Director of Conservation

Location: Antananarivo, Madagascar, with regular travel to our sites, and occasionally to other locations in Madagascar and internationally

Closing date for applications : 04th December 2022

Start date : as soon as possible

Contract duration : 2-year full time contract, with a 6-month probation period

Contract type: National contract

Remuneration : competitive salary, based on experience

Description of role

The Director of Conservation (DoC) – Madagascar is responsible for the oversight and governance of our conservation work in Madagascar. You are the national lead for the design and scope of our work to deliver the Blue Ventures (BV) conservation strategy. As such you play a key role in supporting BV in Madagascar to move away from multiple siloed programmes to a single country programme aligned with BV’s global strategy and agreed country key results. You lead a team of technical experts in our principal areas of intervention – fisheries, mangroves and governance, as well as our national monitoring & evaluation and advocacy functions. Together, you and your team advise and support the Madagascar country team to partner with communities and like-minded organisations in pursuit of our ultimate goal: empowered coastal communities managing their resources and ecosystems for generations to come.

Responsibilities

• In close collaboration with the Madagascar Coordination Group the post holder will ensure the delivery of high quality, evidence based and impactful conservation outcomes in Madagascar aligned to our 2025 strategy core model
• Provide (including through regular field visits) a technical oversight of activities across sites, to help deliver coherent and consistent work across all sites in Madagascar
• Communications and Partnerships
• Capacity Building and Learning
• Grant Management
• Participate in new business development, including the development of programme design and proposal budgets

Skills and experience

Required

• Track record of achievements in a previous, similar role at national leadership level
• Clear commitment to Blue Ventures’ human rights-based approach to conservation
• Extensive progressive managerial experience, in [marine] conservation with demonstrable experience both in project management and team management
• A Masters level qualification in conservation, or related subjects where first degree is in conservation such as international development, business management, social science
• Experience of working in NGOs and/or international organisations
• Experience in financial management
• Experience in project cycle management
• Experience of community level project implementation and community empowerment
• Able to collect, organise, and analyse data
• Able to deal with ambiguity across different teams and projects
• Experience in working with external partners including ministerial and local authorities, and partner organisations
• Experience working in multicultural settings
• A strong professional proficiency in French and English
• Dynamic, enthusiastic, motivated, serious and autonomous
• Excellent knowledge of computer tools
• Excellent interpersonal skills,
• A team player, with the ability to network and work effectively in a multicultural setting,
• Creatively solves any problems as they arise, with relentless execution.

Desired

• Experience of working with small scale fishers and fisheries
• Experience in protection of coastal resources, habitats and protected areas
• Experience of policy change and influence through an advocacy approach
• Experience in research and publication of findings
• Experience in operational support in such areas as human resources, logistics and administration procedures
• Experience of working across several countries
• Previous experience in Madagascar
• Qualification in project cycle management
• Skills/training in coaching techniques
• Qualification in management
• Experience in process improvement
• Experience of mapping software such as Tableau or ArcGIS
• Competency in Malagasy

To download the full job description please click HERE