| Description |
African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is one of the leading international conservation organizations focused solely on the African continent. AWF works to ensure that wildlife and wild lands thrive in modern Africa. The Project Manager/Chief of Party will be responsible for providing overall leadership, strategic focus, management, and accountability for the performance of AWF’s Biodiversity for Resilience Program. This senior position will report to the Country Director, AWF-Uganda through AWF’s established performance reporting mechanisms.
The Project Manager/Chief of Party will be expected to be a highly visible individual in the conservation sector able to manage programs with ecological, social, political, cultural, and economic complexities. S/he will principally be responsible for managing the Biodiversity for Resilience Program funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-Uganda whose goal is to conserve and manage biodiversity in target ecosystems for lasting environmental and economic sustainability. S/he is expected to be results-oriented and able to provide leadership to a team of highly qualified professionals to achieve results and meet program targets and goals. S/he will be expected to exercise a high degree of decision-making and sound judgment.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
- Provide overall leadership for the technical and managerial aspects of the Biodiversity for Resilience Program including implementation to ensure the program attains its goals, meets its deliverables, and produces results required by USAID in a timely manner.
- Ensure that program activities are based on strong evidence-based conservation, tourism, and non-tourism enterprise approaches and best practices.
- Manage day-to-day operations of the program, which includes:
- Effective team management;
- Effective administration and tracking of project finances;
- Program monitoring and evaluation;
- Timely donor reporting; and
- Effective coordination and cooperation between project implementing partners, among others.
- Be the technical point of contact with USAID-Uganda, program implementing partners, and stakeholders on all aspects of the program/grant.
- Ensure full compliance with the USAID Cooperative agreement and AWF policies and procedures.
- Oversee sub-grantees and facilitate technical assistance and steer them towards results-oriented activities, and ensure grantee compliance with terms and conditions of their agreements.
- Represent the technical team to the AWF-Uganda senior management team.
- Convene program management meetings with staff and appropriate partners to oversee program implementation.
- Work with AWF senior program team and key implementing partners to design annual work and performance management plans that will deliver sustainable conservation, improved livelihoods, and other program level goals.
- Provide leadership in tracking and reporting of program performance against prescribed criteria to USAID, AWF, and partners in a timely manner.
- Build and manage a team of professional staff; ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and performance is managed with the required focus and discipline.
- Work with Country Director to develop and track working annual budgets.
- Optimize utilization of Inloox and project management methodologies by comprehensively updating plans in Inloox on a weekly basis, which includes:
- Signing off completed tasks/activities/work plans;
- Assigning work plans;
- Rescheduling/revising activities/tasks/work plans and budgets;
- Adding new activities/tasks/work plans and budgets; and
- Explaining delays.
- Ensure quarterly and yearly means of verification (MOVs) defined and delivered in a timely manner.
- Ensure implementation of activities and expected outputs in line with respective grants terms and conditions as well as donor expectations
- Conduct financial oversight, ensuring efficient use of resources and eliminating fraud.
- Any other duties as assigned by supervisor.
Qualifications
- Postgraduate qualification (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) in natural sciences, social science, economics, or any other field directly related to conservation.
- Minimum 7+ years of proven managerial, administrative, and field experience in conservation and development.
- Knowledge, skills, proven experience in leading the implementation of large and complex USAID-funded projects as well as other donor-funded projects in Uganda or East Africa.
- In-depth knowledge of USAID rules and regulations for grants.
- Results focused orientation with a proven track record of delivery.
- Possess sound judgment and strong decision-making skills.
- Proven ability in managing and motivating a highly qualified team of professionals in different fields.
- Good understanding of financial management and budgeting.
- Proficiency in English (spoken and written).
- Proven experience leading and managing large complex projects budgets, delivering and reporting results, and ensuring compliance with donor requirements, e.g. USAID for implementation.
- Demonstrated ability to build the capacity of multiple stakeholders to engage in landscape planning and management.
- Outstanding interpersonal skills, including the ability to build coalitions, negotiate, and manage conflict situations.
- Outstanding communication skills with the ability to clarify vision and strategy.
- Experience working with different levels of government (especially senior levels) and partners in Uganda.
- Genuine respect for the skills and perspectives of communities, partner organizations, and the private sector.
- Sound understanding of and experience implementing the science of landscape-level conservation approaches.
- Familiarity with innovative methods, including community conservation and conservation enterprises as well as the integration of conservation with health, population, agriculture, and gender dimensions.
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