulated and positioned to attract funding and strengthen external partnerships.
- Resources are allocated strategically across the portfolio to support the organization’s highest-impact opportunities.
- The global program portfolio demonstrates measurable conservation outcomes aligned with Island Conservation’s strategic vision.
What You Will Lead
Program Leadership, Execution, & Accountability
- Lead and manage Senior Directors across programmatic functions, establishing clear priorities, ownership, and accountability.
- Translate organizational strategy into quarterly and annual program priorities with clear owners, timelines, and deliverables.
- Establish simple, shared systems to track progress, commitments, risks, and results across the program portfolio.
- Ensure risks, delays, and trade-offs are identified early and addressed proactively.
- Drive portfolio-level prioritization and decision-making, aligning resources with the highest-impact opportunities.
- Ensure conservation programs are designed and delivered to a high standard and aligned with organizational strategy and impact goals.
- Oversee resource allocation and financial performance across the program portfolio.
Executive Team Leadership & Performance
- Directly supervise Senior Directors across Impact & Innovation, Partnerships, Operations, Latin America, and the Pacific.
- Establish clear expectations and accountability for leadership and organizational performance.
- Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and coaching to support strong leadership and professional growth.
- Foster a culture of ownership, transparency, collaboration, and results.
- Ensure program leaders effectively manage and develop their own teams.
- Proactively identify and address performance challenges, capacity constraints, and structural gaps.
Fundraising & Resource Development
- Align program priorities with fundraising strategies and opportunities.
- Ensure programmatic priorities are well-defined, fundable, and compellingly articulated.
- Support cultivation and stewardship of major donors, foundations, and public funders as appropriate.
- Contribute to proposal development and ensure commitments reflect organizational capacity and technical expertise.
Organizational Integration & Planning
- Lead program input into strategic and annual planning.
- Strengthen coordination across programmatic teams and geographies.
- Partner with Philanthropy, Communications, Finance, and other organizational functions to align priorities and systems.
- Improve and standardize workflows, decision-making frameworks, and internal processes.
- Support organizational change and ensure priorities and expectations are communicated clearly.
External Engagement & Strategic Partnerships
- Engage with key partners around priority programs and initiatives.
- Support Senior Directors in developing and strengthening strategic partnerships.
- Represent Island Conservation in targeted external settings.
- Ensure external commitments and partnerships align with organizational priorities and capacity.
Board Engagement & Governance
- Serve as a staff liaison or contributor to the Board Program Committee and related governance structures.
- Support preparation of program materials and updates for the Board.
- Communicate program progress, priorities, outcomes, and risks clearly and concisely.
Additional Responsibilities
Island Conservation is a dynamic organization, and priorities evolve. Approximately 5% of this role’s responsibilities may shift based on organizational needs, emerging opportunities, and priorities. The Chief Program Officer should be comfortable contributing beyond the responsibilities specifically outlined above when needed to advance the organization’s mission.
What We’re Looking For
We are seeking an experienced executive leader who combines strategic thinking with a strong ability to drive execution. The ideal candidate knows how to lead through other senior leaders, create clarity across a complex portfolio, and build the systems and accountability necessary to turn ambitious goals into results.
- Significant senior leadership experience within conservation, environmental, nonprofit, international development, or a similarly complex mission-driven environment.
- Experience leading senior leaders and multidisciplinary teams across multiple programs, functions, or geographies.
- Demonstrated ability to translate organizational strategy into priorities, plans, accountability, and measurable results.
- Strong people leadership skills, including executive coaching, performance management, team development, and organizational decision-making.
- Experience overseeing complex program portfolios, including prioritization, resource allocation, budgeting, and performance.
- Ability to build practical systems for tracking priorities, outcomes, risks, and organizational commitments.
- Strong cross-functional leadership skills and the ability to create alignment among teams with different priorities and areas of expertise.
- Experience supporting fundraising, major partnerships, institutional funders, or resource development.
- Executive-level communication skills and experience engaging with Boards, funders, partners, and other senior stakeholders.
- Sound judgment and the ability to navigate complexity, ambiguity, competing priorities, and organizational change.
- A collaborative leadership style grounded in accountability, transparency, and respect.
- A strong commitment to Island Conservation’s mission and to achieving meaningful conservation outcomes for nature and people.
Level of Language Proficiency
English required; Spanish, French, or another language spoke by island communities preferred.
Benefits
- Paid vacation and personal time
- Paid sick leave
- Parental leave
- Retirement savings match up to 3%
- Remote work
- The opportunity to directly contribute to conservation outcomes around the world
Equal Opportunity & Accommodations
Island Conservation is deeply committed to building a workplace and global community where inclusion is not only valued but prioritized. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, family status, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, neurodiversity, disability, age, veteran status, or any other non-merit-based or legally protected grounds.
Island Conservation is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the employment application process. To request an accommodation, please contact humanresources@islandconservation.org in advance of your interview.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should apply here.