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Dir., Coalition for Fisheries Transparency
Oceana
Washington, DC, USA
Posted on Mar 13, 2026
The Director of the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management of CFT. The Director is responsible for setting and executing CFT’s strategic priorities; leading high-level engagement with governments and funders, overseeing policy advocacy, communications, and coalition growth; fundraising for continued support of the coalition, tracking and reporting on impact of CFT, and managing the CFT team. Serving as CFT’s primary representative and convener, the Director ensures alignment across partners, translates shared commitments into measurable outcomes, and drives progress toward stronger transparency norms, policies, and practices worldwide.
Working in target countries, the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency (CFT) represents an international group of non-profit and other civil society organizations advancing fisheries transparency worldwide, sharing information and resources, as well as helping to secure support to address gaps. Through this effort, CFT coordinates advocacy efforts, delivers national policy change to advance transparency objective, builds support for the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, supports campaign strategy development in regions around the world, communicates the urgency of the issues surrounding fisheries and the demand for change, and elevates the need for transparency in the global agenda, thus helping deliver the changes needed for our oceans and the communities who rely on them for their livelihoods.
The CFT Secretariat is housed at Oceana. The CFT Secretariat team includes a team of three to support CFT’s policy, communications, and membership. CFT works closely with its three Co-Chair organizations, Oceana, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), and Global Fishing Watch.
The position requires flexibility to work across varied time zones and maintain regular East Coast (U.S.) working hours. The role is based out of one of Oceana’s offices, preferably in Washington, DC. This is a full-time, exempt position and a two-year term appointment, with the possibility of extension based on additional funding.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Essential Functions
As the Director of the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency (line reporting to Oceana’s Senior Director for Global Transparency), you will:
- Provide strategic leadership for CFT’s 3-year strategy to advance the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency internationally, to include identification of new target geographies and development of campaign goals.
- Oversee day-to-day activities and decision-making for the coalition, including managing the CFT team, developing and managing annual budget, and tracking cash flow according to Oceana processes.
- Lead coordination with co-chair organizations and key coalition partners to advance goals and align efforts.
- Lead high-level engagement with government representatives and regional bodies to advocate for adoption and implementation of fisheries transparency measures aligned with the Global Charter.
- In close coordination with CFT’s Co-Chairs, lead fundraising efforts and maintain relationships with donors; track and communicate progress and impact to key stakeholders, and develop future proposals.
- Manage high-level coalition relationships, growing our support with key high-level partners, deconflicting with external transparency partners, and building the global CFT brand.
- Frequent international travel is required.
Job Requirements
Education and experience:
- Must have at least 10 years of experience in campaigns, advocacy, international affairs, coalition building or stakeholder management.
- Experience in advancing policy change in fisheries, transparency, or other ocean issues. Detailed knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment governing international fisheries is a plus.
- Ability to effectively manage team of diverse professionals.
- Experience with fundraising, grant reporting.
- Experience communicating complex issues with accuracy and confidence to international audiences, both written and verbal, with a track record of media engagement and public speaking
- Proficient in the development of clear, succinct policy guidance documents.
- Experience with NGO coalitions directly as staff, or as a participant.
Skills and knowledge:
- Ability to direct multiple campaigns, projects, and staff members simultaneously.
- Strong understanding of executing successful campaigns in target countries.
- Strong understanding of the scale and impacts of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing on the high seas and coastal developing states strongly preferred.
- A passion for communication and ability to engage diverse audiences to secure their understanding, respect and support. This specifically includes high-level decision-makers from governments, industry and civil society.
- Ability to think creatively with tact and diplomacy to resolve issues, build productive partnerships, and create effective strategies for the delivery of core messages.
- Experience working internationally and cross-culturally towards a shared goal, using integrity, tenacity, and humanity to secure positive change.
- Ability to work with partners in diverse contexts, often with competing organizational priorities.
- High level of organization and ability to prioritize workload to deliver agreed outcomes on time and on budget, at times managing multiple projects and tight deadlines.
- High-level of organizational skill and technological proficiency with MS Office suite and cloud collaborative workspace platforms required.
- Full fluency in written and spoken English. Additional language(s) such as Chinese, French, Korean, Portuguese, or Spanish are also an asset.
Required Competencies:
- Action Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- Builds Effective Teams: Is skilled at creating a feeling of belonging, strong team morale, fostering open dialogue and collaboration. Establishes common objectives and a shared team mindset.
- Collaborates: Brings people together to leverage their skills, talents and knowledge to achieve a common purpose. Creates synergy resulting in a combined effort with greater results than what can be achieved by individuals.
- Global Perspective: Takes a broad view of issues and challenges and can see them in a global context. Builds relationships with people from different cultures and countries. Draws on global knowledge and perspective when tackling complex issues or looking for opportunities.
- Instills Trust: Is able to gain the confidence and trust of others by demonstrating honesty and authenticity, acting with integrity, being consistent and credible.
- Manages Ambiguity: Must be able to manage ambiguity and operate effectively even when things are not certain or clear. Is willing to forge ahead, solve problems and get things done during changing and unpredictable times.
The salary range for this role is $120 -130K annually
The position requires flexibility to work across varied time zones and maintain regular East Coast (U.S.) working hours. The role is based out of one of Oceana’s offices, preferably in Washington, DC. This is a full-time, exempt position and a two-year term appointment, with the possibility of extension based on additional funding.
Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.
Please submit your application along with your CV by March 20, 2026.