Director of Conservation Programs at Osa Conservation, Costa Rica

Position: Director of Conservation Programs

Location: On site at Osa Conservation Campus in the Osa Península, Costa Rica

Status: Full time

About Osa Conservation:

Osa Conservation’s mission is to conserve the globally significant terrestrial and marine biological
diversity of the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica by implementing ecosystem stewardship, enhancing scientific
understanding, providing education and training, and creating sustainable economic opportunities.
We believe in a holistic approach to conservation, one grounded in a systematic understanding of the
ecological, social, and economic relationships that shape environmental problems. Our work is founded
in science and supported by strategic partnerships, well-informed decision-making processes, and a
strong commitment to improving lives through protecting nature. We recognize that in order for
conservation to succeed, it must be coupled with science, community engagement, and strong systems
of support upon which to collaboratively build a more sustainable future.

Summary of this Role:

The Director of Conservation Programs is a key organizational leadership position responsible for the strategic scientific direction of Osa Conservation’s conservation and research programs, reporting directly to the Executive Director.

Beyond overseeing and strengthening existing scientifi c programs and projects, the Director is expected to proactively identify emerging conservation and restoration priorities, opportunities, and challenges and translate them into innovative initiatives, projects, and program concepts. This role is expected to work across teams thru program managers and with strategic partners to develop initiatives that strengthen Osa Conservation’s long-term conservation impact, relevance, and sustainability.

The Director provides leadership and supervision to Program Managers, ensuring clear priorities, effective coordination, strong execution, and measurable results across programs. The position promotes integration among conservation and all organizational programs and works closely with the Science Lead to ensure that program implementation is informed by scientific evidence and that research activities are appropriately integrated into program planning and future conservation decision-making.

The Director also plays a significant role in fundraising and grant development by identifying programmatic opportunities, contributing to proposal development and donor engagement, and ensuring that funded programs are effectively implemented and reported.

In addition to project and grant development, the Director plays a key leadership role in strengthening Program–Campus integration, promoting active program participation in visitor engagement and supporting opportunities that connect conservation impact with Osa Conservation’s mission-aligned income-generating strategy.

The role is also expected to work closely with the Executive Director, COO, Finance, HR, and other organizational leaders to ensure effective alignment and delivery of organizational objectives.

Main Responsibilities:

