The Nature Conservancy Food Scape Director Jobs in South Africa

The Nature Conservancy Food Scape Director Jobs in South Africa

Who We Are:

The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive.

We’re rooted in our Mission and guided by our Values, which includes a Commitment to Diversity and Respect for People, Communities, and Cultures. Whether it’s career development, flexible schedules, or a rewarding mission, there’s lots of reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want a better insight to TNC? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube or on Glassdoor.

Our goal is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that all our colleagues around the globe feel a sense of belonging, and that their unique contributions to our mission are valued. We know we’ll only achieve our Mission by hiring and engaging a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we work.

Food production systems are responsible for approximately 80% of deforestation, 70% and 50% of terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity loss, respectively. They contribute about 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions. In Africa, agricultural landscapes are where people and natural systems co-exist.

Agriculture must go far beyond nature protection, to develop equitable household and community-level incentives for sustainable conservation. Traditional conservation efforts focused around protected areas will achieve little without going where nature is intertwined with agriculture. Lessons show that the future of agriculture in Africa will be derived directly from healthy ecosystems.

TNC is working with partners to catalyse a transition to regenerative food systems; productive socio-cultural/economic arrangements that enable food security, food sovereignty, secure livelihoods, while supporting and valuing nature. Regenerative food system goes beyond sustainability. It ensures benefits and eliminate trade-offs.

By developing smart strategies in partnership with producers and communities, we work to make farms, rangelands, ranches more productive, protect freshwater, increase biodiversity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions whilst securing the food supply for a rapidly growing population. This work constitutes TNC’s systemic effort in regenerative foodscapes across the globe.

What We Can Achieve Together:

TNC has for the last one year led several partners to codesign what is called the Central Highlands Ecoregion Foodscape (CHEF). CHEF aims to develop incentives and initiatives that promote land health, water resources management, and biodiversity in food systems, against the backdrop of climate change, environment degradation and rural poverty.

CHEF is tailored to connect different geographies, climates, ecosystems, social and economic contexts, and the motivations of relevant stakeholders, including local communities. CHEF will cover an area spanning from source water locations in counties around the Aberdares and Mt Kenya, through production areas leading to the rangelands of Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu Counties.

Solutions from the CHEF will be cross-border, national and local in nature. It is a partnership program for integrated action around solutions that fall in five action areas. (1) Foodscape innovation hubs. These are physical and virtual spaces for connecting actors, for innovation, for regenerative SMEs and start-ups, for innovative financing, for partnership governance. (2) Testing and scaling agricultural conservation strategies.

We’re Looking for You:

Are you looking for a career to help people and nature? Guided by science, TNC creates innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that people and nature can thrive together.

We’re looking for someone who is passionate and a motivated problem-solver. Our team in Africa is dedicated to protect the continent’s unique natural wonders, improve peoples’ lives and create vibrant and sustainable economies. Join us!

Specific Roles and Key Responsibilities:

Lead the successful implementation of the operations and initiatives under CHEF to obtain the program planned results.

Supervise and coach CHEF staff and consultants and oversee/ensure integration of all the technical work.

Serve as primary contact for the program, ensuring strong TNC internal coordination with other relevant programs and offices.

Apply design thinking to CHEF strategic planning and obtain any required approvals at key decision points.

Provide financial management oversight, analyze budgets, and provide updates to the BU on budget expenditures.

Establish the required connections with key stakeholders and lead the development of key partnerships.

Lead the fundraising efforts and seek opportunities to leverage funding from other programs implemented in the region.

Responsible for timely delivery of required plans, monitoring of activities, and evaluation of the program performance.

Responsible for risk management, issue resolution, conflict management and of collaboratively complex problems solving.

What You’ll Bring:

BA/BS degree agribusiness, business management, economics, international development and 10 years’ experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Strong strategic development skills.

Experience directing complex programs and managing and supervising multi-disciplinary teams.

Demonstrated technical expertise in one or more the following technical areas: land health, water management, biodiversity, climate mitigation, and livelihoods and community development.

Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives, and managing performance.

Demonstrated ability to maintain productive working relationships with donor representatives, government officials, private sector actors, and other stakeholders.

Fundraising experience, including identifying donor prospects and donor cultivation.

Experience working with current trends and practices in relevant discipline(s) and geographic regions.

Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and/or government agencies.

Experience negotiating

Experience with financial management of a large program.

Desired Qualifications

Master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as agribusiness, business management, economics, international development, and 10 years of experience in conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Strong experience in partnership management/development with major scientific organisations, non-profit partners, community groups and government agencies and proven track record in influencing and working productively with these stakeholders.

Strong English language communications skills, including ability to communicating clearly via written, oral, and graphical forms, and ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.

Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.

Experience developing practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.

Experience and knowledge of methods and approaches to conceiving and implementing strategic and transdisciplinary initiatives.

Experience working in a matrix organisational setting.

Developing practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.

Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant

Politically savvy.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; The Nature Conservancy Food Scape Director Jobs in South Africa

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