Regional Marine Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at Wildlife Conservation Society

Purpose

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is seeking a dynamic, experienced and motivated Regional Marine Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to ensure regionally cohesive data collection and reporting systems, support national teams with data analysis where needed, write or co-write reports to communicate research and project results, and support development of grants nationally and regionally. The position holder will work with the Marine Director to ensure that WCS remains at the cutting edge of emerging issues and opportunities by identifying regionally cross-cutting areas for new investment, while technically supporting national marine teams as needed and building regional capacity for marine science.

Responsibilities

• Supporting national teams in summarizing and analyzing ecological and social data where needed and analyze regional data sets generated.
• Write reports summarizing findings of ecological and social surveys and contribute to development of scientific papers.
• Support grant writing of national and regional teams
• Support teams in project management as needed and ensuring high quality deliverables
• Understand data collection approaches used in each WCS WIO nation and collaboratively develop cross cutting data collection approaches where these do not exist.
• Develop data collection frameworks using electronic tools (e.g. KOBO Toolbox)
• Conduct site visits where needed to assess national needs and support teams.
• Train teams on data collection and data management techniques where needed (online and in the field).
• Participate or lead field data collection expeditions
• Maintain partnerships with other NGOs and research institutions in the region.
• Attend and represent WCS at regional meetings.
• Any other task requested by supervisor or region.

Qualification Requirements

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in marine science
• Highly competent in data analysis and graphing in R, Python, or other programming languages
• Experience in conducting ecological surveys focused on coral reef ecosystems
• Experience developing marine monitoring protocols
• Experience managing research programs or grant management experience
• Ability to review, interpret, and produce scientific documents across diverse marine disciplines. Evidence of scientific scholarship (e.g. peer reviewed publications).
• Grant writing experience
• Experience in training others or teaching
• Willingness to work at remote field sites
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team and independently
• Excellent communication and organization skills
• Ability to work under tight timelines
• Innovation and creativity in addressing challenges ranging from technical to finance-related

Desired Qualifications

• Knowledge of the WIO including marine conservation challenges and needs
• GIS skills
• Field experience working with seagrass and mangrove ecosystems
• Experience working with small scale fishing communities
• Experience working with national government agencies
• Speaking ability in Kiswahili or French or Malagasy