Mozambique: Niassa REDD + Program Director

Sep 6, 2021 | Wildlife Conservation Society
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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US-based non-governmental organization founded in 1895 that protects wildlife and wilderness by understanding critical issues, creating science-based solutions and promoting conservation actions that benefit nature and the humanity. Program Overview WCS is leading the evaluation and development of a jurisdictional REDD+ project covering the Niassa Special Reserve of Northern Mozambique. Employing innovative interventions, including fire management, this landscape level project will seek to reduce the ongoing degradation across the over 4 million hectares of the Niassa Special Reserve resulting in significant emission reductions. WCS is seeking an experienced Prorgram Director to lead the development and implementation of this REDD+ program. WCS created a national program in Mozambique in 2012, with two main objectives:

  • Increase the protection of the Niassa Special Reserve (NSR), a vast landscape in the north of the country and improve the conservation status of its elephants through co-management of the Reserve; and
  • Strengthen the management of protected areas at the national level, contributing to improving policies and strengthening the government's capacity to implement legislation on crimes against wildlife through the strategic involvement of government agencies in Maputo. WCS Mozambique continues to work towards these objectives but has also commenced projects related to sustainable financing of conservation through the development of mechanisms for reconciling economic development with biodiversity conservation, including biodiversity offsets, the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and marine/coastal conservation.

WCS is seeking an experienced Program Director to lead the development of this Jurisdictional REDD+ program. Thus, this position will first be responsible for leading an evaluation of the potential for carbon finance to provide long term sustainable financing to NSR through the cost -effective production of carbon emissions reductions and removals. This will include evaluating and developing a potential project governance approach, evaluating various intervention activities against their net greenhouse gas emissions reductions potential, and determining the financing required for the implementation of such interventions.

Following this feasibility assessment, the REDD+ Program Director will be responsible leading the design and implementation of this large scale program. As the Niassa REDD+ Program Director, the position will be responsible for working with a suite of staff and consultants to contribute the studies and documentation required for the program to be validated against the Verified Carbon Standard. This role will work in close coordination with the Country Director, Niassa Reserve Project Manager Manager, the Stakeholder Engagement Liaison, East Africa Regional Carbon Expert, the Conservation Solutions Team, and a technical consultancy tasked with developing the technical inputs required for a VCS applicable project.

The Program Director will be responsible for leading the design of the program, leading the design of stakeholder engagement, developing the workplan and timeline, overall preparation of technical analysis, and development of a comprehensive estimate of project implementation costs in the short and long term. The position will be based in the Mozambique country programme office.

Position Responsibilities:

The following represent an overview of the responsibilities of the REDD+ Program Director, however, as the overall Director of the program, the exact responsibilities will need to be modified overtime to reflect the changing needs and circumstances throughout the life of the program.

Execution of Program Development

  • Lead the design of a suite of innovative project interventions, related to avoided deforestation, and degradation, including a specific focus on employing an innovative approach to fire management
  • Together with the Stakeholder Engagement liaison, lead the development of a framework/model for project governance, including working in collaboration with ANAC and the other concession holders
  • Direct the implementation of various aspects required for program development, including assessments of potential GHG removals, analysis of socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts, community engagement, stakeholder and government engagement.
  • Work closely with technical consultants and team members to design and implement a data collection and monitoring framework to be implemented alongside the pilot activities, and accurately quantify costs and assess scale-up feasibility
  • Identify additional technical input required for the implementation of the various project components
  • Participate in national and regional level coordination and networking meetings
  • Lead development of technical interim reports
  • Lead and coordinate the preparation of one or more project documents applicable to the VCS, in coordination with the Regional Carbon Advisor and technical consultancy
  • Participate in the writing of additional grant proposals, where needed
  • Represent WCS with partners, donors meetings, and scientific seminars and conferences
  • Maintain good discipline and represent WCS professionally well. Project Management
  • Responsible for day to day management of the program
  • Oversee and direct stakeholder engagement and project governance development
  • Ensure the effective launch of the program
  • Develop and monitor the implementation of program workplans
  • Manage program and field staff
  • Work with the regional team to develop TORs for technical pieces of work to be done by qualified consultants or additional staff, manage hiring, and supervision of consultants.
  • Oversee the implementation of the project budget and ensure compliance with all financial reporting requirements.
  • Engage and coordinate with other organizations and projects working on similar initiatives, where such engagement/coordination will contribute to the success of the offsets project.
  • Undertake other activities as needed to ensure the implementation success of the project. Training and Capacity Building
  • Assist in the creation of training tools that will support capacity building: organize training workshops in coordination with the Project Team and ensure adequate preparation of training events and prepare a report on the workshop results.
  • Assist in the organization of, and participate in the project’s evaluation missions and workshops and contribute to the report on the outcomes and lessons learned for submission to the donors and posting to the project website.
  • Develop content for the project and WCS websites, including preparation of case studies and lessons learned that can be shared with the partners, such as BBOP, and other community of practice.

Qualification Requirements

Application Process:

Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications, should apply by emailing an application letter and CV and the names and contact information of three references to africaapplications@wcs.org by the deadline of 30 September, 2021. Please include "Niassa REDD+ Program Director, Mozambique" in the subject line of your email.

In addition, please note that all candidates must also apply online via the WCS career portal at: http://www.wcs.org/about-us/careers