NEW Resilient Watersheds Coordinator, Africa Mid level – Mid level TNC – The Nature Conservancy Luanda | Lusaka

Luanda, Luanda Province, Angola

The position shall be based where TNC has a registered office in Africa, Angola, Gabon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania or Zambia. No employment visas or assistance is being offered with this position except for the local labour employment requirements. 

The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we develop innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world’s toughest environmental challenges so that people and nature can thrive. Our work is guided by our values, which include a and respect for people, communities, and cultures. From a rewarding mission to career development and flexible schedules, there are many reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want to know more? Check out our   to hear stories from staff or visit  .

One of TNC’s primary goals is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that employees around the globe have a sense of belonging and feel that their unique contributions are valued. We know we’ll only achieve our mission by hiring and engaging a diverse staff that reflects the communities in which we work. Recognizing that people bring talent and skills that have been developed outside the scope of a job, we take a holistic approach to recruitment that considers life experience in addition to the professional requirements listed in our postings. Please apply – we’d love to hear from you. To quote a popular saying at TNC, “you’ll join for the mission, and you’ll stay for the people.”

TNC’s work in Africa transcends three key pillars: securing ownership rights to lands and resources for indigenous people, strengthening leadership and resource management and helping communities value nature through a holistic appreciation of its benefits while increasing revenue streams for conservation efforts and socio-economic development. Together with our partners, we are witnessing critical milestones in integrated land and fisheries management, ocean and source water protection, energy development and sustainable food production, working together and strengthening our resolve in tackling global challenges such as climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss that stands to adversely impact the nearly 1.4 billion people that share Africa.

For over two decades, TNC has been implementing Water Funds around the world. These are collective action governance platforms that bring together different water users – usually utilities, businesses, agriculture and local governments – to invest in ecosystem protection and support upstream communities within the catchments they depend on.  By design they enhance financial and governance mechanisms, unite public, private and civil society stakeholders around a common goal to contribute to water security through Nature-based Solutions and sustainable watershed management. Upstream communities act as stewards and providers of watershed services and are paid for measures that contribute to flood risk mitigation, water purification, aquifer recharge, erosion control, and regulation of the climate. They function as both a governance and long-term financing modality. With a regional TNC aims to ensure health of freshwater systems and the societies that depend on them. To accelerate the process, TNC and a partner established the Nature for Water Facility for enabling local champions to build watershed investment programs faster and at scale

The Resilient Watersheds (Water Funds) Coordinator provides day-to-day management, general operations, and programmatic support while leading the stakeholders network and coordinates learning platform and resources sharing from within and outside TNC. They will bring much needed technical support in the following categories to our regional program: Source Water Protection community of practice; Africa Water Funds Network growth and operational management including serving as secretariat to its steering committee; Social media presence and content generation as well as sharing; Conducting training needs assessment and organizing trainings and following up to ensure effectiveness of the trainings and resource use; Managing bi-monthly webinars for the network’s members and stakeholders as well as content generation and cultivating high level leaders from across the 15+ Water Funds in region, to make presentations. This is a two-year contract position, renewable subject to availability of funding, and shall be based where TNC has a registered office in Africa, Angola, Gabon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania or Zambia. No employment visas or assistance is being offered with this position except for the local labour employment requirements. The position reports to the Africa Water Funds Director.

The position holder will ensure well-coordinated support across all the water funds in region, tracking and reporting of their implementation progress including grant funding reporting and other relevant communication within the TNC system and with partners in region. This will include information sharing through scheduled webinars, electronic multi-lingual newsletters and other channels of communication. Read more on Water Funds on the link below. The ideal candidate will;

