Program Coordinator, Puerto Rico

World Parrot Trust; Puerto Rico; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

World Parrot Trust in Puerto Rico seeks an experienced conservation professional to lead day-to-day operations of the Puerto Rico program, driving restoration at landscape scale for the Puerto Rican Parrot. The role combines field work with planning, coordination with partners, and reporting on milestones and outcomes.

You will manage field operations, contractor delivery, funding opportunities, and safety, while turning priorities into practical projects with measurable results across the

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in habitat restoration, forestry, reforestation, or native plant propagation, with hands-on field work.
• Proven track record delivering programs across teams or partners against defined deliverables and deadlines.
• Experience owning conservation programs from planning through implementation.
• Strong written and spoken communication in English and Spanish.

Responsibilities

• Run the Puerto Rico program: translate priorities into work plans with clear deliverables, milestones and dates; manage contractor performance and field operations.
• Build the program: pursue landscape-scale habitat restoration and connectivity projects; secure funding and develop proposals.
• Coordinate with USDA Forest Service, DNER, and local partners; maintain clear communication with leadership and stakeholders.
• Oversee routine operations, logistics, compliance, and recordkeeping; participate in field activities and partner meetings.

Skills

Habitat restoration

Team leadership

Project delivery

Independent work

English/Spanish fluency

Tools

Driver's license

Job description

About the role

The World Parrot Trust is looking for an experienced conservation professional to take day-to-day leadership and operational responsibility of our Puerto Rico program. A key priority is to develop and implement restoration at a scale that can meaningfully improve habitat and connectivity for the Puerto Rican Parrot, rather than limiting the program to small-scale or site-specific interventions.
Habitat restoration is the heart of this work. You will plan and drive forest restoration and reforestation, native tree propagation and outplanting, habitat improvement (including nest box maintenance and installation), connectivity work, and the monitoring that supports recovery of the wild Puerto Rican Amazon population. This is a field job as much as a planning one.
You will turn conservation priorities into clear work plans, deliverables, deadlines, and measurable results, then make sure those commitments are met. You will coordinate our work with the USDA Forest Service, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, and other partners, and pull together the efforts of WPT personnel, contractors, and collaborators across the island.
The program has a strong foundation of existing field work and partnerships, but WPT is now looking for someone to bring greater direction, coordination and ambition to its delivery. The successful candidate will be expected to move the program beyond maintaining existing activities and toward larger-scale, planned habitat restoration and other conservation initiatives.
This is not primarily a liaison or administrative coordination role. The successful candidate will be expected to take ownership of delivery, set priorities, drive delivery by contractors and partners, and ensure that agreed activities actually happen. You will work independently, solve problems as they come up, and carry projects from planning through completion. We will judge success by what the program delivers: completed projects, effective field operations, new partnerships and funding, and measurable conservation results, not by hours logged.
Your main point of contact at WPT is the Neotropics Director, who handles contract matters with our other Puerto Rico contractors. Your authority covers the program itself: its delivery, its field operations, and its assets.

What you will do

• Run the program
  Lead delivery of the Puerto Rico program, turning agreed-upon priorities into work plans with clear deliverables, milestones, and dates.
  Set clear expectations, scopes of work, deliverables and deadlines for WPT contractors and other personnel, and actively manage delivery against them.
  Direct program operations on the ground, including how field activities are sequenced, how shared resources are used, and how program sites and facilities are run day to day.
  Own field operations and site safety, including safe work practices, crew briefings, and the authority to stop unsafe work.
  Manage the allocation and use of program vehicles, equipment, and facilities.
  Track delivery against agreed-upon deliverables and milestones, and keep clear records of progress and completion.
  Spot obstacles early, clear them where you can, and elevate promptly where you cannot.
  Keep the Neotropics Director informed on delivery, including where deliverables are at risk or have been missed, so contract matters can be handled at that level.
  Make sure funded projects hit their milestones, objectives, and reporting requirements.
  Manage delivery by WPT contractors, interns, volunteers and field assistants against agreed deliverables and deadlines, taking action where deliverables are not being met and escalating contractual matters to the Neotropics Director.
• Build the program
  Actively develop new conservation projects and funding opportunities, particularly for landscape-scale habitat restoration and connectivity in the northern wildlife corridor.
  Develop or oversee work plans, project concepts, proposals, and implementation strategies; and develop and submit, or oversee the development and submission of, competitive funding proposals for priority conservation work.
  Turn broad conservation priorities into practical projects that WPT, its contractors, and its partners can actually carry out.
  Look for ways to grow the scale and impact of our conservation work in Puerto Rico.
  

