Job Vacancies at Nature Conservancy

The Kenya Freshwater Lead is a core member of an accelerating effort that advances freshwater biodiversity conservation, water resource management, and improved livelihoods across critical freshwater ecosystems of Kenya. They will work with government and non-governmental stakeholders to chart the course for improved freshwater conservation in Kenya, and help ensure the financial resources are available to make sure this conservation benefits people and nature for the long-term. The Kenya Freshwater Lead will report to the Kenya Program Director and will be based at the TNC office in Nairobi Kenya

Key responsibilities and scope for this position are:

• Take a leadership role in the growing Kenya freshwater program of work and lead the development and implementation of annual Kenya freshwater protection workplans and budgets.
• Coordinate multi-disciplinary staff to complete a freshwater ecosystem values assessment to support protection of Kenya’s freshwater biodiversity and critical ecosystem services..
• Work with communities, government, and civil society in priority freshwater ecosystem areas to engage productively, using the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, in freshwater ecosystem protection and water funds planning and action.
• Support the development of funding proposals for enhanced, expanded or new protections to freshwater ecosystems to meet the long-term needs of freshwater ecosystems and local communities.
• Evaluate and recommend appropriate policy mechanisms for improving the conservation status of priority freshwater ecosystems in Kenya.
• Support the Central Highlands Ecoregion Foodscape project to sustainably intenstify agricultural practices while protecting environmental flows in theEwaso Ng’iro River
• Support TNC’s efforts to provide sustainable alternatives for energy generation and irrigation in the Tana River Basin.
• Develop and manage technical contracts related to freshwater ecosystems (e.g. hydrology, species data, water quality, economics) with external partners.
• Build cooperation from outside partners including NGOs, governments, and private sector to accomplish program goals.
• The position will involve frequent domestic and occasional international travel

What You’ll Bring:

• BA/BS degree in natural resources management, conservation, business, law or another related field of study and 5 years of related work experience in conservation practice , policy , fundraising or other related experience.
• Experience in developing supportive and collaborative partnerships with other non-profits, community groups and/or government agencies.
• Program management experience, including setting objectives, managing and reporting on performance.
• Experience in developing and managing multiple projects and timelines.
• Should also have working knowledge of hydrology, freshwater ecology, and spatial analysis.
• Experience negotiating.
• Excellent communication skills and political savvy, including English written and oral delivery and critical analytical thinking.
• Knowledge of key actors and current trends, threats to freshwater biodiversity in Kenya, and practices related to management and protection at a national scale.
• Passion for building enduring capacity through partnerships

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The Africa IPLC Strategy Director will lead the development and implementation of best practices in community-led conservation. They will collaborate with both private and state entities to ensure whole systems management of critical terrestrial, freshwater, and marine protected areas. This position will collaborate closely with teams across TNC, including Africa regional teams, the Global IPLC team, and the Global Equitable Conservation team. They will grow TNC’s IPLC strategy in the region, including Angola, Gabon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia with a focus on freshwater, oceans, and terrestrial ecosystems, and climate. This position will report to the Africa Conservation Director. This position can be based in any country in Africa where TNC has an office

Roles and Responsibilities scope will include:

• Provide leadership to project teams to apply tools and systems such as free prior and informed consent processes, participatory rural and learning appraisals, and conservation action planning in designing community projects.
• Leads project teams to implement Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) good governance and natural resource management tools and best practices.
• Directs feasibility assessments, and support for developing, and enabling conditions to scale community-led nature enterprises opportunities.
• Supervise the Africa Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) program officer, Gender & Reproductive Health advisor, and the Equity & Rights advisor.
• Partners with the Development and External Affairs team, to raise public and private funds that help increase revenue streams for community engagement and enterprises.
• Ensure that IPLCs are benefitting from participating in the development and implementation of new models of funding such as the Project Finance for Permanence, Debt Swap, and Green Bond structures.
• Lead partnerships with local conservation organizations through the African Conservation Leadership Network (ACLN). They will be responsible for the recruitment of new cohort members and supporting the alumni to achieve their partnership objectives.
• Develop key partnerships with governmental agencies, community, private sector, funding agencies and NGOs to identify and resolve key challenges in community-led conservation and widely communicate solutions, innovative scientific methods, analysis, tools, and frameworks to address organizational and sector gaps in community-led conservation.

What You’ll Bring:

• BA/BS degree and 10 years’ experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience providing leadership and managing complex or multiple projects, including managing and supervision of multi-disciplinary teams; finances and coordinating the work of other professionals and partners
• Experience influencing, developing, and implementing conservation policy and plans at the state or country level.
• Fundraising experience, including identifying donor prospects and donor cultivation.
• Experience communicating with and presenting to diverse audiences, including but not limited to donors; board members; employees; community-based organizations, indigenous people, and the private sector.
• Experience building partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, including community or business leaders, government or legislative staff, program leadership and/or similar audiences
• Experience executing Community-led Conservation projects.
• Strong skills in critical thinking, research, and analysis with a proven ability to assess complex information to make strategic decisions.
• Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages .
• Possess strong interpersonal skills and political savviness. Must be a team player.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Multi-lingual skills (Kiswahili, French and/or Portuguese) and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated
• Written and verbal fluency in English and fluency in another language preferably French.
• Developing practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.
• Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives and experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Experience in gender equity and women-led enterprises.
• Familiarity with sustainable livelihoods and relevant stakeholders in Africa, including stakeholders, policies and market opportunities related to grasslands, coastal, and freshwater enterprises (e.g., fisheries enterprises, livestock enterprises, women-led enterprises, ecotourism, etc.).
• Ability to work well in a highly matrixed, decentralized, and collaborative organization.
• Negotiation experience and political savvy.

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The Grants Associate provides specialized services in public and/or private awards. They will support financial activities for the Africa business unit. They should be an expert in their area of specialization and conduct work in accordance with TNC policies and procedures, donor requirements and best practices in financial management. Specifically, this position provides a wide range of technical, administrative, and financial support to assigned staff for incoming public funds and outgoing sub-awards. This position will report to the Lead Grants Specialist Africa and will be based in TNC’s local offices in any of the countries in which TNC has local presence.

Specific activities

• To assist with the preparation and set-up of budgets for prospective award opportunities by compiling raw data inputs from programs and finance teams.
• Set up of Budgets and assignment of costs in the public awards module.
• Conducting research on recorded expenses and recording accounting adjustments.
• Assist in the production of financial reports and invoices.
• Drafting outgoing subaward agreements using standard templates.
• Will review internal and partner financial reports.
• Working closely with program managers to ensure technical deliverables are tied to financial reports.
• Ensures TNC policies and procedures, financial standards and legal requirements are met and managed for compliance.
• Assist with quality control review to ensure accuracy and full support in documentation for audit purposes.
• Support Lead Grants Specialist in keeping an accurate and up-to-date Grants/Proposals Filing system to ensure documents are easily accessible for the day-to-day work of the Grants team and for internal and external audit purposes.
• Ensure all approvals and documentations are presented for payments requests.
• Liaising with finance and programs to assist the Lead Grants Specialist to follow up on issues raised.
• Other tasks as assigned within the scope of the job description

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field and 3 years' related experience or equivalent combination.
• Experience with GAAP and fund accounting principles, practices, and regulations.
• Experience using automated accounting and financial reporting systems.
• Three years’ experience with reporting and managing public awards both USG federal and state, Multilateral funding, among others
• NGO experience is a plus
• Three years previous experience in the areas of grants development, donor proposal development, budget develop or financial report development