Resilient Watersheds Manager at Nature Conservancy

YOUR POSITION WITH TNC

The Resilient Watersheds Manager coordinates multi-stakeholder projects focused on implementing Nature based Solutions (NbS) for watershed health and climate resilience in Kenya. This will involve establishing implementation teams, raising funds, and creating governance arrangements for new Water Funds under development, starting with the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund, as part of TNC Africa’s Resilient Watersheds initiative. See Link for more information: https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/resilient-watersheds-nature-based-solutions/. Based at Eldoret municipality in Kenya and working closely with ELDOWAS-the Eldoret urban water utility on regular bases, this position reports to the Africa Water Funds Director and is part of the larger Africa Freshwater Protection Strategy and is aligned to the TNC Global Resilient Watersheds Strategy. No relocation or visa sponsorship or assistance is being offered with this position. This is an 3-year term limited position, dependent on the duration of funding from GEF, and extension of tenure will be subject to performance and availability of funds

Essential Functions

The Resilient Watersheds Manager will provide technical support to TNC work in Kenya specifically coordinating conservation work in designated source watersheds like the Cherangany hills supplying Eldoret and Iten municipalities, as well as other geographies as demand and funding grows. They will provide technical assistance for the development and establishment of the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund; creation of implementation plans for the water fund in collaboration with TNC staff, partners, other key stakeholders; and governance structures by negotiating funding and participation commitments with key partners and enhance outreach to high-profile representatives of key public and private sector organizations. The Resilient Watersheds Manager will provide leadership and support to local stakeholders and lead in preparation of workplans and budgets for work that needs to be implemented collaboratively. They will manage grant funds from the strategy’s major donors, including IFAD, the GEF and other multilateral agencies, and fundraising for new priorities, including identifying donor prospects, donor cultivation, and grant writing

Responsibilities And Scope

• Manage multi-disciplinary staff in planning project work, baseline surveys, monitoring plans development and reporting in collaboration with Africa and global teams.
• Seek out and gain needed cooperation from outside parties to accomplish program goals; broker partnerships and MoUs with target partners and lead in fundraising to ensure activities are done on time.
• Coordinate the steering committee of the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund and reach out to key stakeholders to support conservation work including Climate Adaptation and targeted corporate philanthropy.
• Take lead in development of annual workplans and budgeting for timely approval and execution.
• Supervise staff including motivating, leading, setting objectives and performance management, including conflict resolution where needed.
• Take part in development of funding proposals and follow up to provide needed support.
• Provide leadership to resource persons within the Africa region and global water funds team to ensure timely and successful implementation of the workplans.
• Oversee field project operations by developing systems and ensuring timely and accurate reporting.
• Coordinate donor pitching and learning trips to source water protection projects
• Ensures integrity of both data collection, management and analysis leading to quality and timely reporting on outcomes.
• Under limited supervision acts independently, resolves complex issues within Watershed and serve as a resource to others.
• Compiles and shares the data needed for public information channels and key partner organizations.
• Responsibilities may grow to also support the development of a Water Fund for the Mombasa water supply area. Travel may require up to 30% of time.

Minimum Qualifications

• BA/BS degree and 7 years’ experience in Water resource management, Agriculture or Business degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Fundraising experience, including identifying donor prospects and donor cultivation.
• Experience managing complex or multiple projects, including managing finances and coordinating the work of other professionals and partners.
• Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives and managing performance.
• Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and/or government agencies.
• Experience negotiating complex agreements and partnerships.
• Experience communicating with the public and media both in writing and verbally.
• Demonstrated ability to work with multiple team members from different organizations and delivering results on time.
• Experience developing donor reports and coordinating M&E activities involving multiple partners.
• Good working knowledge of reporting mandate for IFAD, the GEF, or other multilateral donors.

Desired Qualifications

• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated
• 7-10 years related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Good understanding of the following areas: voluntary leadership cultivation, event planning and workshop hosting
• Master level degree qualification is an added advantage
• Managing and prioritizing tasks from multiple sources and meeting deadlines.
• Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English, Swahili and other relevant languages.