Regional Plastics Manager- ESARO at International Union for Conservation of Nature

• The Regional Plastics Manager will manage IUCN Coastal and Ocean Resilience programme activities in the region that advance sector engagement with role players in the plastics and related sectors, including actors in government, industry, business and civil society and oversees the regional and national implementation of solutions and actions to address plastic pollution upstream, midstream and downstream across a range of countries.
• This position reports directly to the Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience programme. He/she will serve as a member of the Regional COR Team that helps set strategic directions and define priorities for IUCN’s broader engagement on Marine and Coastal issues at the regional level and, accordingly, works with the other members of the team in strategic planning; monitoring and evaluation; and learning, innovation, and knowledge generation at the overall Programme level.

JOB DESCRIPTION
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Implementation and portfolio management;

• Lead responsibility in implementation of the “IslandPlas: Advancing Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution in African Islands” project across a range of Island areas in Eastern and Western Africa, in close collaboration with regional IUCN teams in the two regions;
• Coordinate alignment of IUCN’s regional plastics work with other global and regional initiatives, including EPPIC, UNEP GPML, Nairobi Convention, BRS Conventions and with regional intergovernmental, private sector and civil society mechanisms and processes;
• Spearhead the day-to-day coordination of project implementation and activities delivery across countries to ensure the highest quality of outputs and outcomes in line with project workplans and budgets;
• Participate in the development of relevant programme KPIs and ensure that adequate measures are in place for their monitoring and reporting;
• Support the regional COR team on technical reporting and on the development of a ‘Plastic Best Practices’ annual report.

Strategic and Technical leadership;

• Provide leadership, strategic guidance and direction in strengthening the plastics sector constituency across the Eastern and Southern Africa region in support of a regenerative and sustainable Blue Economy, including liaising with external partners and organizations in the plastics and interconnected space;
• Advise on emerging opportunities in the plastics sector that demonstrate potential at national and local levels to change the investment and action landscape in the WIO to address plastic pollution;
• In collaboration with the IUCN Ocean team, identify and implement strategic initiatives to support the integration of best practices and learnings to global and regional platforms in support of agenda-setting and action to empower country-readiness to implement the global Plastics Treaty;
• Act as a driving force for innovation to position IUCN as a leading organization in the region in addressing plastics pollution through a holistic, lifecycle approach in alignment with global goals and targets such as SDG 14, 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and the Global Biodiversity Framework;
• Ensure that IUCN’s work in the region is of high technical quality, based on good science and drawing upon state-of-the-art thinking and knowledge;
• Unlock synergies and collaboration with other regional and national ocean and terrestrial areas of work to support the innovative implementation of source-to-sea approaches in addressing plastics pollution.

External engagement and communication:

• In consultation with the Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience ensure that IUCN is adequately represented in relevant international, regional and country fora and facilitate discussions in plastics to position IUCN as a reference in the Eastern and Southern Africa region;
• Lead responsibility in identification and establishing and sustaining relationships, synergies and partnerships with relevant institutions and platforms in the region and internationally;
• Provide evidence-based support and facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues on emerging issues and policy debates to address plastic pollution in the African continent, including through participation in regional fora and processes such as the INC process towards a global Plastics Treaty, AMCEN, regional working groups on marine plastics, Nairobi and Abidjan Conventions, among others;
• Lead coherent and consistent communication of lessons learnt to key decision-makers and other stakeholders within the region and globally as appropriate, including via the web, print and media;
• In collaboration with Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience identify and manage potential risks associated with IUCN’s public positions in the region and design strategies to mitigate the identified risks;
• Act as a focal point for facilitating and supporting the involvement of IUCN Commissions, Members and other members of the Secretariat in the development and implementation of integrated programmatic activities to address plastic pollution.

Programme Development and Resource Mobilization:

• As appropriate contribute in fundraising activities, including through development of concepts and projects documents;
• Contribute to establishing, maintaining and nurturing good relationships with donors, funding agencies and other technical partners so as to ensure the financial viability of the plastics area of work in the COR programme;
• Spearhead the development of a pipeline of bankable projects addressing plastic pollution in the coastal and marine conservation realm, including on actions across the plastics value chain that contribute towards a regenerative blue economy for coastal communities;
• Undertake research and synthesize briefs on the growing body of work in plastic pollution.