Strategic Conservation Program Leadership: ● Provide overall scientific strategic leadership for Osa Conservation’s conservation and research programs. ● Support program managers translation of organizational strategy and conservation priorities into clear program objectives, annual plans, priorities, and measurable outcomes. ● Ensure effective coordination and integration among conservation programs and with other organizational areas to support shared organizational objectives. ● Support program managers in identifying opportunities to strengthen program effectiveness, improve efficiency, and increase conservation impact. ● Ensure that programmatic decisions remain aligned with Osa Conservation’s mission, strategic direction, policies, and available resources. ● Facilitate program’s work with, and support to, Sinac and their regional Conservation Areas on technical and scientific aspects and development of Conservation Areas Strategic Plans. ● Represent the organization in international scientific events and do networking with global conservation organizations, conventions and multilateral dialogues and events.
Annual Planning, Program Management and Performance: ● Lead the annual planning process and development of logical frameworks for the conservation programs in alignment with overall organizational priorities. ● Ensure that programs have clear scopes, objectives, deliverables, timelines, indicators, and accountability mechanisms. ● Oversee overall program progress, ensuring that significant implementation challenges, risks, and performance gaps are identified and appropriately addressed. ● Promote adaptive management and continuous improvement across programs based on monitoring results, operational experience, emerging priorities, and recommendations from the Science Committee and other relevant technical experts. ● Review program reports for the Executive Director, Board, donors, and other relevant stakeholders. ● Ensure that lessons learned
New Program and Initiative Development: ● Identify opportunities to expand, strengthen, or diversify Osa Conservation’s conservation initiatives and projects, and increase its long-term impact. ● Develop and advance new program concepts aligned with Osa Conservation’s strategic priorities, conservation objectives, and institutional capacity. ● Proactively identify emerging programmatic opportunities and lead their assessment and prioritization, engaging relevant organizational leadership, Program Managers, technical experts, and external partners as appropriate. ● Work closely with the Fundraising Director to translate promising program ideas into competitive grant concepts and funding opportunities. ● Ensure that new initiatives are appropriately assessed for strategic fit, feasibility, staffing, financial sustainability, operational requirements, and potential conservation impact. ● Foster a culture of innovation and continuous program development, empowering and encouraging teams at all levels to identify new approaches and opportunities while maintaining alignment with organizational priorities.
Supervision and Team Leadership: ● Provide direct leadership, supervision, mentorship, and performance management to the Program Managers. ● Support Program Managers in establishing priorities, effective allocation of resources, and addressing program implementation challenges. ● Promote accountability, ownership, collaboration, and high standards of performance across Program Managers. ● Lead the recruitment and selection process for Program Managers, making hiring recommendations in collaboration with the Executive Director, COO, and HR. ● Collaborate with the COO and HR Department on professional development, succession planning, retention, and organizational capacity-building initiatives. ● Support Program Managers in strengthening team capacity, leadership, and performance across conservation programs. ● Oversee Program Managers’ effective management of external contractors and consultants.
Program Implementation and Risk Assessment: ● Ensure that conservation programs are implemented effectively and according to approved plans, budgets, policies, and operational requirements. ● Support program managers and COO to address identifi ed logistical, infrastructure, staffing, equipment, safety, and other operational needs affecting program execution. ● Support COO in the proper implementation of standard operating procedures for program activities. ● Maintain programmatic alignment with the Health and Safety Committee, Campus and relevant programs to ensure that health, safety, safeguarding, and organizational policies are appropriately incorporated into program implementation. ● Ensure appropriate identifi cation and management of programmatic, operational, environmental, and reputational risks. ● Escalate significant risks, delays, resource constraints, or issues affecting program delivery.
Science and Technical Coordination: ● Work closely with the Science Lead to ensure that scientific knowledge and evidence appropriately inform conservation program planning, implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management. ● Ensure that scientifi c and technical recommendations relevant to program implementation are incorporated into program plans and logical frameworks. ● Facilitate effective communication between the Science Lead, Program managers, field teams, and organizational leadership. ● Support Program managers in translating scientific findings and technical recommendations into practical conservation actions. ● Coordinate with the Science Lead on research priorities, monitoring frameworks, data requirements, and technical needs relevant to conservation programs. ● Support the development of evidence-based recommendations for future program planning and resource allocation. ● Maintain fluent communication with Admin and Opps department, ensuring appropriate research permits, ethical approvals, and regulatory requirements are incorporated into program planning. ● Support in conjunction with the Science Lead the Committee’s responsibility for scientifi c standards, data recording and sharing, research methodologies, scientific analysis, and scientific publications.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: ● Monitor achievement of program outputs and conservation outcomes and ensure timely action when performance is below expectations. ● Work with Program managers and Science Lead to ensure that monitoring information is appropriately interpreted and used for adaptive management. ● Promote organizational learning by documenting lessons, successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. ● Ensure program results are effectively communicated to the Executive Director, Board, funders, partners, and other relevant stakeholders.
