Vice President Restoration & Wildlife

Role at a Glance

About Farmers for Forests

Farmers for Forests (F4F) is an ecosystem restoration organisation working with farmers, communities, government and funders to bring trees and biodiversity back to Indian landscapes. Our work spans agroforestry, carbon forestry, urban biodiversity, forest fire management and wildlife conservation.

About the Role

F4F is seeking a Vice President – Restoration & Wildlife to build and lead a new vertical covering our forest and wildlife work in the Central Indian landscape. The vertical brings together three programmes: rewilding work in and around Tadoba; forest protection, forest-fire prevention and reforestation in Gadchiroli; and human–elephant coexistence in Gadchiroli.

The VP will work closely with the Executive Director to set the vertical’s strategy and will own its delivery end to end. This means shaping where and how we work, building and managing the teams, running the projects well on the ground, and representing F4F with the Forest Department, communities and partners.

This role suits someone who combines field credibility with leadership: comfortable spending days in the forest with field teams and gram sabhas, and equally comfortable presenting a three-year plan to a funder or a senior forest officer.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategy and vertical leadership

• Work with the Executive Director to develop a multi-year strategy for the Restoration & Wildlife vertical, covering geographies, programme models, partnerships and growth.
  
• Translate the strategy into annual plans with clear goals, milestones, budgets and team structures.
  
• Identify new restoration and wildlife opportunities in the Central Indian landscape and help shape proposals with the partnerships, research and finance teams.
  
• Represent the vertical in F4F’s leadership team and contribute to organisation-wide planning.
  

Rewilding – Tadoba landscape

• Lead the design and delivery of rewilding and habitat restoration work in the Tadoba landscape, including buffer areas and fringe villages.
  
• Oversee habitat improvement activities such as assisted natural regeneration (ANR), native species planting, grassland and water-source restoration, and invasive species management, in line with Forest Department plans and approvals.
  
• Work with communities living alongside wildlife to build support for restoration and reduce pressure on forest habitats.
  

Forest protection, fire prevention and reforestation – Gadchiroli

• Lead annual and seasonal plans for forest-fire prevention and response, including fire-line work, community fire watchers, early detection and awareness campaigns before and during the fire season.
  
• Oversee reforestation through ANR, direct seeding and plantation, ensuring species choice, site preparation and aftercare meet agreed standards.
  
• Support forest protection work with the Forest Department, Joint Forest Management Committees and gram sabhas, including those managing community forest resource areas.
  

Human–elephant coexistence – Gadchiroli

• Lead F4F’s programme to reduce conflict between people and elephants and to support safe coexistence.
  
• Oversee early warning and community alert systems, rapid response teams and safety protocols for villages along elephant movement routes.
  
• Work with the Forest Department on crop and property damage response, including helping affected families access compensation processes.
  
• Coordinate with wildlife researchers and partners to understand elephant movement and habitat use, and use this to guide habitat and community interventions.
  

Team leadership and people management

• Build, lead and develop a team of project managers, field coordinators and field staff across multiple locations.
  
• Set clear roles, goals and review rhythms; resolve implementation bottlenecks quickly.
  
• Recruit and mentor strong field leaders, and build a culture of safety, accountability and learning.
  

Budgets, procurement and operations

• Prepare and manage vertical and project budgets; track spend against plans and take corrective action to stay within timelines and budgets.
  
• Oversee procurement of seeds, saplings, fire equipment and other materials, including vendor management, documentation and inventory control.
  
• Ensure field operations follow F4F’s financial, compliance and institutional protocols.
  

Government, community and partner relationships

• Build strong working relationships with the Forest Department (territorial and wildlife wings), Tiger Reserve management, district administration and Panchayati Raj institutions.
  
• Engage communities, gram sabhas, self-help groups and local organisations as partners in restoration and coexistence work.
  
• Coordinate with research institutions, implementation partners and funders on joint work and field visits.
  

Monitoring, data and reporting

• Work with F4F’s research and GIS teams to set up monitoring of restoration outcomes, fire incidents, biodiversity and human–wildlife conflict.
  
• Ensure field data is reliable and used in project reviews and decisions.
  
• Oversee donor, government and internal reports that are accurate, timely and clear about risks, deviations and corrective actions.
  

Safety, capacity building and learning

• Ensure safe field operations, particularly for fire response and work in elephant and tiger habitats.
  
• Lead training and awareness for field teams and communities on fire prevention, restoration practice and wildlife safety.
  
• Use field insights and periodic evaluations to improve approaches and identify what can be scaled.
  

What Success Looks Like in the First Year

• A clear three-year strategy and annual plan for the vertical, agreed with the Executive Director.
  
• A stable, well-structured team in place across Tadoba and Gadchiroli, with clear roles and regular reviews.
  
• Fire-season, reforestation and coexistence activities delivered on time and within budget, with reliable field data behind every report.
  
• Trusted working relationships with the Forest Department and key community institutions in both landscapes.
  
• At least one new programme or partnership opportunity developed for the vertical.
  

Start Date

Immediate

Requirements

Essential

• 8–12 years of overall experience, with at least 4–5 years leading large-scale field programmes in forestry, ecological restoration, wildlife conservation, natural resource management or rural development.
  
• Proven experience leading multi-location teams, including managers, and owning budgets and on-ground delivery.
  
• Hands-on experience in forest restoration, afforestation or community-based natural resource management.
  
• Strong track record of working with the Forest Department and other government agencies, and with communities and community-based organisations.
  
• Ability to set strategy and plans, not only execute them, and to make sound decisions in uncertain field conditions.
  
• Strong procurement, vendor management and logistics skills for rural and forest-based projects.
  
• Comfort with data, reporting and digital tools such as Excel and Google Sheets.
  
• Fluency in Hindi and Marathi, and strong written and spoken English.
  
• Willingness to be based in Nagpur and to travel extensively to remote project sites across Chandrapur and Gadchiroli as required by fieldwork.
  

Desirable

• Experience in human–wildlife conflict mitigation, particularly with elephants or large carnivores.
  
• Experience in forest-fire prevention and management, ANR or habitat restoration in protected areas or their buffers.
  
• Familiarity with the Forest Rights Act, community forest resource management and Joint Forest Management.
  
• A postgraduate degree in forestry, wildlife science, ecology, environmental science, rural management or a related field.
  
• Exposure to GIS, remote sensing or field data collection apps.
  
• Experience working in the Vidarbha or Central Indian forest landscape, or in Left Wing Extremism-affected districts.
  
• Experience with CSR, philanthropic or government-funded programmes and their reporting requirements.
  

Benefits

Compensation INR 14.06–17.98 lakh per annum.