Community Conservation Coordinator

The Wildlife Conservation Society is seeking a full-time Community Conservation Coordinator based in N'Dele, Central African Republic. The role involves coordinating conservation activities within Bamingui–Bangoran National Park and surrounding areas, requiring frequent travel throughout the region. The position aims to enhance community engagement and manage conservation efforts in collaboration with local communities and organizations.
Job Description

Position: Community Conservation Coordinator

Reports to: Manovo Bamingui Landscape Manager

Positions Managed: N/A

Location: N'Dele, Central African Republic

Country Program/Sector: WCS Central African Republic

Position Type: Full-time

Scope/Capacity: Country

Coordinate with: Country Management team, finance team

About The Organization Background

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a U.S. non-profit, tax-exempt private organization established in 1895. It saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit both nature and humanity. With over a century of experience, long-term commitments in numerous landscapes, a presence in more than 60 nations, and expertise in establishing over 150 protected areas worldwide, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding, and partnerships necessary to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. By collaborating with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to tackle species, habitat, and ecosystem management issues crucial for enhancing the quality of life for poor rural populations whose livelihoods rely on the direct utilization of natural resources.

About The Sudan-Sahel Region

The Sudano-Sahel Region presents unparalleled opportunities for WCS to play a direct role in saving some of the last remaining intact wildernesses on the planet and to contribute significantly to the The security of people and wildlife is paramount. The savannas, forests, and wetlands of the region support key resources. populations of endangered elephant, northern giraffe, lion, eland, chimpanzee, gorilla, bongo, and the second-largest antelope migration on the planet. Hundreds of bird species occur in the area, including the shoebill and the crowned crane. Communities also depend on the land for their livelihoods through pastoralism, agriculture, fishing, and hunting. WCS has a significant presence in the Sudano-Sahel region, with a strong conservation history and a proven track record of success in protected area management. WCS currently has conservation initiatives in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the CAR. We work actively to support protected area management and wildlife law enforcement, local livelihoods, develop conservation-security partnerships, enhance anti-trafficking activities, and implement our policy and scientific programs.

About The Central African Republic Program

WCS has recently launched a private-public partnership program with the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) for management of the northern CAR protected area complex. This is a multi-faceted, long-term program entailing park management, law enforcement and community engagement. The CAR program is funded through various high-level donors with multiple ongoing projects overlapping, notably from the EU and UNESCO.

Job Profile

This is a full-time position, based at the N’Dele Coordination Hub, covering rights and community conservation activities in Bamingui–Bangoran National Park, Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park and secondary protected areas in between, with frequent travel throughout the entire Manovo-Bamingui landscape, and occasional international travel in the region.

Major Responsibilities

Leadership, strategy, and team management
• Lead and manage a team of highly motivated rights and community team members (+15 staff), providing overall strategic direction for the program, technical input, and mentoring of staff members.
• Lead the implementation of ongoing rights and community conservation programs and collaboration with Central African civil society organisations and other local partners.
• As a senior member of the WCS CAR Program Management Team, participate in strategy meetings and help to ensure sound operations of the program. Including alignment of R+C activities and approaches with the comprehensive park management strategy.
• Work with the WCS CAR staff, the Program Director, and the Landscape Director on work plans, reporting, and budgets. With responsibility for R+C budget management.
• Document and report on program outputs promptly, including drafting reports to donors and fundraising proposals.

Land-use planning and governance
• Oversee land-use planning and micro-zoning activities and governance structures across the landscape.
• Provide support and advice to the land-use coordinator, to organize, arrange, and facilitate meetings, workshops, and other participatory processes working with communities, pastoralists, and local authorities, WCS staff, and other relevant partners to integrate community concerns into conservation, natural resource management and the overall land-use planning processes.
• Work with international, national and field staff and organizations to create awareness to promote wildlife conservation, sustainable natural resource management, and conflict resolution, and address particular land-use management issues.
• Work with the WCS staff to integrate the socio-economic and land-use/tenure data into the relevant GIS databases to contribute to the overall natural resource, protected area, and zoning plans.

