The role of a Programmes Manager in a marine conservation organisation is pivotal for orchestrating strategic conservation initiatives and ensuring their effective implementation. Responsible for developing and executing comprehensive conservation plans, the Programmes Manager leads the Programmes Team to oversee project management, impact assessment, stakeholder engagement, community outreach, policy advocacy, and education efforts. By coordinating with internal teams, external partners, and stakeholders, they drive forward conservation goals, foster collaboration, raise awareness, and advocate for policy changes, ultimately working towards the protection and preservation of marine ecosystems.
We have recently concluded the recruitment process for a new Programmes Manager at Reef-World, taking on day-to-day responsibility for the delivery of Reef-World’s Programmes, and contributing to the strategic direction of the charity.
We received a total of 104 applications for this role, from which we shortlisted 7 applicants to interview for the first round. We then used a recruitment rubric (here is an example of it) to assess these candidates (and check our biases) according to indicators for the following criteria:
Experienced international conservation strategist
Leadership
Able to undertake our implementation work
Culture fit
From this, we shortlisted 2 candidates for the second round of interviews. These candidates were also set a short task involving outlining the process they would take to conduct a strategy refresh for Reef-World’s Programmes, provide critical feedback to Reef-World’s Directors on their interview technique, and walk through how they would manage a breach of confidentiality.
In the end our chosen candidate scored highly in the interviews, rubric and in the tasks. What really impressed us was their strategic thinking and approach to communicating their processes with ease and clarity, their track record in conservation programme and organisation leadership, personnel management and their passion for marine conservation.
General feedback on applications
Being a small team means recruitment takes a huge amount of time and resources for us. Whilst we’d love to give each of you individual feedback, we’re simply not able to. However, recognising that conservation is extremely competitive, we think it’s important to share some of the general observations we saw during this process.
Cover letters are a critical component to show a potential employer who you are. We refer to it at each point in the selection process. Unfortunately several applications did not provide one or even a CV therefore and were not considered.
Some cover letters were not finished - do double check your work before submitting, especially for roles that require a strong attention to detail.
And a last note on cover letters mistakes - don’t forget to change the job title and organisation to the specific position! Never copy paste from another job application.
The strongest cover letters outlined people’s motivations for conservation work, what lessons or skills they picked up from their experiences and how that would be beneficial for the specific role and associated responsibilities and how they align to the organisation’s culture, mission and vision.
Avoid writing a cover letter that is just a narrative of your CV, you are just replicating information already available. Don’t make the reader work to make the connection between your experience and the role, they will only have a few minutes to review your application in the first screening.
Every one of us is passionate about the work, set yourself apart by demonstrating your passion through the impact you’ve had, rather than stating it.
Some of the applicants have levels of experience that would make fantastic junior programmes professionals (i.e. Officer level at Reef-World) but did not have the experience of managing a Programmes department, strategy and team.
Some candidates focused on scientific monitoring management or data collecting programmes. Since the job will be dealing with a programme that focuses on capacity building, international policy and outreach these applicants would have needed to demonstrate how their skills can transfer to a non-scientific focused programme.
Some candidates had deep experience in one country, for this international role, these applicants would have needed to demonstrate key traits and skills that would be needed to work across different countries and cultures.
People management and leadership is a large part of this role, some applications did not provide insight into the candidate’s previous experience or strengths in this area.
General feedback on interviews
If you need to take a moment to collect your thoughts to answer a question, or if you’d like to start an answer again, please feel free to do so. A good employer won’t hold nerves against you.
Make sure you are familiar with the responsibilities and job role advertised including location, contract type, salary etc.
Whilst we want to hear what you would get out of the role, do spend more of the time focusing on how you will add value to the organisation or the work.
If you don’t have experience in one area of the job, talk about any transferable skills that would add value to that area as you learn it.
Ask questions! Not everyone did but it’s really important for you to establish if the role organisation’s culture is a good fit for you too.
Thank you to all the applicants for the time you invested in applying for this role. We wish you the very best of luck in your job search and career until we connect again. And please keep in mind that Reef-World is at a growing stage, with exciting opportunities on the horizon. We encourage you to stay connected with us through our website and social media channels for future updates and potential roles that may align with your skills and aspirations.