Senior Programme Officer, Conservation Areas and Species Diversity

THIS IS A LOCAL POSITION OPEN ONLY TO KENYAN NATIONALS or PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF KENYA.

The Senior Programme Officer (SPO) reports directly to the Technical Coordinator, Conservation Areas and Species Diversity, based in Nairobi and works closely with the broader Conservation Areas and Species Programme team in the region as well as relevant members of IUCN and its expert Commissions. 

The main duties of the Senior Programme Officer include the day-to-day management and implementation of the Conservation Areas and Species Diversity (CASD) portfolio of projects particularly focused on Communities as the First Line of Defence against Illegal Wildlife Trade (FLoD) in Kenya. This work is financially supported by the US Department of Interior (US DOI) and the UK Aid Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund (IWTCF). The Senior Programme Officer will also support the Technical Coordinator with the further development of the growing FLoD programme of work in Kenya, and beyond, through supporting resource mobilisation and liaison with key institutions in the region.

Followed by a short induction and training period, the Senior Programme Officer is expected to work as a key member of the IUCN ESARO FLoD team. She/he will lead on the technical and logistical preparations for research activities, participate in action research activities at site level, help collect, compile and analyse data, and assist with the development of the site-specific case studies, tools and methodologies. The Senior Programme Officer will organise and participate in consultative workshops, and other relevant meetings, assist with management of consultancy contracts and partnership agreements, and ensure timely and high quality internal and external reporting and visibility of the IUCN ESARO FLoD work. She/he will play a key role in resource mobilisation and development of partnerships to roll out the IUCN ESARO FLoD programme to other sites in Kenya and beyond. As required, the Senior Programme Officer may also be requested provide technical support to the mobilisation and implementation of other related projects in the CASD portfolio, as agreed in close consultation with the CASD Technical Coordinator.

1.PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION: Responsible for ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of the projects assigned to the Senior Programme Officer by the Technical Coordinator. Specifically, the SPO will:

- Ensure the implementation of the IUCN ESARO FLoD projects in accordance with the project documents, supporting agreements (e.g. consultancy contracts, project activity implementation agreements, etc.), annual work plans and the procedures of IUCN;
- Organise and lead research activities at field level including ensuring effective logistical arrangements, developing and preparing the research materials and tools, and participating in the research activities to collect data from local communities and other key informants 
- Help compile and analyse data collected from field research and other sources and contribute to the development of site-specific case studies, revised theories of change and further refinement of the action research tools and methodology
- Liaise with local communities and other key stakeholders at the project pilot sites including conducting site visits and further follow up consultations and research activities as necessary) to ensure effective communication and sharing of lessons 
- Liaise closely with the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association and other key partners to help finalise case studies, guidance documents and other project deliverables;
- Help train others in the use of FLoD tools and methodologies if required
- Organise and technically and administratively support the end-of-project workshop and other meetings and consultations as required for the successful delivery of project outputs
- Coordinate and maintain regular communications (email, phone, face-to face meetings) between the members of IUCN ESARO FLoD team to help track progress with project activities and to resolve any issues affecting implementation of project activities
- Ensure the collection and collation of all project data and documents and share with the team FLoD and other key stakeholders as appropriate e.g. through dropbox, mailing lists and other appropriate methods
- Ensure that project budgets are utilized and monitored in accordance with IUCN internal controls and donor agreements;
- Ensure timely and high quality technical and financial reporting within IUCN, as well as reporting to donors in the agreed formats and deadlines and in compliance with relevant policies throughout the project lifetime
- Undertake regular duty travel as necessary to ensure smooth implementation of programmatic activities;
- Help to communicate the project results and promote visibility of IUCN ESARO CASD work through the IUCN website, articles, news stories, publications, etc.
- As required, assist the Technical Coordinator with other related CASD projects and programme development e.g. by contributing to reports and assisting with email communications, review of documents, preparation of work plans and budgets, identification and contracting of consultations

2. REPRESENTATION: Assist with building and maintaining strong relationships with relevant IUCN partners. More specifically:

- As required represent IUCN at relevant meetings in Kenya and beyond
- As required and approved, represent IUCN ESARO CASD at internal IUCN meetings.

3. FUNDRAISING: 

Working closely with the CASD Technical Coordinator support the identification of opportunities and development of project proposals with a particular focus on leveraging additional funds to support IUCN ESARO FLoD work in Kenya and to expand this work into other countries in the region. 

4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT:

- Liaise with IUCN ESARO Finance Officers regarding compliance with donors’ contractual and financial requirements;
- Support the provision of financial reporting to donors by providing the finance department with the relevant project/programme information on a timely basis;
- Support the Technical Coordinator to regularly review, analyze and monitor the project financial reports and communicate any over?under expenditure observations to the Technical Coordinator on a timely basis;
- Coordinate the procurement process of project assets and ensure all processes are in line with the IUCN Internal Control systems and donor requirements.

5. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

- Ensure that the project develops and effectively implements an M&E framework, in line IUCN guidelines and procedures as well as that required by the donor
- Ensure that all the information related to the implementation of projects is adequately filed, organized and updated for easy access;
- Identify and use lessons to inform future practice;
- Document and share lessons and experiences, as appropriate