About the SMART-EarthRanger Conservation Alliance (SERCA)

The SMART–EarthRanger Conservation Alliance (SERCA) is a global partnership of conservation NGOs and technology experts working together to strengthen the management of protected and conserved areas. Through shared tools, standards, and collaboration, SERCA supports frontline conservationists, governments, and implementing partners to improve how data is used in decision-making, planning, and adaptive management. By combining field insight with cutting-edge technology, SERCA helps build the systems and capacity needed for more effective, equitable, and transparent conservation outcomes. 

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced and mission-driven Chief Product Officer (CPO) to guide the coordination of the SERCA product roadmap across desktop, mobile, and web tools. This is a strategic role bridging technology, training, implementation, and field impact. The CPO will ensure coherence and usability across all SERCA components while acting as the voice of the user and the alliance. The role balances stakeholder priorities, translates conservation workflows into practical product requirements, and ensures that features are well-supported, context-aware, and tested with field users. 

Compensation

Salary and benefits will be determined based on experience and location and are competitive within the international conservation NGO sector. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead the development and maintenance of the SERCA Product Roadmap in collaboration with the Leadership Team and Steering Committee
• Coordinate across the Chief Technology Officer, Chief Impact Officer, and Chief Adoption Officer workstreams to ensure an integrated user experience
• Ensure product development remains grounded in field realities, user capacity, and conservation needs
• Facilitate structured collection and prioritisation of user feedback (e.g. via the Practitioner Council)
• Coordinate sprint cycles and backlog management with distributed development teams (e.g. EarthRanger, WPS)
• Ensure training, support, and adoption elements are integrated into all release cycles
• Promote transparency by publishing product updates, known issues, and insights on usage
• Represent product priorities to the Steering Committee, partners, and donors
• Help build alignment between technology, capacity-building, and strategy across the SERCA alliance

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Conservation, Environmental Informatics, Product Design, or a related technical or ecological field
• Minimum 8 years’ experience in product coordination, programme delivery, or applied technology in conservation or adjacent sectors
• Minimum 5 years’ practical conservation experience, ideally working with or within conservation field teams, government agencies, or protected area authorities
• Proven ability to translate user needs into product requirements within multi-stakeholder collaborations
• Familiarity with conservation data systems, field operations, and adaptive-management tools (e.g. SMART, EarthRanger, METT, IMET)
• Experience coordinating distributed development or support teams using Agile or hybrid methodologies

Core Competencies 

• A deep commitment to conservation and a sense of urgency to support those working on the conservation front lines
• Empathy and respect for the experience and knowledge of users
• Systems thinking and the ability to balance complexity with clarity
• Strong facilitation and communication skills across interdisciplinary teams
• Excellent organisation, documentation, and prioritisation abilities
• Collaborative approach—comfortable mediating between developers, conservationists, field practitioners, and programme managers
• Commitment to transparency, open standards, and measurable conservation impact

How to Apply  

Please submit a CV and covering letter outlining your experience and interest in the role to: [email protected] 

Deadline: 22 January 2026