Project Manager Job At Conservation International

Project Manager

Conservation International (CI) has been protecting nature for the benefit of all for over 30 years. Through science, policy, and partnerships, CI is helping build a healthier, more prosperous and more productive planet.

Position Summary

The Project Manager will be the primary coordinator and focal person for implementation partners under the AFD (French Development Agency) funded “Pro-nature Enterprises for the People of Southern Africa” project. The goal of the six years project (2020 to 2025) is to restore critical habitats for biodiversity and livestock keeping communities in 4 sites; Mnisi tribal lands (Outside Kruger National Park, South Africa), Habu and Eretsha communal areas (Okavango Delta, Botswana) and Simalaha Conservancy (Zambia). Each of these project sites has an implementing partner organization. CI will channel grants and technical assistance to the partners to ensure timely, administratively compliant, technically rigorous and collaborative implementation of project interventions.

The Project Manager is expected to take leadership of all partner engagement, field coordination, quality assurance and general project management functions under the guidance of the Project Director. Additionally, the Project Manager will receive technical guidance and supervision from the Herding for Health Director. The Project Manager will also work closely with other CI subject matter specialists to ensure holistic integration of all project components as well as CI’s strategic direction.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

General Project management

• Coordination: Ensure effective coordination of all project components, ensuring component specialists, site implementers and other stakeholders are aligned to the project goals
• Planning and execution: Ensure all site implementers have up to date, coherent and rigorous delivery plans, while ensuring that the execution plan is on course
• Monitoring and evaluation – timely review of site implementers monitoring activities and data as prescribed in the site monitoring frameworks. Consolidate this data and information into coherent project level monitoring data/info as per the project monitoring framework
• Reporting and documentation – ensure site implementers deliver timely and holistic periodic reports (technical and financial), analyse and consolidate this into project level reports
• Project Governance – Coordinate the activities of the steering committee and ensure thorough follow up of minutes of the steering committee

Rangelands Restoration

• Under supervision from CI’s H4H Director, ensure the project is aligned with the H4H strategy as well as the regional rangelands strategy
• Support the adoption of the full depth and breadth of the Herding for Health model and undertake rigorous implementation, while working in close collaboration and alignment with the other H4H interventions in the same project sites
• Represent H4H more broadly in regional activities that may be relevant to project implementation and support in sites
• Contribute to strategic development of the H4H program in the region by channeling information and lessons from the project at hand

Enterprise Development and impact investments

• Support the enterprise development/investment specialist(s) in identifying and cultivating enterprise development and investment opportunities
• Guide the site implementers in identifying enterprise development opportunities
• Contribute to the overall CI Africa Division enterprise development strategy

Learning, documentation and dissemination

• Support the project learning and documentation specialists by providing up to date information and collaboration on dissemination products
• In partnership with the learning component lead, coordinate logistics and implementation of the regional learning network meetings
• Proactively support the adoption of CI’s conservation agreements model by external partners
• Any other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

People and resource management resource management

• This job does not directly manage staff but assists peers
• Accountable for an operating budget but tracks and monitors expenditures. Initiates check requests or similar routine transactions within established guidelines.
• Activities help manage public or private funds but not directly accountable. Familiar with the requirements of donor agreements and CI’s donor related policies and procedures.

Qualifications

• At least a university degree (from a recognized institution) in the field of rangeland ecology, environmental management, rural development, sustainable agriculture etc.
• At least 5 years project management experience in rangeland management, environmental management or sustainable development context in Southern Africa region
• Excellent project management experience including project planning, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, multi-stakeholder partnerships coordination, grants management etc.
• Technical expertise in the areas of rural development enterprise development and learning documentation will be a definite advantage.
• Strongly self-motivated with a high problem-solving attitude
• Excellent spoken and written English.

Additional Qualifications

• Postgraduate qualifications in a relevant field

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Work is performed in a typical office environment.
• Flexibility to work outside normal work hours to meet deadlines as needed.
• This is a position eligible to persons who have the right to work in Botswana or South Africa without CI sponsorship.
• The position is for a renewable 2 year renewable term.
• Be willing to undertake extensive field travel across the Southern Africa region, sometimes under basic conditions