ACC Natural Resource Management Specialist

African Conservation Centre (ACC) is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the development of African Conservation excellence. ACC’s primary aim is to bring together people and skills needed to build East Africa’s capacity to conserve wildlife through programmes that conserve ecosystems and maintain continuous and open landscapes as well as improve income and livelihoods of local communities through sustainable utilisation of wildlife and natural resources. ACC works in pastoral areas in Kenyan rangelands and seeks to establish strong community based institution structures across the East African countries to address common salient conservation and livelihood challenges through a three-tier approach which integrates knowledge, environment and livelihood.

We seek to recruit a dynamic and innovative professional to fill the following position:

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT [NRM] SPECIALIST:

The Position: This is a management position based in Nairobi and reporting to the Executive Director. You will have overall responsibility to lead the planning and development of ACC’s natural resource projects under its Integrated Watershed Management Programme and evaluate the social, economic and environmental impact to local communities in the conservation sector.

Key Responsibilities: The NRM specialist will: • Serve as the lead technical advisor on issues relating to natural resource management primarily focusing on integrated watershed management along the Ewaso Ngiro South basin • Develop NRM strategies to ensure efficient use of and access to water and other natural resources for improvement of local livelihoods and provide a cost effective framework for monitoring and strategies for securing the ecological services provided by the natural resource base • Develop and enhance capacity of local communities to sustainably use and manage natural resources, while mitigating for negative impact • Work closely with ACC partners to conduct economic valuations of key resources and apply the results to improved NRM strategies • Identify and develop opportunities for economic benefits derived from NRM and biodiversity conservation efforts, • Ensure Community based Climate change adaptation considerations and issues are incorporated across program activities • Advise on and implement effective and appropriate methodologies and frameworks for strengthening ACC’s accountability; monitoring programme effectiveness and reviewing the impact of projects and partnerships to ensure improvement and learning.

Qualifications and Competencies: We seek candidates who are passionate, have at least 5 years’ progressive experience in the field of natural resource management with a strong emphasis in research, economic evaluation and natural resource planning.

Education: A Masters degree in the field of Environmental/Natural Resource Management or Biodiversity Conservation.

Experience: The candidate should have strong research background with solid experience in community development and participatory natural resource management in dry land areas, and in integrated watershed management issues and climate change adaptation strategies. Sound understanding of the sustainable livelihoods framework and ecosystem services with demonstrated strong skills in project design, economic assessment of programs; ability to analyze environmental issues and design sustainable interventions; resource mobilization, programme monitoring and social impact assessment.

The successful candidate will have a ‘can-do’ approach to deliver on plans. In addition, you will have strong communication skills, be a team player, a person of high integrity with good interpersonal and conceptual skills working with cross-functional teams in development areas and with partners.

We offer a competitive remuneration and benefits package. The successful candidate will enjoy joining an experienced and dynamic team working alongside community partners in a unique field and organizational space.

How to apply:

To Apply: If you possess the necessary qualifications and experience, send your application indicating current salary, a detailed CV, names of three referees and a daytime telephone contact, by Wednesday 6th March 2013 to:

AFRICAN CONSERVATION CENTRE- P.O. Box 15289-00509, Nairobi. Email: hr@acc.or.ke quoting Reference: TRE/ACC/NRMS/13 Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. African Conservation Centre is an equal opportunities employer.

The full job advert is available on www.conservationafrica.org