Monitoring and Evaluation;

• Contribute to the development of the COR Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Framework by providing leadership on identification and mitigation of key risks and barriers to effectively addressing plastic pollution in the Western Indian Ocean region;
• Responsible for the coordination of programme monitoring and evaluation in the plastics area of work and related projects;
• In collaboration with the Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience, ensure IUCN’s work is accountable to donors and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes;
• Provide leadership to use data for programme decision-making, for the implementation of management actions based on the findings of monitoring, and to ensure that feedback from stakeholders inform programme development;
• Contribute to progress tracking and programme reporting processes and requirements.

Other responsibilities:

• Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

REQUIREMENTS
Position requirements:

Education;

• An advanced university degree preferably in relevant disciplines, such as, Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Management, Sustainability Studies, Policy and Environmental law, or related fields;
• Professional certification in circular economy, waste management, environmental design, sustainable material management or in other relevant areas will be an added advantage.
• Computer literacy in relation to office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint) use of internet and online communication tools;

Work Experience;

• We are looking for an outstanding, hands-on, highly motivated, autonomous, innovative, solution oriented, results driven and resourceful individual with at least 8 to 10 years of proven experience;
• Sound expertise in programme/project development, research, implementation, and/or management of environmental projects or related fields;
• Strong expertise and experience in marine plastics-related projects/programs, which include recycling, and plastic pollution prevention; working on relevant regulations and policies related to waste management; Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks for reducing plastic pollution; implementation of solutions to address single-use, unnecessary and other plastics of concern.
• Good understanding of plastic life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies; waste characterization techniques; and waste management infrastructure;
• Experience in producing high-quality documents (technical task-based Terms of References, guidance notes, editing technical documents, manuals, etc.);
• Experience in working with normative bodies, government, non-government actors, private sector, municipalities, academia, and local communities and community-led initiatives;
• Experience in managing stakeholder relations, ideally in an international organization or related setting;
• Ability to design and roll-out innovative solutions to address marine plastic pollution at a city or local level.
• Regional experience in the African continent or the Western Indian Ocean region.
• Prior experience developing, supporting, or managing multi-donor-supported projects.
• Familiarity with IUCN’s prior work and tools and guidelines on plastic pollution;
• Network development and alliance building towards building strategic relationships, with demonstrated ability to build consensus in cross-cultural situations;
• Ability to interact effectively with and directly support or identify experts required to support diverse aspects in the plastics area of work;
• Experience with result-based portfolio and project cycle management, monitoring and evaluation methodologies and principles and facilitation skills;
• Strong interpersonal, management and supervisory skills and experience, with a minimum of 2 years’ in managing teams;
• Demonstrates strong leadership and people-management experience including supervision of staff, consultants and coordination and effective management of virtual team settings;
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure managing competing demands and complex situations and deliver satisfactory and timely results;
• Must be a strong team player with proven communication and diplomacy skills and ability to work effectively with multicultural and multidisciplinary teams displaying sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Must be a proactive individual who is able to energize and motivate teams;
• Committed to continuous learning and proactive and mature attitude towards self-development;

Language requirement;

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English is essential, with ability to communicate in French and/or Portuguese is an added advantage;

Core Competencies;

• Transparency: Able to build trust and contribute to informed and responsible decision making by carrying out the work of IUCN in a transparent manner; provides clear guidance to ensure that objectives and desired measurable results are understood by members of the team.
• Inclusiveness: Understands and accepts cultural diversity, and provide a tolerant, positive, and supportive working environment that fosters respect for diversity, demonstrates ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
• Professionalism: Promote the organization’s interests, objectives, and values in a diligent and professional manner.
• Accountability: Takes responsibility of individual and collective actions, promotes the IUCN One Programme approach.

Functional competencies;

• Adheres to IUCN core values of Transparency, Inclusiveness, Professionalism and Accountability;
• Strong interpersonal, management and supervisory skills and experience, with a minimum of 2 years’ in managing teams;
• Ability to manage complex situations and lead the establishment of blue finance and innovation programme portfolios and network and alliance building;
• Be willing to undertake frequent travel and interact with different stakeholders from diverse cultures