CAR: Head of Sustainable Development

Dec 14, 2020 | African Parks
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African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation 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 manage 18 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 Conservation Area is one of the largest INGOs in the Eastern Part of the Central African Republic. The Chinko Conservation Area spans over 55 000 KM2 of intact wilderness and this wilderness along with the neighbouring communities are managed by African Parks – RCA, in collaboration with the local Government.

Job overview:

African Parks – RCA is looking for a strong candidate to join the team as the Head of Sustainable Development and to elaborate the community development strategy and ensure its full implementation.

Main Roles & Responsibilities:

  • Work closely with the Conservation and LUP Manager, and Grant Managers to ensure a harmonised strategy and work plan;
  • Ensure that the CAR Mission designs and delivers high quality, donor compliant and adequately resources projects, correctly designed for community needs;
  • Assure and Conduct participatory needs assessment, and explore opportunities for collaboration and partnership on the ground, by closely interacting with the communities;
  • Clearly communicate plans, negotiate collaboration, manage expectations, and resolve conflict on the ground and internally
  • Build healthy professional relationship with stakeholders, communities and staff;
  • Represent African Parks – RCA directly or indirectly with key stakeholders, including the government authorities, donors, UN agencies, humanitarian agencies and other partners;
  • Develop, disseminate and implement the Community Development aspect of the Long-Term Sustainable Development Strategy (LTSS) within African Parks – RCA; and
  • Manage, coordinate and coach members of the Sustainable Development team, while ensuring their professional development and capacity building.

Key relationships:

  • General Manager
  • Park Manager
  • Grant Managers
  • Conservation and LUP Manager

Education and Experience:

  • Minimum five (5) years of field experience in rural development projects in developing countries, preferably with EU and US Donors; of which at least three (3) years in working in remote areas, in direct contact with communities.
  • Working experience in Central Africa is mandatory.
  • At least a postgraduate degree in rural economics or development, agriculture/forestry/other related science or related field.
  • Strong experience in program development.
  • Substantial NGO project management experience, including responsibility for strategy design, staffing, administration, budgeting, contract management and donor relations.
  • Excellent written and spoken French and good knowledge of English.

What success looks like:

To be successful in this role, we expect you to be highly committed. You must be able to create strong relationships with stakeholders. You must be able to clearly articulate methods and planning, results and analysis of strategies and work plans. You must implement sustainable projects that have a long-lasting positive impact on the communities.

How to apply:

To apply, please email your CV and cover letter to centralafrica.hr@africanparks.org by Friday, 18th December 2020. 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.