CAR: ECOFAC-6 Coordinator


May 31, 2021 | African Parks
View Original

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We currently manage19 national parks and protected areas in 11 countries covering over 14.1 million hectares in: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Chinko’s mosaic of ecosystems at such latitude on the African continent makes this area incredibly rich and unique in biodiversity. The Chinko Conservation Area (CCA) is an important area for endangered wildlife as well a vast ecosystem with complex interactions and is the only managed protected environment in the remote eastern part of CAR.

Most recently, a “functional landscape” of about 64’645 km2 which the government of the CAR designated the mandate to APN to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy and land-use plan. This will need protecting.

Job Overview:

African Parks – RCA, engaged in the protection and rehabilitation of the CCA in the Central African Republic, is looking for a dynamic ECOFAC-6 Coordinator who will be responsible for managing all the ECOFAC-6 mandates. The job is not a passive role as a controller, but an active role. As such, the role has a functional field-based aspect where the selected candidate will engage with Park Management Unit (PMU) to participate in the necessary work activities to successfully plan and execute the ECOFAC 6 projects in accordance with policies and procedures.

Main Roles & Responsibilities:

Project Planning

  • Facilitate the development of regional strategy for future African Parks (CAR) interventions in and around CCA area and support the country program in the development and production of new concepts and proposals.
  • Review the budget, targets, key performance indicators and ensure that the planning is realistic (Measurable, Reportable & Verifiable), both in terms of budget and implementation.
  • Keep up to date detailed work plans and budget in coordination with the respective different departments involved the project
  • Assist project partners/subgrantees to develop their plans in line with the required project objectives and deliverables.
  • Support the project team by providing longer-term vision, strategic direction and appropriate planning aligned with the ECOFAC-6 objectives and African Parks business plan.

Project Implementation

  • Work with concerned employees and subgrantees to ensure effective implementation of the project.
  • Review the project plans annually to ensure that they are realistic, both in terms of budget and overall project plan.
  • Regularly review and track the project progress against milestones and take corrective action where required, raising issues with the concerned personnel as needed in a timely and professional manner.

Project Management

  • Promote and maintain effective partnerships with the partners and beneficiaries.
  • Guide and lead the project team to achieve specific goals, objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the project.
  • Ensure that work is appropriately delegated and staff members are empowered to carry out tasks independently where appropriate matching their skills and capacity.
  • Ensure efficient project management procedures are implemented to enable monitoring of projects and accurate reporting of progress.
  • Ensure strict adherence to European Union and African Parks ethics, policy and proactively encourage transparency and openness in all activities.
  • Ensure procurement and contracts are prepared and issued to donor and African Parks’ standards and procedures, in-country legal frameworks and partners’ requirements are managed effectively.
  • Manage financial resources of selected tasks and components while coordinating with the Head of Finance regarding budget control and financial procedures.
  • Support collection and accurate reporting of impact data related to the project as guided in collaboration with the M&E team.
  • Ascertain that donor, African Parks and Government reporting is with qualitative depth, in time and accurate.

Networking with Government and non-Government Organizations and representation

  • Seek to leverage collaboration, partnerships, and consortia applications to align and strengthen aid efforts, foster true multi-stakeholder approaches, and facilitate systemic change.
  • Liaise with the with the Policy and Institutional Relations Coordinator to build strong relationships with the government authorities and arrange field visits and regular progress review meetings including Steering committees’ meetings (National CAPEP, local CAPEP, Technical committee of monitoring (CTS)).
  • Learn good practices from other organizations (other countries program of African Parks, and other Conservation organizations) and reflect these in the project.
  • Represent African Parks in meetings and events related to ECOFAC-6, building and maintaining relationships and partnerships with relevant service providers, government, national and international development partners, local stakeholders and communities, private sector and funding partners representatives for effective implementation of projects.
  • Support the implementation of visibility and communication plan of ECOFAC-6 project.

Project Monitoring and Reporting

  • Pay regular field visits to intervention areas to observe progress, with a focus on ensuring ‘quality’ outputs.
  • Prepare project progress reports (Monthly and Quarterly) based on a structured M&E framework including a review on financial report and provide necessary feedback.
  • Ensure quality monitoring data collection from the field and timely reporting.

Staff Management

  • Support effective communications and joint working within the team and with other teams across the organization.
  • Ensure that staff receive on-the-job training by providing mentoring and coaching.

Other Ad-hoc Tasks

  • Be cognizant of the wider implications of the project, working effectively with other African Parks functions in-country and sometimes at regional level.

Key Relationships:

  • General Manager, CCA
  • Heads of Department, CCA or Director of Law Enforcement
  • Director of Research and Development
  • Director of Operations
  • Regional Human Resources Director
  • Human Resources Manager
  • Head of Finance
  • Logistics & Procurement Manager
  • Head of Sustainable Development
  • Fundraising, African Parks
  • Operations, African Parks
  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Institutional and private donors

Education and Experience:

  • Minimum eight (8) years of experience working in project management or coordination roles, with a preference of five years (5) years with a conservation or non-profit organization;
  • Excellent organizational, analytical, oral and written communications skills in English in French;
  • Experience in grant management, report and proposal writing with EU experience an advantage;
  • A post-graduate degree in biodiversity conservation or other related field of study is an advantage;
  • Communications experience is an advantage;
  • Strong capacity to manage time and competing priorities;
  • Strong initiative, perseverance, and resilience;
  • Willingness to live in a remote setting and with previous experience living in Africa;
  • Good team player with experience working with multicultural teams.

How to apply:

To apply, please email your CV and cover letter to centralafrica.hr@africanparks.org by Tuesday, 15th June 2021. Please mention the position name in the subject line of the email. In case you do not hear from us within two weeks after the closing date, this means that your application was not successful.

We thank you for your interest in working for African Parks.

For more information or questions, do not hesitate the Regional Human Resources Director, Mr. Kevin Keenoo