Work with partners and agencies

• Coordinate our cooperative work with the USDA Forest Service, keeping effort balanced across Puerto Rican Parrot recovery, aviary support, forest restoration, habitat connectivity, and community engagement.
  Manage WPT's program relationship with the USDA Forest Service, ensuring that WPT-supported activities are coordinated effectively with Forest Service priorities while maintaining clear ownership of WPT's own program and deliverables.
  Coordinate WPT-supported conservation work with DNER and other local partners.
  Keep communication flowing between WPT leadership, contractors, government agencies, NGO partners, and other stakeholders.
  Represent WPT at partner meetings, working groups, and events.
• Keep operations running
  Oversee the routine operational and administrative work that comes with WPT’s presence in Puerto Rico.
  Support local compliance, logistics, procurement, and recordkeeping.
  Maintain the systems that track program activities, outputs, and deadlines.
  Work in the field
  Take part directly in habitat restoration, species monitoring, community engagement, partner meetings, and project implementation.
  Stay close to conservation activities, field conditions, and priorities across Puerto Rico.

Required qualifications

Substantial experience in habitat restoration, forestry, reforestation, or native plant propagation, including hands-on field work.
A track record of leading delivery across teams, contractors, or partners against defined deliverables and deadlines.
Experience owning conservation programs or projects and carrying them from planning through implementation.
Ability to set priorities, work plans, deadlines, and measurable deliverables.
Experience clearing obstacles and juggling competing priorities.
Ability to work independently, make decisions, and take ownership without constant direction.
Strong practical conservation experience, including field implementation.
Experience working with government agencies, NGOs, and institutional partners.
Strong written and spoken communication in English and Spanish, ideally professional fluency in both.
Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel extensively within Puerto Rico.

Preferred qualifications

Experience developing or managing landscape-scale habitat restoration or connectivity projects.
Experience with island conservation programs.
Experience with invasive species management.
Experience with endangered species recovery programs.
Experience managing conservation contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements.
Familiarity with Puerto Rico, Caribbean conservation issues, or tropical ecosystems.

Who you are

Proactive and self-directed. You are comfortable taking an underdeveloped idea and turning it into a funded, planned and implemented project.
You take ownership of problems and drive solutions. You are willing to make decisions, challenge ineffective approaches and hold people accountable for agreed deliverables.
Comfortable organizing work across a group of specialists and partners.
Practical and adaptable, effective in changing field conditions.
At ease with contractors, government agencies, local communities, researchers, NGOs, and donors.
Results-oriented, with a record of turning plans into finished work.

Contracting requirements

This is an independent contractor engagement. The person we select will need to:
Hold, or apply for, an employer identification number or merchant registration, and operate as a self-employed person or business.
File income tax returns as an independent business or self-employed person.
Sign a written General Contractor’s Agreement with WPT, governed by the laws of Puerto Rico.
Obtain and maintain any licenses, permits, or authorizations needed to operate the business and provide the services.
Carry their own insurance as set out in the agreement, and remain responsible for their own taxes, contributions, and benefits.
You decide your own working methods, and you are free to take on other clients as long as it does not conflict with your deliverables or with WPT’s interests.