Jobs at African Wildlife Foundation

The AWF Kenya Country Director will be responsible for providing overall leadership, strategic focus, management and accountability for AWF’s programs in Kenya. This position reports to the Vice President Conservation Strategy, Knowledge Management and Impact but will be expected to maintain strong lines of communication with several other senior management positions, particularly on program (i.e. species), policy, strategy, fundraising, M&E/impact, and strategic communications. The Country Director will help to design new programs and grow AWF’s conservation and development project portfolio in Kenya.

The Kenya Country Director is expected to be a highly visible individual in the country’s conservation sector maintaining relationships with decision makers in government, donor agencies and sectors shaping land and resource use. The Country Director must also possess the capacity to manage programs with social, political, cultural and economic complexities. He/she is expected to be results oriented and able to provide leadership to a team of highly qualified professionals to achieve results and meet program targets and goals. He/she will be expected to exercise a high degree of decision making and sound judgment. He/she will be expected to host international delegations – donors, policy makers, etc. – to learn about AWF’s work and witness the impact we are achieving.

Essential Duties

General Management, Leadership, Government Support and Policy

• Participate in the recruitment of relevant country program staff in Nairobi, Tsavo and any new landscapes in Kenya.

• Increase number of influential Africans who speak on behalf of wildlife conservation
• Establish a high level of credibility and manage strong working relationship with both internal and external stakeholders

• Enhance effectiveness and prominence of African conservation leaders
• Increase engagement of women and youth in conservation
• Drive the adoption of innovative development policies and investment plans that preserve and restore wildlife and wildlands
• Support government leaders with policy analysis, development and implementation at national and international levels including support for key international treaties including Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
• Promote AWF as the institution that assists the Kenyan government and other partners in creating solutions that deliver on conservation and development ambitions
• Ensure a collaborative approach to position AWF as a thought leader and draw on capacities within and external to AWF to achieve our country strategy
• Develop excellent working relationships with major stakeholder groups, national governments, protected area authorities, local government, community and private sector, in the region.

• Identify, engage and recruit potential candidates for the AWF Board of Trustees
   

Program Development & Growth

• Lead the development of the Kenya Country Strategy in collaboration with key stakeholders, AWF HQ and landscape staff, Strategy teams and other AWF departments.
• Support the expansion of AWF’s conservation and development project portfolio in Kenya.
• Engage donors, providing donors with updates on AWF programme priorities, insights from implementation, and facilitate connection to host country processes and people to raise profile of how wildlife and wild lands fit into donor programming
• Inform the International Policy & Government Relations team of developments in country related to donor priority areas and collaborate to engage donors and facilitate alignment between donor and Kenya government priorities; and
• Collaborate with fundraising, communications and technical teams to prepare materials for in-country donor engagement help design, develop and build new programs in Kenya that meet AWF’s objectives and mission.
• Participate in and support the development and design of funding proposals for submission to key donors for support of the program.
• Cultivate and steward donors – prospective and existing - in key fundraising markets.
• Keep abreast of relevant programs and opportunities in Kenya for AWF involvement, including funding opportunities, and link as appropriate relevant staff to opportunities such as Program Design and Philanthropy.
• Represent AWF at national and County government levels and with other donors to ensure effective collaboration and maintenance of AWF’s reputation and role as a conservation leader in Kenya.
   

Program Oversight and Implementation

• Provide technical/functional support to the project managers and their teams for the development, management and successful implementation of programs in Kenya.
• Ensure program activities are in line with Government objectives and are compliant with national laws and regulations.

• Support project managers to ensure full compliance with any donor agreements and AWF policies and procedures.
• Establish a high level of credibility and manage strong working relationship with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Promote teamwork, professionalism, and integrity.
• Provide leadership in tracking and reporting of program performance against prescribed criteria to AWF and partners in a timely manner.
• Work with AWF’s Finance Department to develop and track working annual budgets, ensure efficient use of resources and eliminate fraud.
• Support an operational data collection, management, reporting and learning framework (M & E).
   

