Project Officer, BirdsPlus Index

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Project Officer, Birds Plus Index

Remote (with travel as needed. All travel will be reimbursed.)

Contract

Supervisor: Birds Plus Index Director

Location: Remote (with travel as needed. All travel will be reimbursed.)

Salary: Estimated at $40,000;
Based on experience

Term of position: This is a contractor position and is supported through outside funding commitments.

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a fast-growing, results-focused nonprofit seeking employees with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to make a difference for birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Inspired by the wonder of birds, ABC achieves lasting results for the bird species most in need while also benefiting human communities, biodiversity, and the planet’s fragile climate.

ABC is seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Project Officer to help grow the Birds Plus Index, an ambitious effort to transform how biodiversity is measured on working lands around the world. ABC’s Birds Plus Index, a tool to evaluate and monitor conservation value of sites (particularly restoration, agroforestry, ranches, and other working lands) using birds (detected via acoustics) as indicators. It will provide an essential tool to measure conservation benefits of conservation practices and impact investments on working lands for birds.

Since 2023, ABC has been developing the Birds Plus Index and piloted a pipeline of projects that aim to measure the impact of different types of land management in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico and the United States and seek to expand these efforts to other locations and countries in the Americas.

The Project Officer will work closely with the Birds Plus Index Director to coordinate biodiversity monitoring projects from planning through final reporting. The position will receive mentoring in the scientific concepts, workflows, and technologies that support the Birds Plus Index and will progressively assume responsibility for independently managing projects, serving as the primary point of contact for partners, coordinating logistics, training collaborators, and ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality project outcomes that advance bird conservation.

• Coordinate multiple biodiversity monitoring projects simultaneously, ensuring project timelines, budgets, deliverables, and contractual obligations are completed efficiently and on schedule.
• Manage project logistics from initiation through completion, including coordinating field deployments of automated recording units (ARUs), equipment preparation, shipping, permitting, travel, and contractor activities.
• Conduct international travel (approximately 3–5 trips annually) to support project implementation, partner engagement, training, and field activities.
• Assist with the deployment, maintenance, and retrieval of autonomous recording units (ARUs) and other biodiversity monitoring equipment.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for partner organizations throughout project implementation, maintaining regular communication and fostering productive, long-term relationships.
• Coordinate meetings and technical discussions with non-governmental organizations, research institutions, land managers, and internal ABC staff.
• Provide training and technical support to project partners on field protocols, biodiversity monitoring methodologies, data collection standards, and the use of Birds Plus Index tools and technologies.
• Represent ABC professionally during meetings, workshops, field activities, and partner engagements.

• Coordinate the collection, organization, management, and quality assurance of biodiversity monitoring data generated…