Jorge Ahumada
- @jorgewildmon
- | He, his
This position is open to candidates based in North America, South America, Europe, or Africa
As the chief executive and public face of Wildlife Insights, the ED will provide strategic, scientific, and organizational leadership for a global partnership and software platform dedicated to transforming biodiversity monitoring. Under the guidance of, and reporting to, the Wildlife Insights Steering Committee, the ED sets the overall programmatic, business, and conservation agenda of the platform and is responsible for overall management and partnership/client relations. In collaboration with, and with the advice of, the Science Committee, the ED contributes to setting the main scientific agenda of Wildlife Insights, supervising the development of global, regional, and national products and structuring science outcomes for the Wildlife Insights Annual Report. The ED engages with a broad array of senior-level internal and external stakeholders critical to the program’s success and reputation.
As the visible lead, the ED effectively leverages partners and alliances to secure funding and expand Wildlife Insights’s reach and scale of impact. The ED has full accountability for the program's budget and staff, with significant autonomy in setting program direction and making operational decisions. While this role will be housed within WildMon, WI’s current secretariat, the Executive Director serves as an independent leader of Wildlife Insights and represents the interests of the Wildlife Insights partnership as a whole.
This role is ideal for a mission-driven leader who combines scientific credibility with entrepreneurial vision, excels at building trusted partnerships across institutions, and is passionate about advancing conservation through innovation.
About Wildlife Insights
Wildlife Insights enables organizations around the world to transform camera trap images into actionable biodiversity intelligence.
Wildlife Insights is a global AI and cloud platform designed to manage, analyze, and share camera trap data to accelerate biodiversity conservation and evidence-based decision-making through a consortium of leading institutions. The platform uses Google’s open-source SpeciesNet model to automatically identify over 1,295 species and filter out blank or human images, saving significant manual tagging time. Hosted on Google Cloud Platform, the service provides secure storage, standardized data models, and automated basic analytical tools. Core members include Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, Smithsonian Institution, WWF US, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Yale’s Map of Life, Max Planck Institute, WildMon, and Google. WildMon currently serves as the secretariat, managing administrative, financial, and technical functions for the WI partnership. https://wildlifeinsights.org
About WildMon
WildMon is a nonprofit conservation technology organization that creates AI-powered tools, like acoustic and camera trap pipelines, to support local conservationists, Indigenous Peoples, and governments in monitoring and protecting biodiversity.The organization aims to protect nature by equipping frontline conservationists with accessible, field-ready tools and training to drive local conservation outcomes. Their work focuses on building and scaling AI-powered monitoring tools, including ecoacoustic methods and the Chorus acoustic pipeline, while expanding into eDNA. WildMon advocates for an equitable conservation model, shifting data ownership and authority to the local communities and stewards of biodiversity. https://wildmon.ai
Key Responsibilities
• Partner with WI's Steering Committee to set and execute the program's strategic and product direction.
• Shape the long-term scientific vision of Wildlife Insights, identifying emerging scientific priorities and translating them into platform products.
• Develop and maintain a roadmap of external-facing analytical products for the WI platform, informed by the Science Committee, key partners, and user needs.
• Drive long-term business sustainability for WI by expanding fundraising efforts and securing diverse revenue and resourcing streams.
• Engage WI core partners, Google’s machine learning team, and external scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and research institutions to execute the analytical products roadmap.
• Represent the program at senior-level functions, donor convenings, and industry events.
• Prepare the program's annual budget and work plan and hold full accountability for its execution, in partnership with the General Director and Finance function.
• Cultivate and steward senior-level relationships with donors, investors, and government entities, securing funding to expand Wildlife Insights’ reach and impact.
• Deliver on a defined set of annual OKRs, including client management, revenue goals, functionality requirements, and strategic partnerships.
• Be an integral member of the leadership team within WildMon, WI’s Secretariat.
People and Resource Management Responsibilities
• Manage a highly visible, platform-driven conservation program.
• The Lead Software Engineer, the Director of Partnerships & Business Development, and the Platform Operations Manager all report to this position.
• Fully accountable for the program's budget and human resources.
• Effectively manage, engage, and motivate direct reports, ensuring their work ladders up to the program's strategic priorities and OKR commitments.
• Steward the program's senior governance relationships — Steering Committee, key institutional partners, and donors — while day-to-day partner and client management is led by the Director of Partnerships & Business Development.
Qualifications
• Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in conservation science, ecology, biodiversity informatics, or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience in conservation, biodiversity informatics, or a related field, including demonstrated ability to manage programs, develop strategy, and engage the scientific community.
• 5 or more years of direct supervisory experience. Strong capability to motivate and inspire team members, including setting performance goals and supporting career development.
• 5+ years of Product Management experience, advising on Product Requirements Documents and providing oversight and direction to the product roadmap.
• Strong network in the global biodiversity, conservation technology, and science community, with demonstrated ability to engage, mobilize, and fundraise with external scientists and research institutions.
• Proven fundraising experience.
• Familiarity with conservation data platforms, biodiversity analytics, or camera trap science — sufficient to develop a credible analytical products roadmap, commission and evaluate the resulting work, and communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working within a structured accountability framework such as OKRs, with a track record of defining and delivering measurable outcomes.
• Superb communication skills, particularly with donors, government entities, and scientific partners. Ability to represent Wildlife Insights at UN-level events or other high-level conferences.
Additional Qualifications (Preferred)
• Direct coding experience is not required, but the candidate should have a basic understanding of Google Cloud Platform or another cloud provider including its core products, services, and capabilities.
• Familiarity with conservation technology trends and practices — sufficient to engage with the Lead Software Engineer on roadmap alignment, not to direct technical execution.
• Experience developing analytical or data products in a platform or conservation-technology context.
• Capacity to develop, implement, and refine a sound business plan for the program.
• Strong reputation and visibility in the conservation science or conservation technology community.
• Fluent in, or with working knowledge of, any of the following languages: Spanish, Portuguese, and/or French.
Working Conditions
• Work is typically performed remotely anywhere in the Americas, Europe or Africa.
• Compensation commensurate to experience
• Travel required approximately 15% of the time, sometimes to remote locations
If you are interested please send a cover letter and CV to [email protected]