Conservation Funding Specialist: Francophone Proposal & Report Writer at African Parks Network

Key Responsibilities:

• Support fundraising account managers by leading the development of rigorous proposals and impact reports, or take up a strategic support role within working groups for large, transformative opportunities. Your focus would first and foremost be where French-speaking grant support is needed in the regions noted above, but there would be opportunity to work cross functionally across the portfolio on other grants if capacity warrants.
• Develop concept notes, factsheets, case studies and position papers based on needs shared across the fundraising team and with input from other African Parks departments;
• Compile risk assessments and facilitate go/no go decisions on large, restricted opportunities;
• Coordinate with the project teams, most notably the Funding and Reporting Managers (FRMs) in the parks, to marry donor priorities and restrictions with the strategic needs and planned interventions of the park;
• Support the in-park FRMs with grant management and compliant grant delivery through start-up workshops, regular check-ins and troubleshooting;
• Provide capacity building, mentoring and professional development input for the in-park FRMs and other park staff with a focus on effective proposal and report writing, monitoring & evaluation and grants management.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in relevant field such as International Development, Environmental Studies, Social Sciences, Conservation, Ecology, Biology, International Relations, etc.;
• At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of conservation, social development and/or sustainable land use management in a developing country context.
• A proven track record in grants management of philanthropic and/or institutional funding, managing the development of proposals, budgets and reports that are aligned with donor interests and requirements.
• A solid handle on monitoring & evaluation frameworks, theories of change and Log-frames and capable of handling complex budgets and impact data;
• Effective communication skills and experience with facilitating different stakeholders: you need to quickly grasps the needs of fundraising and how they intersect with the reality of African Parks and the teams on the ground;
• Experience in leading teams and mentoring other team members, experience with working in intercultural environments is a plus
• Fluency and strong writing skills in French and English, an additional language relevant for the countries mentioned above would be a plus;
• Able to multitask, prioritize and manage multiple deadlines simultaneously while maintaining and improving African Parks’ quality standard;
• Willing to travel to remote protected areas and African Parks head office in Johannesburg;