Monitoring and Reporting Officer, Republic of Congo

Position: Monitoring and Reporting Officer, Republic of Congo

Location: Bomassa (Headquarters of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park) Republic of Congo

Reports to: Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park Director

Direct working line: WCS Program Coordinator

Start Date: June 2021

Position type: 1-year fixed-term contract, renewable

Application deadline: 30 April 2021

Organizational Context

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit organization founded in 1895. Its mission is to preserve wildlife and wilderness by understanding critical problems, developing scientific solutions and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, a presence in more than 60 countries, and experience in the creation of more than 150 protected areas around the world, WCS has accumulated the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships needed to ensure that wild places and animal species thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct use of natural resources.

WCS Congo Program Overview

Over the past 25 years, WCS Congo has been the government’s principle conservation partner, assisting the Ministry of Forest Economy (MEF) in managing wildlife and its habitat in several of the country’s national parks, reserves, and protected area buffer zones. Within these sites WCS is developing and implementing actions for effective wildlife protection; community based natural resource management; ecological monitoring; scientific research; and environmental education. The program is the largest in WCS’s global portfolio and reports to the Regional Program for Central Africa and Gulf of Guinea. WCS Congo’s current portfolio of programs includes the management of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park through a Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Congo, wildlife management in the substantial buffer zones of the Park, co-management of Lac Tele Community Reserve, a national program to support reform of marine conservation and resource management, and a substantial policy support program to the central government in Brazzaville.

Position Summary

The M&E Officer is responsible for tracking and reporting project implementation against project work plans. We are looking for a rigorous and dynamic M&E Officer who will be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of a number of projects, and ensuring high quality and timely reporting support. S/He will work closely with the various field teams to ensure consistent and up to date database management.

The majority of the work will be focused on M&E in relation to the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, and thus this position will be based in Bomassa, the NNNP HQ. However, the successful candidate will also be asked to engage in M&E of other projects in the WCS Congo portfolio.

The successful candidate will have experience in M&E, writing skills, and a strong interest in conservation-development linkages. This is a full-time position.

Main tasks

The M&E and reporting officer will have the following responsibilities, in close collaboration with the WCS Congo program management team:

• Work with the field teams to improve, develop, manage and implement the various project’s M&E systems including relevant performance indicators, baseline data, annual targets and ensure compliance with project requirements;
• Provide M&E technical support to the Project leaders including tool design, data entry and analysis;
• In collaboration with relevant staff, establish an effective knowledge management mechanism including documentation of baselines, impacts, collating and synthesizing information, updating the monitoring matrix and other monitoring tools in place;
• Collaborate with relevant staff members to ensure standard use of WCS’s tools and processes, ensuring data collected from the field is properly recorded;
• assist with the preparation, updating and monitoring of project reports on a monthly basis;
• Incorporate gender-disaggregated data into the various database;
• Ensure the monitoring information is used for adaptive management when necessary;
• Provide quality assurance and consolidate monthly, quarterly semi-annual and annual reports as per donor requirements;
• Synthesize, check, analyze and report all data related to M&E activities in line with project regulations on reports;
• Identify and document lessons learnt, and collect information for case studies;
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications required

• Master’s Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Social sciences, Project management, Conservation Science or any related topic;
• At least 3+ years experience in developing and managing monitoring and evaluation systems for international or regional organizations, NGOs or comparable;
• Professional training in the use of M&E methodologies;
• Demonstrated knowledge of international organizations and/or government donor M&E systems
• Proven skills in data management with concrete knowledge of open source tools such as KoBo Toolbox
• Proven computer proficiency, particularly in database, spreadsheet and word processing;
• Experience using statistical software and carrying out qualitative and/or qualitative analyses, (EPI INFO, SPSS, R, Tableau and/or Stata)
• Written and oral fluency in French is required, as are excellent writing skills in English;
• Excellent report writing, analytical communication including oral presentation skills;
• Skills in program monitoring especially monitoring conservation/ community-based projects;
• Team player with sound analytical skills;
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in writing and verbally;
• Interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with a wide variety of individuals;