• Coordinate and track multiple project work plans and workstreams across teams, including coordinating project teams, setting deadlines, track status via a project management software.
• Oversee project management for the program, using TNC’s Highly Effective Teams and any other approaches to effectively manage key projects and support the work of cross-functional, cross-geographic teams towards the desired outcome.
• Provide support during proposal development and ensure timely submission of proposal related documentation.
• Ensure programmatic commitments, Conservancy policies and procedures, financial standards, and legal requirements are met and managed for compliance; decisions that may bind the organization financially or legally.
• Development of documents, presentations, and other materials, and coordination of events and consultancies with external partners.
• Circulating and following up on the review of technical reports by the program team and technical leads.
• Oversee document management systems that all Water Funds team members can access.
• Coordinate project budget management and tracking of Program intermediate results and progress.
• Leads the water funds network and coordinates a steering committee of Africa Water Funds network including membership and scheduling of meetings and agenda setting.
• Reach out to resource persons with the global water funds team and conservation training resource persons to gather materials and information needed.
• Manage consultants, support drafting and tracking contracts for the program and ensure prudent management of contracts and vendors for timely service delivery that guarantees value for money.
• Provide administrative support to the program staff in crafting presentations and slide decks, planning complex trips, preparing meetings with partners and donors.
• Responsible for coordination of donor and learning trips to source water protection projects within the region.
• Ensures integrity of both data collection and management relating to conservation projects and project statistics.
• Under limited supervision acts independently, resolves complex issues within the program area and may act as a resource to others.
• Complies and shares the data needed for public information channels and key partner organizations.
• May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.

• Bachelor’s degree and 3 years’ experience in natural resource management, Ecology, Agricultural Economics, Forestry, Environmental Science, Law or similar field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience managing Interns.
• Relationship building experience to work closely with a variety of partners, i.e., media, government officials, internal scientists.
• Experience completing tasks independently with respect to timeline(s).
• Experience with communication via written, spoken and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
• Experience using common software applications such as Word, Excel, web browsers, etc.
• Experience in training.                
• Experience coordinating multiple programs and projects in multiple locations.
• Experience coordinating and managing multiple priorities, with assignments sometimes coming from several sources and work independently.
• Experience completing tasks independently with respect to timeline(s).
• Experience coordinating multiple projects.
• Experience handling standard business communications via written, spoken and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
• Experience with report writing.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Over 5 years’ experience in natural resource management, similar field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ability and willingness to apply science to decision-making and guide activities.
• Familiarity with principles of land acquisition or similar asset acquisition.
• Knowledge of ecological land management principles.
• Knowledge of current trends and practices in conservation, land management and natural resource preservation.
• Ability and willingness to apply science to decision-making and guide activities.
• Knowledge of current trends and practices in environmental conservation, climate change and adaptation, land management and natural resource preservation.
• Extensive experience in program coordination and support to several projects across multiple locations and countries in Africa
• Experience working in conservation or climate related projects in the NGO world is preferred.
• Experience supporting teams during resources acquisition, project implementation and monitoring and evaluation of projects and reporting.
• Qualifications and experience in project management is preferred.
• Strong administrative skills including attention to detail and numerical ability.
• Experience with planning, administering, and recording results of work-team meetings and activities.
• Demonstrated experience in relationship building experience to work closely with a variety of partners and stakeholders.

Since 1951, TNC has been doing work you can believe in. Through grassroots action, we have grown from a small non-profit into one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than 1 million members, over 400 scientists, and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and partners, we impact conservation around the world! 

TNC offers competitive and comprehensive benefits packages tailored to the individual countries where we work. These may include health care benefits, retirement benefits, parental leave, paid time off, life insurance, and disability coverage as well as an employee assistance program and other life and well-being benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our on nature.org/careers. 

We’re proud to offer a flexible work environment that supports the health and well-being of the people we employ.

To apply for job ID 55799, submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at . Need help applying? Visit our page or contact .

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.

TNC is committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send a note to with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.

An attractive salary and benefits package is part of TNC’s value proposition to our employees. TNC strives to provide competitive pay and bases salaries on the geographic location of the role committing to being equitable across groups and providing hiring salary ranges when possible.

Since we support flexible and remote work for our employees, many positions have a flexible location within countries where we’re registered as a Non-government Organization and established as an employer. This may mean we’re unable to provide a hiring salary range in the posting for some of our positions. However, candidates invited to be part of our interview process will be provided their location specific range upon request.