DRC: Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptation & Learning, Okapi Wildlife Reserve

Apr 19, 2021 | Wildlife Conservation Society
View Original

The Wildlife Conservation Society is an international NGO headquartered at Bronx Zoo in New York City working to save wildlife and wild lands and to meet global challenges in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the world’s oceans. The Africa Program is the largest of WCS’s field programs, with approximately 1,100 staff in 12 country programs focused across four major regions (Central Africa, Sudano-Sahel, East and Southern Africa, and Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean).

Our MISSION is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education and inspiring people to value nature. Our VISION is a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. Our VALUES are Respect, Accountability and Transparency, Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Collaboration, Integrity.

About OWR

Created in 1992, the OWR, at just under 14,000km2, is the single largest protected tract of intact lowland tropical forest remaining in the Africa. OWR is situated in the larger Ituri landscape, comprising more than 40,000km2 of contiguous forests.  The Ituri forests are home to the a rich diversity of peoples and the global significance of ecosystem services and biodiversity of the area and the OWR in particular is widely recognised. The OWR was inscribed on the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1996, and the OWR is also listed as a Key Biodiversity Area. 

Under the auspices of a ten-year management agreement between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) that delegates the management of the reserve to WCS, the OWR management will contribute to the long-term goal of bringing peace and well-being to the people indigenous to the forests of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve while ensuring that the forests are intact, healthy and full of life, and the rivers are clean and flowing. 

The program does this in exceptionally challenging circumstances: the Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a large area of lowland, tropical rainforest in an area of the world renowned for its insecurity, and weak governance and institutions.  The program will achieve its goal and outcomes through four pillars of activity: 1) Improved security and reduced criminality through developed capacity; 2) Improved management effectiveness through developed capacity and operationalisation of the management agreement; 3) Improved well-being of rights-holding people – through a multi-pronged approach including: well managed access to and use of natural resources, strengthened institutions and institutional capacity, efficient and effective partnerships, economic development that functions within an environmentally and socially sound framework; and 4) Sustainable financing of the management, operation and development of the reserve achieved through a suite of innovative and traditional financing mechanisms and tools.

Purpose:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is seeking a rigorous, dynamic Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptation and Learning (MEAL) for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (OWR) in DRC who will be responsible for monitoring, evaluation, adaptation and learning, and ensuring high quality and timely support to developing proposals, reporting, and strategic and learning  processes.  S/he will work across the different teams and departments in the OWR to carry out data collection, collate all relevant data, photographs, videos and stories from the OWR teams, and ensure that the organisation’s database is up to date, and, in collaboration with the team members, carry out analyses on the data, provide feedback for adaptation of programs in response to, and guide the learning that results from the program data and analyses.  S/he will build the MEAL unit of the reserve – a unit that will be central to the reserve’s management and operation. S/he reports directly to the OWR Head of Programs and s/he will provide regular updates to the OWR Management Unit – that is chaired by the Reserve’s Director and that is the executive body in charge of all day-to-day management activities and personnel in the OWR.

The Head of MEAL is based full-time at the OWR headquarters in Epulu, Ituri Province – with occasional travel into the field within and surrounding the reserve.

The responsibilities for the position include:

• Building and supervising OWR’s MEAL unit. The MEAL unit supports all departments and directly informs OWR management.
• Working with OWR’s Head of Programs, managing implementing of the OWR’s results framework
• With the OWR’s Head of Programs and the Heads of each of the Departments, contributing to the process of grant writing and proposal preparation, including ensuring that the M&E frameworks that are written into grant applications and proposals fully align with the OWR’s results framework
• Working with Heads of Departments, catalyse studies and collection of required data for the OWR results framework to adapt programs and activities, inform decision making and planning on several key dimensions, including:
• Quantifying the changes in the well-being of rights-holding people living within the reserve (ensuring that all data are disaggregated as appropriate)
• Measuring the impacts related to private sector engagement, and agricultural production and transformation
• Measuring environmental impacts on key habitats, ecosystem services and conservation targets
• Building a network of partners and collaborators – including from universities both within the DRC (e.g., the University of Kisangani and Bunia) and international institutions to carry out surveys, and data collection and analyses
• Promoting theory-of-change, design thinking and/or results-based management among all departments of OWR
• Promoting learning across the organisation from the analysis and interpretation of data and results
• Developing data collection tools (including, for example, the use of KoBoToolbox) with department heads to ensure accurate collection of data
• Using and adapting appropriate monitoring and evaluation tools – KAP, IMET, Capacity Scorecards, Financial Sustainability Scorecards, etc.
• Working with other members of the OWR team to ensure that data required for donor reporting (including donor specific results frameworks) are collected, collated, analysed and prepared for reports in a timely fashion.
• Assisting with the process of writing reports and (in collaboration with the Communications team) preparing notes and outputs for different audiences (both in English and in French)

Qualification Requirements

Candidates will need to demonstrate clearly that they have the necessary experience and skills to i) work with other team members to collect and collate data, ii) carry out qualitative and quantitative data collection and analyses, iv) build and maintain databases, v) contribute to the process of writing reports, vi) providing rigorous analysis to feed into strategic decision making processes and vii) promote learning from the monitoring and evaluation processes.  This requires:

• An analytical mind that grasps complex issues facing the diversity of people living with and surrounding the reserve
• A post-graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in an appropriate subject.
• An intellectual interest in the development – environment nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Five- to ten years of relevant experience, with experience with non-profict organisation(s) and on donor-funded project(s) in developing country(ries) a plus; knowledge of conflict affected areas an additional plus.
• An interest to conduct rigorous analysis that will inform strategic decision making
• Strong qualitative and quantitative skills, proven IT skills including database management and knowledge of statistical software (e.g., R or Stata), and use of data collection tools such as KoBoToolbox (or equivalent). Knowledge of GIS is an added advantage.
• Written and oral fluency in French, excellent writing skills in English are required
• Ability to work with a diverse, interdisciplinary team of people
• Demonstrated openness and sensitivity to the socio-cultural environment of OWR
• Ability to live and operate in remote areas under challenging living conditions
• Dynamic, energetic, creative and ambitious

Application process

If you are interested in applying for the position and if you meet the above qualifications, skills and experience, please apply by emailing your detailed application/cover letter and CV together with the names and contact information of three references to: africaapplications@wcs.org.  When submitting your CV and cover letter please send as separate attachments in your email and title as follows:  <LastName_CV> and <LastName_coverletter> . Please include “Head of OWR Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptation & Learning” in the subject line of your email. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews. If you have any queries related to this position please contact: africaapplications@wcs.org

Application Deadline: Midnight, 23 April 2021