Senior Technical Advisor Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea

Reports to:Regional Director Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea

Location:Flexible within the region – Libreville, Kinshasa, Brazzaville, Kigali.

Coordinates with:Central Africa Regional team, Country Directors, Global Thematic Leads

About Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS):

WCS stands for wildlife and wild places. As the world’s premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has a long track record of achieving innovative, impactful results at scale. We run programs spanning the entire ocean and more than 3 million biologically critical square miles in nearly 60 countries.  We build on a unique foundation: Our reach is global; we discover through best-in-class science; we protect through work on the ground with local and indigenous people; we inspire through our world-class zoos, aquarium, and education programs; and we leverage our resources through partnerships and powerful policy influence.  Our 4,000 diverse, passionately committed team members in New York City and around the world work collectively to achieve our conservation mission.

Program Overview:

The Central Africa and Gulf of Guinea program is one of the largest of WCS’s 13 Global Regional Programs, spanning Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, and Gabon. This is a rapidly growing program with a diverse and expanding portfolio of donors, partners and projects. The region presents a set of complex conservation challenges to biodiversity and their habitats and WCS field programs are addressing these through a number of initiatives including protected area management, community engagement, sustainable livelihoods, policy reform and sustainable financing. WCS recently formally established its regional hub in Kigali, Rwanda which hosts a growing team of technical specialists and regional management to support our country programs and field offices. 

Job Summary:

This position is responsible for providing critical thinking, management and operational coordination and technical leadership to ensure the delivery of the WCS Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea (CAGG) regional strategy, prioritizing coordination of cross-cutting themes, implementation of regional projects and support to country programs. This role will provide key support for the development and implementation of the regional strategy, including maintaining and diversifying a global donor network, especially with the Regional Director, global thematic leads, and in-country representatives, and supporting the ongoing capacity building of WCS technical staff both regionally and nationally. This position will provide technical leadership to Regional thematic/project leads, and work closely with the Regional Business Manager, Country Directors and other senior WCS CAGG staff, as well as Global Thematic Programs.

Primary Responsibilities:

This position’s responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

Programmatic

• Provide hands on technical and operational support to the Regional Director and leadership to Regional thematic/project leads in delivering the regional strategy and associated country strategies, and critical thinking about the future direction of these strategies.
• Lead a high-impact team of regional staff, providing guidance and oversight on project implementation, including delivery against work plans, staffing and regional grants management.
• Develop and support implementation and coordination of regional initiatives to build the strategic growth of the WCS CAGG region, generating ideas, concepts and proposals for new or enhanced initiatives related to the WCS 2030 themes of Forests and Climate, Marine, Counter Wildlife Trafficking, Health and Rights & Communities.
• Ensure technical soundness of project activities, and achievement of outputs and outcomes
• Promote enhancement of WCS CAGG’s science driven approach, especially in supporting our staff in research and developing scientific publications, participating in international/regional conferences, and maintaining/creating international academic collaborations, as well as identifying and supporting other regional conservationists to increase their scientific capacity.
• Advise on strategies to enhance leadership, management and technical capacity development of WCS CAGG staff by identifying and creating opportunities, such as trainings, mentoring, coaching, and global, peer-to-peer learning, exchange and thematic engagement.

Partnership

• Working in coordination with the Regional Director, Regional Program Development, Regional thematic/project leads, and Country Program Directors in concept note and proposal development and writing, and lead on writing when requested.
• Work with Regional Program Development to coordinate the completion and timely submission of donor narrative reports and presentations as needed.
• Work with Regional Communications lead to develop compelling donor communication pieces, such as presentations, infographics and briefs that describe the progress and impact of WCS CAGG projects and partners.
• Support the Regional Director and other senior staff in their ongoing management of donor relations through frequent networking, such as one-on-one meetings, hosting roundtable discussions, attending ceremonial events and hosting field trips.
• Work with the Regional Director and WCS Strategic Partnership Directors (especially in Europe and the US) to identify and cultivate new funding opportunities for the CAGG region.

• A graduate degree in conservation biology, natural resource management, ecology, or equivalent experience, plus at least 10 years working experience in the conservation sector, preferably in Central Africa. 
• Familiarity with the conservation and management priorities, obstacles, and opportunities. 
• Experience managing large conservation projects, project budgets, and staff. 
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills and demonstrated success in working in a diverse and multi-cultural environment. 
• Fluent professional English and French language skills. 
• Commitment to high quality work and attention to detail.
• Willingness to travel extensively in Central Africa. 
• Commitment to conservation and to the mission of WCS. 
• Experience leading and working with cross functional teams. 

Workplace Conditions and Environment:

• Periodic need to work overlapping hours with teams located in different time zones

How to apply

Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications, skills, and experience, should apply through the following address by August 15, 2023

WCS is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value.