Technical Coordinator, Business and Biodiversity

Technical Coordinator, Business and Biodiversity, IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO)


Status: Open (currently receiving applications)


Vacancy #: 272
Unit: Eastern and Southern Africa Region
Location: South Africa Programme Office, Pretoria, South Africa
Reporting to: Regional Programme Coordinator, IUCN Eastern and Southern Regional Office (ESARO)
Work percentage: 100%
Function group: SP
Expected start date: 01 September 2011
Type of contract: Max-term (until 31 August 2013)
Closing date: 18 July 2011

BACKGROUND


The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) covers twenty two countries in the Horn of Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean and is inviting applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the following position that will be based either in Pretoria, South Africa or Nairobi, Kenya:

Greening the World Economy
As part of its four-year programme for the 2008-2012 period, IUCN is focusing specifically on addressing the economic challenges of sustainable development. Greening the World Economy has become a major theme around which the Union has mobilized its efforts. Through coordinated activities taking place around the world, IUCN is aiming to positively influence public policies and private enterprises to foster a greater appreciation and valuation of our planet’s precious natural assets.

IUCN’s Business and Biodiversity Programme
Within the broader effort to help green the world economy, IUCN works through a dedicated Business and Biodiversity Programme (BBP) that builds bridges between the private sector (PS), and the conservation community to:
• Minimize the environmental footprint of PS and enhance its contribution to nature conservation.
• Enable an institutional environment for business-conservation collaboration
• Develop green enterprises that build economic value on natural capital
• Help companies mitigate and off-set their impacts on biodiversity

All business engagements in IUCN are guided by a Private Sector Strategy approved by the IUCN Board of Directors or Council in 2004. The key objectives of this strategy are:
• Build a greener, more sustainable economy
• A conservation community that is well informed about market mechanisms and understands their potential and limitations to achieve biodiversity conservation
• A more accountable private sector which contribute to sustainable development including conservation and social equity
• Effective dialogue and collaboration between IUCN and the private sector which helps to achieve conservation through, and alongside, sustainable development
• Identify and develop innovative financing mechanisms for supporting the conservation of biodiversity, e.g. accessing carbon markets, biodiversity offsets.
Notwithstanding, the Business and Biodiversity Programme is relatively new and has been targeting the large footprint industries since its creation, specifically the oil and gas sector, the cement and aggregates sector and the mining sector. Although with a global focus, and with key engagements with multinationals such as Shell, Holcim and Rio Tinto, the Business and Biodiversity Programme of IUCN needs to consolidate activities in some regions and countries where it has ongoing work, including East and Southern Africa.

IUCN East and Southern Africa Office

The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) operates in twenty two countries in the Horn of Africa, east Africa, southern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. The ESARO IUCN office which is based in Nairobi, Kenya, is currently implementing a variety of projects in relation to markets and business. Ongoing activities have been mainly occurring at a micro/landscape scale and have focused specifically on supporting livelihoods through enterprise development (e.g. ecotourism, sustainable agriculture and payments for ecosystem services). There is strong potential for scaling-up these existing activities to have greater impact in the region. It is projected that stronger coordination between local level activities and broader public and private policy making processes would significantly enhance IUCN’s capacity to green economic development in the region.

The proposed strategies and actions to be implemented are based on the IUCN ESARO value proposition which includes: i) Building partnerships across boundaries; ii) Bridging practice-knowledge-policy linkages; iii) Integrated, holistic and learning-oriented perspectives; iv) Empowering and strengthening capacity; and v) Identifying and utilizing opportunities for scaling up.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

The Technical Coordinator will be responsible for assisting IUCN ESARO, in collaboration with IUCN’s Global Business and Biodiversity Programme in Switzerland, to develop a regional Business and Biodiversity Programme in order to strengthen IUCN’s capacity to seize market and business opportunities in support of conservation in East and Southern Africa.

ESARO will be supported and guided by the Global Business and Biodiversity Programme which is not only the lead in these thematic issues but also has gained knowledge and experience in setting up these programmes in a couple of regions such as East Asia.

Output/Deliverables
Given that the economies of most of the countries within the ESARO region comprise a large subsistence and informal sector, with relatively low levels of industrialization and little value-adding: The Regional Business and Biodiversity Programme will focus on:
o Small and medium enterprises as a tool for conservation and poverty reduction.
o Influencing large-footprint industries (such as biofuels, hydropower and mining) to adopt and follow good practice for managing biodiversity.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1.Enhancing organizational capacity of IUCN in eastern and southern Africa:
- Set up a Business and Biodiversity Programme in the eastern and southern Africa Office of IUCN
- Build new business relationships within the ESARO region and potentially tap into country specific opportunities that may meet the objectives of the Global collaboration agreements with the Private Sector, such as the ones with Shell, Holcim, Nespresso, ICMM and Rio Tinto.
- Support and build capacity in the Regional Office and countries of the region in relation to Greening the World Economy and private sector engagement for conservation
- Identify and secure funding for implementing and monitoring the business and biodiversity programme through the implementation of projects that will include programmatic engagements with key target companies as per the strategy that will be developed according to the output/deliverables described here. Additional funding from bilateral donors will be identified as well, so that the BBP programme in ESARO can grow and expand through this initial seed investment.


2.Catalyzing the BBP programme at the regional level:
- Catalyze the Business and Biodiversity Programme in the region with a particular focus in developing a regional BBP strategy (building on 2004 IUCN Private Sector Strategy) by end of 2012, with a respective business plan that includes credible assumptions and financial forecasting as much as possible, and that can serve as a model for country-specific BBP strategies and business plans.
- Develop and execute sectoral regional action plans or strategies for business sectors, beginning with a nature-based small and medium enterprise strategy in line with the IUCN 2004 private sector strategy (which guides the overall private sector work at IUCN). Other sectors to explore developing regional framework plans include agriculture, mining and tourism.


3.Piloting strategies and building capacity at the country level:
- The Regional BBP programme will initially prioritize and target two countries – one in eastern and one in southern Africa. ESARO BBP will also endeavor to develop BBP Strategies and Business Plans for these countries, in order to determine an adequate and financially sound way forward and will strive to have at least one country specific strategy by first quarter of 2012.


REQUIREMENTS
•Masters degree in conservation or business related fields
•8 – 10 years of professional experience in environmental management
•Proven working experience in the private sector
•Ability to work across sectors, build alliances and set up public-private initiatives
•Excellent interpersonal skills
•Proven ability in program development, fund raising, and financial management
•Entrepreneurial skills
•Adequate knowledge and skills in the use of relevant computer programs
•Cultural awareness and sensitivity
•Knowledge regarding IUCN’s work is desirable
•Willingness to travel frequently within the region
•Fluency in written and spoken English

APPLICATIONS
Applicants are requested to apply online through the HR Management System, by opening the vacancy announcement and pressing the "Apply" button. http://hrms.iucn.org/iresy/index.cfm?event=vac.show&vacId=272&lang=en

Applicants will be asked to create an account and submit their profile information. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date. The vacancy closes at midnight, Swiss time (GMT+1 / GMT+2 during Daylight Saving Time, DST).

Other job opportunities are published in the IUCN website: http://www.iucn.org/involved/jobs/


IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was founded in 1948 and brings together over 1,100 members (States, government agencies, NGOs and affiliates) and some 11,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Within the framework of global conventions IUCN has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN has approximately 1,100 staff, most of whom are located in its regional and country offices while some 150 work at its Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from qualified women and men.