Conservation X Labs Inc Behavior Change Consultant Remote · Contractor Company website

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Our mission is to prevent an impending sixth mass extinction – the first in Earth’s history driven by the actions of a single species: ours. Unlike traditional conservation efforts, Conservation X Labs focuses on leveraging the best technology, the newest innovation, interdisciplinary genius, and the power of the marketplace to boldly confront the biggest problems facing the planet. Though humans have driven this sixth extinction, we know humans have the power to reverse it.

Behavior Change Consultant

Position Prospectus

Who We Are:

Conservation X Labs (CXL) seeks to solve the world’s greatest conservation problems by supporting innovative solutions that address the underlying drivers of extinction. We create solutions to prevent the extinction crisis through developing new technology in our labs, leading innovation competitions, and empowering talented innovators across disciplines to create transformative products that serve people and our planet.

The Role:

CXL is in search of a Behavior Change consultant to join our South America team as soon as possible through April 2026, with the possibility of extension. This position directly supports the final design phase of a new philanthropic Fund that seeks to tackle fire, the leading cause of tropical primary forest loss, in globally significant ecoregions such as the Amazon, Cerrado, Chiquitania, Gran Chaco, and Pantanal. The Fund will unite partners to build and test integrated prevention and response systems, learn quickly, and scale what works. This Fund focuses on the underlying conditions that drive destructive fire and combines community-led stewardship, cutting-edge innovation and technology, and data-driven decision systems. Work will be anchored in pilot municipalities and Indigenous territories.

This Behavior Change Consultant will support the South America Fire Test Fund team in developing a practical, evidence-based behavior change plan that identifies priority behaviors, target actors, and intervention pathways to reduce destructive fire in selected pilot geographies, consistent with the Fund’s theory of change, behavior change science, and a cross-cutting focus on incentives.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will support the South America Fire Fund team to develop a Behavior Change Plan aligned with the Fire Test Fund Strategy, other relevant evidence-based research, and stakeholder input. This plan, which should be a clear, practical framework and operational plan for action, is a component of the cross-cutting elements of the Strategy.

Activities:

• Synthesize behavior change–related elements of the Fire Test Fund Strategy and other relevant sources (including interviews with key partners and stakeholders) to identify priority behaviors and target actors linked to reducing destructive fire;
  • Define a short list of priority behaviors to influence (e.g., timing and use of fire, compliance with burn/no-burn windows, adoption of fire-safe land management, early reporting of escaped fires)
  • Segment key audiences (e.g., smallholders, Indigenous communities, medium/large landowners, municipal actors, fire brigades, urban populations affected by smoke) and articulate context-specific motivations and constraints.
  • Identify critical audience segmentation considerations based on intervention areas/eco-regions
• Use established behavior change frameworks (e.g., COM-B or similar) to diagnose barriers and enablers to behavior change in selected contexts.
• Outline feasible intervention pathways aligned with the Fund’s prevention, incentives, technology, and LIFT pilot approaches. For example:
  • Behaviorally informed public campaigns and norm-shifting approaches
  • Low-friction nudges and prompts linked to fire risk forecasts (e.g., burn/no-burn guidance)
  • Financial and non-financial incentives tied to fire-safe practices
  • Trusted messenger and community-led engagement models
  • Ensure interventions are culturally grounded, feasible in low-capacity contexts, and not dependent on national policy reform.
• Articulate how behavior change efforts will be implemented, tested, and learned from during the initial phase, including details appropriate for an operational plan.
  • Explicitly outline the approach to community consultations / input / participatory engagement.
  • Provide recommendations on specific organizations to implement the behavior change strategy for each of the ecoregions and LIFTs.
  • Identify how behavior change interventions interface with technology platforms (early warning, decision support), financial incentives, and LIFT pilot geographies.
  • Create this plan in accordance with the Test Fund’s operational principles to be adaptive, iterative, and evidence based, provide flexibility for accelerated execution and operational efficiency, to identify force multipliers, demonstrate regional legitimacy, and provide transparency and credibility.
  • Develop high-level indicators in collaboration with the Fund’s M&E team.

Deliverables (by Mid-March): A concise Behavior Change Plan consisting of a short report and associated slides targeted to decision relevance with clear articulation of:

• Overall behavior change strategy for fire consistent with the Fire Test Fund strategy.
• Operational Plan for Behavior Change Strategy
• Identification of priority behaviors and audiences for the key experimental geographies of the fund, specifically the three ecoregions (the Amazon, Pantanal, and Chiquitania) and the intervention sites in those regions
• Behavior change rationale and key assumptions
• Proposed intervention types and delivery channels
• Specific recommendations on partners for implementation in the key geographies to allow us to operationalize this plan on day 1
• Approach to ensure participatory engagement, community consultation, and community accountability
• Linkages to other Fire Fund strategies and pilots
• High-level learning questions and indicators