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Job Title:   Biodiversity Officer   

Organisation: Fauna & Flora International

Duty Station:  Hoima, Uganda

Salary: USD 9,728 per annum

About US:

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, while improving the livelihoods of local people. Our guiding principles are to work with and alongside local partnerships, act as a catalyst for change, make conservation relevant, and base decisions on sound science. Founded in 1903, FFI is the world’s longest established international conservation body; our conservation work, and impact, spans the globe.

Africa Programme

Job Summary:  FFI is seeking an experienced conservation professional to fulfil the role of Biodiversity Officer, who will lead field-based implementation of the biodiversity aspects of FFI’s work in Uganda.  The successful candidate will have a successful proven track record in supporting biodiversity conservation with a species focus, including experience of monitoring biodiversity and mitigating human-wildlife conflict. They will be skilled in a variety of biomonitoring methods, and ideally socio- economic data collection methods and associated data management. They will also have experience in providing technical input to the design, development, implementation, evaluation and reporting of species focused projects.

They will also have strong organisational skills, a structured and methodical approach to work, and a clear focus on results and impacts. The role requires a skilled and credible communicator, who is able to build stakeholder capacity and confident in developing and maintaining relationships with partner organisations and relevant stakeholders. In return, we offer the opportunity to work for a ground-breaking organisation at the forefront of global conservation within a growing portfolio of work in Uganda. The successful candidate be will working within a team where they can use their skills to make a real difference to FFI’s work to protect threatened species and habitats in Uganda.

The incumbent will provide technical and operational input to the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of FFI’s species-focused work, primarily in the Bugungu-Budongo-Bugoma landscape, Uganda. This will include supporting participatory community engagement, species and human- wildlife conflict (HWC) monitoring, and community-based sustainable financial mechanisms to resource species conservation activities. While ensuring that project activities are implemented in accordance with agreed timelines, budget, and donors’ requirements.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: Under the line-management of the Programme Officer, Uganda and in close collaboration with the Technical Specialist – Biomonitoring, Africa, the Biodiversity Officer will have the following responsibilities:

Technical

• Contribute to the design, and lead the implementation, of species-focused conservation activities, including coordinating biomonitoring and HWC monitoring activities, using standardised data collection methodologies
• Lead the training of community members, partners and programme staff on species- focused conservation activities
• Ensure logistical / practical support needed by communities to implement species-focused conservation activities, including HWC mitigation and biomonitoring activities is provided
• Maintain project biomonitoring and geospatial databases, ensuring that data is collected and inputted in a timely manner and stored securely in line with FFI’s data management policies
• Assist in the mentorship of Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs), focused on sustainable finance mechanism for species-focused conservation activities
• Coordinate gathering, consolidation and sharing of lessons learnt from species-focused conservation interventions within FFI Uganda and with relevant external stakeholders
• Implement all activities in line with FFI’s social safeguard protocols (e.g., Free, Prior and Informed Consent – FPIC, Community Code of Conduct, Grievance Reporting Mechanisms)

Reporting and Communication

• Contribute to donor project reports in a timely manner
• Ensure timely retirement of financial expenditures incurred while in the field, following FFI and donor financial policies
• Assist the programme team in identifying, building and maintaining critical project-specific partner relationships, including with relevant Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) personnel and local community leadership
• Assist with the development and delivery of communication materials required to achieve project objectives related to information sharing (posters, radio broadcasts, etc.)
• Work closely with the programme team and FFI’s Communications Coordinator to identify project information for publication and communications, ensuring compliance with FFI and donor marketing and branding policies
• As requested by the Programme Officer, attend external meetings and actively promote FFI’s work in Uganda

Others

• Work as an active member of the FFI Africa team and attend Africa team meetings
• With agreement of the Programme Officer, perform any other tasks that may be requested from time to time, which are appropriate to the role skills and experience, and relevant to the scope of this role

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold an undergraduate degree in ecology, conservation biology, forestry, environmental science or any other relevant discipline or equivalent work experience in a relevant field
• Working knowledge of statistical packages (e.g. SPSS, PSPP, R)
• Knowledge and practical experience of implementing conservation activities for
• Experience using QGIS and/or ArcGIS skills
• Practical experience in supporting species-focused conservation, including HWC
• Knowledge and practical experience of implementing biomonitoring activities
• Knowledge and experience of various biodiversity survey techniques, including camera trapping and transect surveys
• Proven field experience in working with communities and protected areas
• Proven ability to collaborate, organise and manage relationships with partners in the field effectively
• Proven ability to organise and manage databases from multiple sites effectively
• Proven experience of working with a diverse group of stakeholders, including government and civil society, in a conservation context
• Proven ability to work to multiple deadlines and a clear focus on delivery of outputs
• Excellent prioritization, attention to detail and time management skills
• Administrative skills, including budgeting, financial administration and reporting
• Strong written communication skills, including report, proposal and technical brief writing
• Strong verbal communication and networking skills, including ability to deliver presentations
• Data entry and basic data analysis skills
• Fluency in English (written and spoken)
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office including Outlook and Excel

Desirable

• Working knowledge of statistical packages (e.g. SPSS, PSPP, R)
• Knowledge and practical experience of implementing conservation activities for great apes and / or pangolins
• Experience with wide range of donor reporting systems and compliance requirements
• Experience in using Microsoft SharePoint data storage systems
• Proficiency in local languages: Runyakitara, Luganda, Alur and/or Lugbara
• Advanced data analysis skills

How to Apply:

Applications, consisting of a covering letter explaining why you feel you should be considered for this post, a full CV (tailored to the role as advertised, highlighting relevant experience and achievements) and contact details for two referees (who will not be contacted without your permission) should be sent to africajobs@fauna-flora.org

Please mark your application Biodiversity Officer, Uganda.

Deadline: 20th April 2022.

• Candidates selected for interview will be contacted by email or telephone – please specify your preferred method of contact in your covering letter and indicate where you saw the position advertised (quote website theugandanjobline.com)
• Regrettably, due to limited resources and the high number of applications we receive, we are only able to contact short-listed candidates. If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

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