Program Manager, Sudano-Sahel Region

Reports to: Regional Director- Sudano Sahel Region

Location: Bronx Zoo, New York

Country Program/Sector: Sudano-Sahel

Internal liaison: Sudano-Sahel Regional Director and regional team

Expected travel: Approximately 30%. As required within the region and to donor/technical meetings as needed/possible.

Organization Background

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife 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 poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.

Program Overview

WCS has a significant presence in Africa with strong conservation, protected area management, wildlife law enforcement, conservation aviation, livelihoods, policy and scientific programs. Spanning diverse habitats including vast savannahs and dense forests, coastlines and montane forests, WCS protected area landscapes include some of the most intact and biodiverse landscapes on earth, as well as some of the world’s most critically endangered and threatened species. Africa as a continent presents a set of complex and expanding conservation challenges and threats, including commercial poaching and trafficking, rapid expansion of mineral and timber extraction, insecurity and conflict, low technical capacity and governance, and high levels of corruption in some areas. At the same time, there are unparalleled opportunities for WCS to play a direct role in securing and saving some of the most iconic wildlife and wild places on the planet.

The WCS is taking on these challenges with a regional management structure and approach: the WCS Sudano-Sahel region encompasses the savannahs and forests of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. WCS Central Africa region ranges from the coasts of Gabon across the Congo basin to eastern DRC. WCS East and Southern Africa, Madagascar & Western Indian Ocean region reaches from Uganda down to Mozambique and over to Madagascar; Each of these regions is directly managed and led by a Regional Director based in the field who is responsible for strategy, conservation, and management of their region. The Regional Directors report to the Executive Vice President for Global Conservation at WCS headquarters in New York.

WCS Sudano-Sahel, Central Africa, and East Africa Regions are supported by a small team at the WCS New York office consisting of Program Managers for each region, an Operations Director and Budget Manager, and Program & Communications Coordinator, who working closely with the Regional Management teams, and with other WCS departments. This team’s key roles include supporting the Regions in managing grants from private and public sources, supporting program administration and implementation, and facilitating communication with and support to the Regions from various WCS departments such as finance, program development/fundraising, procurement, communications, government affairs, etc.

The WCS Sudano-Sahel Region is a large and diverse field program focused on the long term conservation and management of six core priority protected area landscapes spanning six countries (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia). The program protects some of the most intact savannah, woodland, and forest wilderness areas remaining in the world. Critical wildlife populations protected by our efforts include critical and endangered savanna and forest elephants, northern giraffe, lions, wild dog, bongo, giant eland, chimpanzees, Cross River gorilla, shoebill, crowned cranes, and the world’s second largest land mammal migration (white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, and tiang). Our conservation and protected area management programs directly contribute to improving governance and security for the benefit of local communities, Governments, and the broader Global community. The Sudano-Sahel Program Manager will provide support to the Regional Director and the regional team for grant management, proposal writing and fundraising, developing strong management and operational capacity of the region’s protected area landscape and country programs, enhanced collaboration and coordination of technical support among WCS programs and facilitation and coordination of communications as necessary for the success of these initiatives.

Job Summary

The Wildlife Conservation Society seeks a dynamic, experienced individual to ensure central support for management and coordination of WCS’s Sudano-Sahel regional conservation and protected area landscape management program.

The Sudano-Sahel Regional Program manager reports to and works under the direction of the Sudano-Sahel Regional Director, who is based out of the regional office in Nairobi, Kenya. The primary objective of the Sudano-Sahel Regional Program Manager position is to ensure central support to the Region in management, coordination, sound administration and development of the region’s programs and initiatives. This position is responsible for supporting the Sudano-Sahel Regional Director and regional team to ensure excellent coordination with rest of the Global Conservation Program, at New York level and with the other regional field programs across the world, ensure strong coordination between the WCS New York based departments of the institution and the in-region Sudano-Sahel Regional program, and provide facilitation and support to WCS’s mission in the region.

Major Responsibilities

• Provide effective coordination and operational support to the Sudano-Sahel Regional Director and team (including Regional Business and Grants Managers, country program and protected area landscapes teams) to successfully manage a growing portfolio of grants, related processes and workflow for the Sudano-Sahel region;
• Support the Sudano-Sahel Regional Director and team in the building of collaborative relationships as focal point for Sudano-Sahel programs at WCS New York Headquarters: communicating the interests and priorities of the Regional program with the global program and partner departments: ensuring sound coordination, management and support to the region;
• Support the Sudano-Sahel Regional team in ensuring effective communication with donors and partners, as appropriate and requested by the in-region team.
• Work closely with the Sudano-Sahel Regional Director to coordinate and support implementation of cross-cutting technical support to assist and build capacity of protected area landscapes, country programs, and regional staff.
• Assist the Regional Director with cross-regional strategic prioritization work: facilitating implementation of program priorities, strategy, approaches: supporting project development and ensuring implementation is monitored;

Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelors or Master’s degree in a related field, or equivalent experience, plus at least 5 years working experience with international networks, preferably non-profit sector.
• An understanding of and commitment to conservation of wildlife and wild lands and the mission of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
• Proven effective coordination skills, with excellent communication, organizational and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated success in working with diverse partners to achieve common objectives.
• Proven successful grants management skills, including proposal and report writing, but also workflow management.
• Fluent English speaking and writing; French speaking and writing proficiency required.
• Willingness to travel in Sudano-Sahel Region of Africa.