Public Relations, Corporate Communications and Marketing

• Be the focal point for all AWF communications within Kenya.
• Work closely with the AWF global communications teams to ensure consistent and coordinated messaging and branding within Kenya
• Collaborate with global communications team in promoting AWF programmes and highlighting both successes and challenges within country and globally.
• Track and provide timely updates to global communications teams regarding news, issues and events of importance to AWF’s reputation as Africa’s conservation leader.
• Ensure strong internal communications for AWF staff within the country.
• Ensure a collaborative approach to position AWF as a thought leader and draw on capacities within and external to AWF to achieve our country strategy
   

Supervision

• Functionally (matrix) supervise the Tsavo/ Mkomazi Landscape Manager
• Develop and motivate team members to contribute to their full ability to AWF’s mission, vision, and strategic plan
• Promote teamwork, professionalism, and integrity.
• Ensure that AWF values and culture are imbedded within and upheld by the Kenya Landscape team; ensure roles & responsibilities are clearly defined and performance is managed with the required focus and discipline.
   

Others

• Represent AWF globally at key fundraising meetings, events, international meetings, policy discussions, etc.
• Undertake any other relevant duties as may be requested

Requirement

• Post graduate qualification (MSc or PhD) in natural sciences, social sciences, economics, etc.
• Minimum 12+ years of proven leadership, managerial and program experience in conservation, development and/or business.
• Experience in leading implementation of large and complex projects with a solid understanding of conservation in Kenya and how to deliver effective sustainable conservation programs that benefit wildlife and communities
• Results focused orientation with proven track record of delivery
• Ability to manage and motivate a highly qualified team of professionals in different fields
• Solid understanding of financial management and budgeting
• Proficiency in English and Kiswahili (spoken and written)
• Experience leading and managing large complex projects budgets, delivering and reporting results, and ensuring compliance with donor requirements
• Outstanding interpersonal skills including the ability to build coalitions, negotiate, and manage conflict situations
• Outstanding communication skills with ability to clarify vision and strategy
• Experience working on policy initiative with different levels of government (especially senior levels) and partners in Kenya
• Genuine respect for the skills and perspectives of communities, partner organizations and the private sector

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Description

The Senior Manager, Youth Leadership Program, will manage and oversee AWF's newly established Youth Leadership Program. Reporting to the Vice President- External Relations, the Senior Manager, Youth Leadership Program, will ensure that the Youth leadership program is designed and implemented most appropriately to the African context and meets AWF vision and strategy.

The senior program manager will work with youth networks to create a movement of young people for nature, who seek a development pathway in Africa that is sustainable, embracing conservation as fundamental and integral to Africa's growth. In this respect, the role will facilitate a movement for nature of young people across Africa, beginning with AWF’s priority countries.

The senior program manager- will collaborate with like-minded partners to build the current and next generation of capable, principled, and dependable African leaders who champion and drive the narrative of conservation and sustainable development in their respective spheres of influence. The senior program manager will work with young African leaders towards influencing government policies and organizations consistent with sustainable development and a conservation narrative.

The senior program manager will seek to integrate and embed a youthful approach to AWF and its program delivery. The role will help ensure young people are engaged and involved in all vitalprocesses within AWF. The role will , support AWFs communications and marketing strategies, providing opportunities for powerful stories of change and voices of exemplary young people on key media platforms. The role will work closely with the policy team in facilitating spaces for young people to influence policies in ways that ensure nature thrives for future generations.

A vital function of the role will be establishing monitoring frameworks to track progress and evaluate results of program activities. To that end, the role will work closely with AWF monitoring and evaluation specialists towards quality assurance of AWF's Youth portfolio.

The senior program manager will leverage existing relationships and create new and strategic partnerships to drive program goals. The incumbent will bring their expertise and experience to shaping of the existing youth leadership strategy and will contribute to the development of AWF leadership strategy. The role will be ultimately responsible for the development and implementation of a strong and effective youth leadership program portfolio in AWF.