Financial, Human and Resource Management: ● Promote efficient and responsible use of all organizational resources working closely with Program managers, Executive committee, COO, HR, and Finance to align staffi ng, budgets, equipment, infrastructure, and other resources with program priorities and needs. ● Work closely with the COO and Finance team in developing, reviewing, and managing program budgets. ● Ensure that program budgets are aligned with approved work plans, priorities, staffi ng requirements, and expected outcomes. ● Work with the Finance department’s regular budget monitoring to address budgetary pressures, variances, resource gaps, and emerging financial needs. ● Assess the program’s capabilities required to deliver Osa Conservation’s current and future conservation priorities, and provide strategic guidance on the structure, capacity, and resources needed to support long-term program impact. ● Provide strategic oversight of program resource needs to ensure that infrastructure, equipment, and other resources are aligned with conservation priorities and long-term program objectives.
Organizational Planning and Leadership: ● Serve as a member of the Executive Committee and Senior Leadership Team. ● Contribute to organizational strategy, annual operating planning, budgeting, and institutional decision-making. ● Bring programmatic and field perspectives to organizational discussions and strategic decisions. ● Collaborate with other Directors to achieve cross-organizational objectives and resolve issues requiring coordinated action. ● Participate in organizational planning processes and ensure that conservation program priorities are appropriately reflected in broader organizational plans. ● Uphold Osa Conservation’s values, policies, procedures, and standards. ● Support a culture of accountability, collaboration, professionalism, continuous improvement, and respect.
Program–Campus Integration and Visitor Engagement: ● Champion and foster a strong culture of collaboration between Conservation Programs and the Campus, reinforcing its importance to Osa Conservation’s mission, visitor experience, and long-term financial sustainability. ● Ensure active and appropriate participation of Program Managers and their teams in Campus activities and visitor engagement, fostering a culture in which such participation is recognized as an important contribution to conservation outreach, and organizational sustainability. ● Identify and advance opportunities for programs to contribute expertise, content, experiences, and activities that strengthen the Campus experience and support mission-aligned income-generating opportunities, in collaboration with Campus, Fundraising, Communications, and other relevant teams. ● Promote effective collaboration among Programs, and all other relevant teams to ensure that visitor engagement, donor experiences, educational opportunities, and income-generating initiatives accurately and compellingly represent Osa Conservation’s conservation work.
Partnerships and Collaboration: ● Develop and maintain relationships with external researchers, universities and educational institutions to grow and sustain research and educational collaborations on Campus. ● Develop and maintain effective relationships with conservation organizations, NGOs, and other strategic partners relevant to program implementation. ● Identify opportunities for collaboration that strengthen program impact, capacity, resources, and conservation outcomes. ● Coordinate institutional partnerships relevant to the implementation of conservation programs, in collaboration with the Executive Director, Science Lead, Fundraising Director, and other relevant leaders. ● Represent Osa Conservation in relevant conservation and programmatic forums, meetings, and networks. ● Ensure that external collaborations are aligned with organizational priorities and appropriately coordinated internally.
Fundraising and Grant Development: ● Identify and develop programmatic funding opportunities aligned with Osa Conservation’s conservation priorities and strategic plans. ● Work closely with the Fundraising Director and team to develop competitive grant concepts and proposals. ● Work with program managers to provide programmatic input, budgets, objectives, work plans, indicators, and implementation plans for funding proposals. ● Support the Executive Director and Fundraising Director in cultivating relationships with donors and funding partners relevant to conservation programs. ● Ensure that funded programs are implemented according to approved proposals, agreements, budgets, and timelines. ● Supervise timely and accurate grant reporting. ● Identify emerging funding needs and opportunities to strengthen program sustainability and long-term impact. ● Proactively cultivate and facilitate donor visits and field engagements for existing and prospective donors, in collaboration with the Executive Director and Fundraising Director, as part of donor cultivation and relationship-building efforts.
Knowledge Management and Communication: ● Ensure effective documentation of program plans, implementation, results, lessons learned, and key decisions. ● Promote accessible and consistent program management systems and documentation across conservation programs. ● Ensure that program results and conservation outcomes are effectively communicated internally and externally. ● Work with the Communications and Fundraising teams to translate program achievements into clear and compelling communications for donors, partners, Board members, and other stakeholders. ● Work with the Science Lead to ensure scientific findings relevant to conservation programs are appropriately translated into practical management and conservation recommendations. ● Ensure appropriate handover and continuity of program knowledge when staff transition from the organization.

Qualifications Required:

A relevant degree – PhD and at least 5 scientific publications in internationally indexed peer reviewed journals.
Transparent and high integrity scientific leadership.
At least 5 years of tropical fi eld experience.
Extensive management experience of field research and/or implementation teams.
Budget management skills, including budget preparation, analysis, decision-making and reporting.
Strong organizational abilities including planning, delegating, project development and task facilitation.
Skills to collaborate with and motivate scientific collaborators.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Ability to interface and engage diverse staff, collaborator, and funding groups.
Demonstrated ability in high level statistical skills, excellent coding ability, and evidence of strong published scientific writing.
Oral and written fluency in Spanish and English.
4×4 manual vehicle license.

Applicants should provide a resume/CV and a brief one page bullet pointed summary (no more) as to where they fit in terms of the qualifications. These should be directed to hr@osaconservation.org with the subject line “Director of Conservation Programs”. Closing date for applications will be Friday, Novembrer 20, 2026. Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. All applicants who do not follow this guide will not be considered. Only successful applicants continuing to the interview stage will be contacted.