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The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is a non-profit organisation focused on rigorous interdisciplinary knowledge generation for use by policy and practice, towards environmental conservation and sustainable, socially just development.
ATREE’s current strategy – “Knowledge for Change” works towards enabling a society that enjoys an improved well-being in a healthy environment. The strategy prioritises issues of biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, land rights, livelihood, water and food security, and climate adaptation in multi-functional rural and urban landscapes of the country.
In the Himalaya, ATREE’s strategy is to work towards a future where resilient mountain and downstream societies sustainably enjoy the natural endowment of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) while protecting and preserving its rich biodiversity. ATREE has developed a 10-year strategy called “The Himalaya Initiative (THI)” with its focus in the IHR, based on its experiences in the region and in the face of increasing biodiversity loss, environment degradation and climate change impacting the region.
THI seeks to bring a paradigm shift in conserving and restoring nature, augmenting ecosystem services, and in transforming institutions for sustaining natural assets and meeting climate change threats in the Himalayas. Four distinct and interconnected action areas implemented in priority landscapes are:
The development of knowledge commons for plant and animal species, including bioresources forms an integral part of these focus areas, as also evidence and advocacy for mountain-specific policies.
THI fosters interdisciplinary research to identify and understand problems, develop replicable models for action, implement knowledge-based solutions, provide policy analysis and advocacy, conduct community outreach, build next generation leaders and institutional capacities, and contribute towards the achievement of national and international goals on biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate change.
Job Profile
The Associate Director – Eastern Himalaya shall specifically focus on the Khangchendzonga Landscape and the THI’s action areas around Biodiversity Conservation, Restoration, and Nature-based Livelihoods in the Eastern Himalaya-North East India. The position provides intellectual leadership and develops partnerships to achieve THI’s strategies.
The position is responsible for the design, development, planning and implementation of the designated action areas and place-based conservation efforts in the Khangchendzonga landscape including research, policy outreach, fundraising, review and reporting of the THI progress, and collaboration with partners.
Scope of role
Reports to: Director- The Himalaya Initiative
Budget Responsibilities: Overall budget control of projects and regional office expenses
Duration of Engagement: Regular position with probation of six months.
The Associate Director can pursue research projects outside of the core focus areas based on individual / domain interests, provided the time allocated for such interests is limited to not more than 20% of the total time for this role.
Education & Experience
Competencies
Knowledge: Possess state-of-the-art knowledge on subjects related to the action areas, with the ability to represent ATREE in national and international forums.
Management and coordination: The ability to plan and manage large-scale programs and projects, including financial overview, people management, and monitoring and evaluation.
Networking/stakeholder management: The ability to identify relevant partners, build new linkages, and effectively facilitate stakeholder processes including engagement with government departments, manage conflict, and negotiate major programmatic issues.
Communication and outreach: The ability to effectively present, discuss, convince, and influence people and target groups on different levels with tailored messages and ensure effective channels of communication across the ATREE.
Results/impact orientation: The ability to apply a proactive strategic approach within and outside the ATREE to generate concrete results leading to impacts.
Social/team competency: The ability to build effective teams including people from different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds and across the THI and ATREE; give and receive constructive feedback; provide information and share resources across ATREE to help make decisions collaboratively and solve mutual problems.
Report and proposal writing: The ability to write and coordinate the preparation of complex project and program reports, write successful proposals, and synthesise results from different research projects.
Remuneration
ATREE recognizes that the right candidate will have a significant impact on the success of the organization. Salaries and benefits of ATREE are competitive; remuneration commensurate with experience and qualifications at the Senior Fellow and Associate Director scale.
Duty station
The position will be based out of the ATREE Eastern Himalaya-Northeast India Regional Office, Gangtok
Please note: The above responsibilities outline the primary duties of this position. Flexibility and willingness to undertake additional tasks may be required, subject to consultation with the reporting manager.
Diversity Policy: The institution is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities, and those from economically and socially excluded communities to apply for positions with the requisite skills and qualifications.
Interested individuals can apply using the ‘Apply Now’ button.
Please direct your questions regarding this position to hr@atree.org
• Only candidates who are shortlisted for the interview will be contacted.
