Program Design Officer, West and Central Africa Job Vacancy


Program Design Officer, West and Central Africa

For more than 50 years, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has been a key player in African conservation and sustainable development. 

AWF is currently seeking a talented professional to lead its fundraising efforts in West and Central Africa Programs in Congo and Parc W Heartlands by ensuring a steady flow of high quality proposals and well serviced funding to the programs.

Key Responsibilities
 
Reporting to the Vice President Program Design and working closely with AWF’s DRC / West Africa field-based program team, cross-site technical program staff, finance staff, and fellow program design team members, this position will generate funding from public sector sources for AWF’s growing program across West and Central Africa. 

The position will lead fundraising efforts from government and professional foundation donors for AWF’s work in priority landscapes in West and Central Africa. 

The successful candidate will be responsible for identifying and securing opportunities for funding, providing design support to the Heartland teams, and for contributing to overall AWF analysis and knowledge management. 

Operationally this includes 
  • relationship management with donors; 
  • supporting the field team in designing effective conservation plans to market to donor agencies; 
  • preparing high quality funding proposals, including research, helping field teams form effective technical partnerships, drafting and finalizing text, and award negotiation processes, providing support to landscape teams in effectively managing grants by tracking budgets and progress in accomplishing work plans; 
  • managing and drafting technical reports for donor agencies; 
  • tracking national and regional level selected landscapes, policy initiatives including climate change; 
  • providing analytical support to AWF’s landscape program by documenting lessons learned and success stories; contributing to annual budgeting and conservation planning processes; and 
  • representing AWF in international and local fora, as requested. 

This position will be based at AWF’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya with travel to the field.

The successful candidate will have;
  • Reputable Undergraduate and Postgraduate qualifications required in relevant field(s): including economics, business management, conservation, natural resource management, rural development.
  • Experience of working at a responsible level in conservation, including direct experience in conservation in Africa, and a track record in raising restricted funding.
  • Demonstrable experiencing of effective fundraising, marketing, donor presentations and policy dialogue.
  • Up-to-date understanding of current bilateral and multilateral donor agencies’ and professional foundations’ priorities would be considered an advantage.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to negotiate and manage donor relationships and work with colleagues and partners remotely.
  • Excellent ability to conceptualize and write project documents (including budgets, logical frameworks, and work plans) and reports.
  • Excellent ability to communicate effectively with a wide group of partners, including proactive sharing of information and reporting.
  • Sound ability to work as part of a team and independently; flexible, multi-tasker who meets deadlines.
  • Fluency in spoken and written English and French required.
  • Willingness to travel up to 20% of the time (mostly national and regional).
How to apply:

If you are interested in this position, please send a cover letter and your detailed CV indicating daytime telephone numbers, address and names of three referees with subject ”PDO-WCA”, to jobs@awf.org. 

Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted.

For further information on the position and AWF, please visitwww.awf.org/jobs