POSITION TITLE: Director, International Government Relations
DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM: Conservation Programs
REPORTS TO: Vice President, External Affairs
STATUS: Regular, Full-Time, Exempt
LOCATION: Washington, DC preferred (hybrid); other states considered: AK, CA, FL, MD, OR, TX, VA, WA, WV
POSITION SUMMARY The Director, International Government Relations is responsible for coordinating Ocean Conservancy's (OC) international policy advocacy across conservation programs and the International Government Relations (IGR) team, ensuring OC shows up before governments and institutions with a single, credible voice. The Director runs the cross-program coordination systems that keeps OC's international engagement coherent and coordinates a unified "One-OC" presence at major convenings like Our Ocean, the UN Ocean Conference and UNEA. The Director also builds cross-program capability in international advocacy and diplomacy through shared playbooks, coaching and strategic input.
OC's international advocacy is distributed across conservation programs and the IGR team rather than centralized in IGR alone. The Director's role is to both directly drive and engage in international advocacy, and to also be the connective tissue that helps international efforts across programs add up to more than the sum of their parts. Reporting to the Vice President of External Affairs, the Director will work closely with program leads across OC's conservation portfolio - including Biodiversity, Climate, and Plastics - as well as Communications and Development, to advance OC's international policy goals.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIESDirectly engaging in international advocacy and managing the IGR team- Directly engage with governments and international institutions on behalf of Ocean Conservancy's ocean conservation advocacy priorities.
- Manage IGR team direct reports.
- Ownership of the IGR team budget, annual workplan and internal reporting.
Driving international advocacy strategies and coordination across teams - Strengthen program staff's effectiveness at international advocacy and diplomacy through strategic guidance on coalition-building, diplomacy and negotiation strategy.
- Run OC's internal coordination systems, including cross-program coordination calls and organization-wide global visibility updates.
- Proactively identify and address coordination gaps.
Coordinating key international multi-issue events and a unified international calendar- Coordinate a unified "One-OC" approach at major multi-issue convenings (e.g., Our Ocean, UN Ocean Conference, UNEA) - defining institutional success, sequencing engagements and establishing a fair, transparent process for allocating scarce opportunities such as speaking roles, side events and high-level bilateral meetings.
- Maintain a shared international events calendar and planning tracker that programs actively use to plan engagements and that surfaces benchmark or venue conflicts early enough to proactively resolve.
Coordinating country and institutional prioritization- Maintain a single, current, shared view of OC's priority country and institutional targets, including tiering and clarity on where deeper relationship investment is needed.
- Ensure country prioritization visibly shapes real engagement decisions - who at OC is engaging which governments and why.
REQUIRED SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE - Significant professional experience (5+ years) in international policy, diplomacy or government relations, ideally within the ocean, environmental or natural resources sector.
- Demonstrated ability to build and run coordination systems across multiple teams or stakeholders with competing priorities, without direct authority over those teams.
- Track record of building or contributing to international coalitions, including engaging both champion governments and more skeptical or opposed parties.
- Familiarity with international policy venues and processes relevant to ocean conservation (e.g., IMO, RFMOs, UNFCCC/COPs, UNEA, BBNJ, Our Ocean) strongly preferred.
- Excellent relationship-management skills, with the judgment to navigate sensitive and sometimes competing institutional interests with diplomacy and discretion.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex, cross-program information into clear, actionable guidance.
- Highly organized self-starter, comfortable building and maintaining shared systems (calendars, trackers, briefing materials) that other teams rely on.
- Highly collaborative, with an appreciation for working across program boundaries and influencing without direct authority.
- Willingness to travel internationally for negotiations, convenings and partner meetings, as this position will require international and domestic travel to support key multi-issue convenings, negotiations and partner engagements.
- Strong passion for Ocean Conservancy's mission and values.
EDUCATION/TRAINING- Bachelor degree required, preferably in environmental policy, public policy, international affairs, international relations, marine policy or a relevant related field.
COMPENSATIONOcean Conservancy is committed to fair pay practices and posts expected salary ranges for each of its positions. Compensation will be commensurate with the candidate's specialty skills, years of experience, location, and unique background. The starting salary range for this role is $130,000 - $140,000 annually. We would welcome the opportunity to connect with potential candidates whose salary requirements may be outside of the expected range.
TO APPLYIf you think you'd be a great fit for the job and are interested in joining Ocean Conservancy's team, please apply here. Please include a resume and cover letter in one file on your application.
HYBRID WORK ENVIRONMENTOcean Conservancy embraces a hybrid work environment, which allows our staff the flexibility to work virtually and in-person while building strong connections across the institution.