Critical to this role's success will be the ability to work across various departments within the organization, valuing tangible and intangible relationships between people to create value for the whole organization. This is an exciting and dynamic role for the right individual. Leadership, patience, the ability to listen, and a sense of humor will be critical success factors. The Senior Manager will interact with individuals at all levels of the organization, in a unique and high-profile role firmly placed at the core of AWF's vision and culture.

Key responsibilities

Program Development

• Develop a 5-year youth Strategy and implementation plan aligned to AWF strategic plan.
• Develop, implement and oversee a portfolio of Youth leadership Program activities and ensure that services are delivered on time, on budget, and in compliance with donor regulations
• Ensure that the Youth Leadership program is implemented in ways responsive to communities, partners, and AWF's principles, values, and strategic plan and compliant with AWF's procedures
• Work with the staff to develop work-plans and follow up with team members regularly to ensure that activities are on track
• Monitor program progress against both programmatic and budgetary targets, making adjustments to program design as necessary
• Work with the policy units (Africa, China, Europe, US) to develop the next generation of leaders and to align and identify appropriate platforms to position the voice of African youth
• Work with the communications and marketing team to create a movement of young people for nature on the continent
• Work with the conservation strategy team to integrate a youth-led approach within program delivery and to identify appropriate future partners for implementation of the Youth Program
• Collaborate with the human resource department to ensure the Youth agenda is embedded within AWF policies and an enabling environment is in place to support young people

Partnership and Capacity

• Establish creative and innovative partnerships to deliver the youth leadership program
• Leveraging existing partner platforms for sharing, learning, and promotion of initiatives
• Support partnership modality by ensuring partner organizations are active members/participants in all operations cycle
• Conduct periodic review of annual plans to identify bottlenecks and the ways those bottlenecks could be addressed
• Support the development of capacity building plans for Youth program partners
• Provide regular coaching on technical and program management skills to field staff and other patters as needed
• Provide mentoring and role modelling for staff and partners on youth issues

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Actively monitor Youth leadership program activities, ensuring quality of AWF program
• In collaboration with the Knowledge management department, develop appropriate and additional institutional metrics and indicators as necessary to track Youth leadership Program progress
• Ensure appropriate, timely, and accurate data collection against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting
• Support design and organization required for assessments, baselines, and evaluations, particularly in regards to communicating needs to the Youth Leadership Programs partners team, and participate where possible
• Make a relevant business intelligence analysis and adopt best practice and examples of well-executed projects, especially in the field of sustainability, which managed to mobilize massive youth engagement and capacity building and analyses success factors and opportunities

Fundraising. Marketing and Communications

• Collaborate with the communications and marketing teams in generating ideas for products and initiatives that tell and communicate the powerful stories of young people
• In collaboration with Policy Units, Program Design, Field Programs, Corporate Communications, develop proposals to fund the youth leadership program initiative
• Identify partnerships that can support AWF Youth Leadership Program

Requirements

• Advanced degree in (or bachelor's degree and equivalent experience) in social sciences, international development, or other relevant fields;
• At least 8 + years of experience with Youth or Youth-Leadership centered programs.
• A good strong experience with leadership programs
• A strong understanding of the African context
• Strong organizing, facilitation, and networking capacities
• Strong ability for public speaking,representation and engagement
• Strong ability for networking, mobilizing and leading groups
• Ability to analyze information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports
• A team player who can work collaboratively and with people of diverse backgrounds
• Excellent writing, editing, and analytical skills. Written and spoken fluency in English required. French a plus
• Cultural sensitivity with strong interpersonal skills
• Understanding of basic financial principles, budgeting, and cost analysis;
• Strong leadership capacity including management of team resources (both financial and human), providing guidance and mentorship to junior staff and ensuring team’s delivery of goals
• Patience, listening skills, diplomacy, and a sense of humor
• Willingness to travel, sometimes to remote locations within Africa and
• Demonstrated commitment to conservation of wildlife and wild lands