Transhumance and pastoralist engagement
• Oversee a suite of transhumance and pastoralist activities, including corridor management, sensitization of herders, livelihood diversification, and resilient rangelands management.
• Provide technical support to the pastoralist coordinator, ensuring a rights-based approach and coordination with transhumance platforms, Indigenous Peoples associations, other NGO’s and the relevant government agencies.
• Develop innovative approaches to include transhumance and pastoralists in conservation activities, sustainable natural resource management and alternative livelihoods.

Rights and social safeguards
• Oversee gender and human rights mainstreaming across all departments of the CAR program, ensuring a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to conservation and Do No Harm principles at all levels.
• Provide support to the social safeguards coordinator and oversee social safeguarding frameworks and policies in close collaboration with the regional team and according to WCS standards.
• Design appropriate Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRM) and monitoring systems; develop Free, Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and Community Rights-Based Approaches to conservation; design and roll out of community-led conservancies; training of staff and partners in social safeguards; roll out and monitoring of social safeguards across the landscape.

Livelihood programs
• Oversee and develop an innovative and forward-looking community livelihoods program that creates real value and positive impact on the resilience and livelihoods of local populations across the landscape.
• Provide support to the livelihood coordinator to incorporate a participatory and inclusive approach to livelihood and socio-economic activities, ensuring that livelihood programming reflects the diverse needs and interests of men and women from local communities, as stated by them. Including establishing a small grants program for central African civil society organizations.
• Provide technical community conservation support to green growth initiatives, carbon project development and alternative financing.
• Oversee value chain analysis, development, and commercial market access programs for local populations (both sedentary and mobile).

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
• Provide support to the M&E coordinator to collect relevant M&E data from the R+C program, oversee and facilitate socio-economic research to improve programming and measure impact.
• Develop strategies to integrate and implement community and socio-economic related aspects of the overall program.
• Oversee research designs, data collection, and analyse baseline data on socioeconomics, community relations, people-wildlife interactions (conflicts), and traditional land-use patterns in the region.
• Provide training, mentoring, and expertise to the WCS CAR Program staff and assist in training and mentoring in socio-economic data collection, analysis, community relations and engagement, and community awareness/outreach methods.

Qualification Requirements

Minimum Requirements and Job Skills (Required)
• Master's degree (or higher education level) in a relevant study of community conservation and natural resource management, wildlife management, international development, or equivalent.
• Proven experience with international organizations in Africa (+7 years) in community-based conservation and working directly with local and transhumance/pastoralist communities and civil society organisations, and officials.
• Experience with team management, mentoring, and training of staff members in a multicultural environment.
• Knowledge of or experience with natural resource management and land-use planning; social safeguards frameworks and human rights-based approaches to conservation; monitoring and evaluation systems; co-design of resilient livelihood programs in rural areas.
• Efficient at coordinating multiple resources to get things done; can work on multiple tasks at multiple levels and switch between them; can foresee and plan around obstacles.
• Good technical, logistical and financial management of projects (planning, budgets, implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
• Proven experience in capacity building of partners.
• Commitment to wildlife conservation.
• French and English language fluency required, familiarity with the languages and culture of CAR will be an advantage.
• Proven ability and comfortable with living and working in a multicultural environment in isolated areas, under difficult field conditions.

Additional Requirements
• Significant work experience in the Sudano-Sahel region.
• Knowledge of Central Africa and Sudano-Sahel environmental and political issues.
• direct experience with environmental and social safeguards frameworks.
• Prior work with climate change adaptation programs.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer, and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and engaging a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and looking for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on gender, race/ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, caste, genetic information, or any other covered status or characteristic protected by laws and regulations/and similar categories.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we do not tolerate discrimination or harassment based upon a person’s membership in one of these protected categories in areas such as recruitment, selection, job assignment, supervision, training, promotions, promotions, job grading, transfers, termination, compensation, benefits, educational opportunities, WCS sponsored recreational activities and facilities.

The organization complies with the spirit and intent of relevant local laws and WCS’s employment policies.

How To Apply

Interested candidates who meet the above qualifications, skills, and experience should apply through the application tab by April 23rd, 2025.

Please send a detailed application/cover letter and a detailed CV. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and looking for future team members who share the same values.

Salary Range

Competitive salary commensurate with experience