Herding for Health Technical Manager at Conservation International

• The Herding for Health (H4H) Technical Manager provides technical leadership, oversight, and support through providing advice and actively testing ideas on site-based rangelands projects within Conservation International’s Africa Field Division, with a specific focus on Herding for Health (H4H) implementation in dryland ecosystems. The technical manager will ensure rangeland projects are adhering to the best regenerative agriculture and rangeland management practices and will directly coordinate with site-based technical staff to provide guidance and support as needed, for example in grazing area management and community engagement. They will ensure a certain level of standardization across the H4H sites and will play a key role in updating technical learning materials based on research and experience from demonstration sites. They will also coordinate closely with training partners to ensure implementers receive the necessary skills and training to implement H4H and other rangeland restoration activities.
• In addition to providing site-specific technical input, the H4H Technical Manager will form part of the core Rangelands Team, and will provide input to strategic planning, and fundraising proposals where appropriate.
• The H4H Technical Manager will also be responsible for coordinating across other technical divisions within Conservation International, for example, with the restoration, technology, Conservation Stewardship, and GIS leads. In close collaboration with the Conservation Stewardship Program, the H4H Technical Manager will play a key role in helping site-based teams with community engagement, design, and implementation of Stewardship Agreements.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide rangelands technical input, both from an ecological and regenerative agricultural perspective across all Herding for Health sites:

• Manage site-based technical leads to ensure projects are adhering to best practices with regards to regenerative agriculture, especially regenerative livestock management and rangelands management, with a specific emphasis on dryland ecosystems.
• Guide and mentor implementation teams.
• Share up-to-date rangeland management best practices with all implementation teams.
• Identify implementation risks early, and address as appropriate to ensure targets are met.
• Support research and knowledge generation interventions and testing of innovations in field sites.
• Provide H4H technical inputs to CI rangelands conservation policy papers and communication materials as well as influencing processes when needed.

Play a leading role in the development of rangeland management training materials:

• Provide technical input to training manuals, fact sheets, toolkits, online courses and other learning-related materials.
• Work closely with training partners (e.g. Southern Africa Wildlife College, Herding Academy, Afrivet) to ensure training is relevant and incorporates H4H-specific material.
• Where needed, conduct H4H training to identified groups and stakeholders in support of implementation of CI and partner projects.

Inspire a positive, inclusive, curious team culture:

• Build camaraderie and team spirit among implementation teams.
• Create a sense of team unity across all implementation sites.
• Create opportunities for learning across sites.

Other duties as assigned by the supervisor:

• Work closely with all members of the Africa Rangeland Program (ARP) Team.
• Support communication team with information and media presence of the ARP portfolio.
• Assist with logistical support as and when needed.
• Coordinate virtual and in person workshops, meetings and other special events for both internal and external participants.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Up to 50% travel within southern and east Africa.
• Expected to start immediately.
• Must be legally able to work in South Africa.
• This position follows a hybrid work structure, working some days from the office and some remotely. Guidance will be shared during the interview process.
• This is a fixed-term assignment.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree with 4 to 6 years of relevant work experience.

Preferred

• Master’s degree or PhD in rangelands management, rangelands ecology, agriculture, rangelands economics, or other relevant field.
• Experience in working on similar or higher technical positions in a busy, extensive livestock system, preferably in drylands and one which has a wildlife component on it.
• Deep understanding of the technical elements of H4H or similar regenerative farming techniques and its potential for improving livelihoods and incomes of traditional pastoralist communities and other types of livestock owners.  
• Strong community engagement skills. Knowledge of Stewardship Agreement model or other incentive-based models in rangelands context will be an added advantage.
• Strong communication and presentation skills including the ability to effectively convey complex details or technical information.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Basic administration and coordination skills are essential.
• Highly familiar with etiquette, protocol, and employing cultural awareness and sensitivity. 
• Proven team player.
• Self-driven with strong leadership and performance management.
• Highly organized and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to speak one or more local languages, French, or Portuguese is an added advantage.