VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT – Chief Operations Officer
MAASAI MARA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCIES ASSOCIATION
PO Box 984- 20500, Narok Kenya.
M: +254 (0)715 047047 /777 047047
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
The Position: Chief Operations Officer
Job Location: Narok County
The Organization
The Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA) is a membership organization of all the Mara conservancies, open to any existing or upcoming wildlife conservancy whose land is part of or integral to the greater Maasai Mara ecosystem. MMWCA is a Regional Association of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA): one of 12 regional associations across Kenya that collectively play a key role in the growth and development of conservancies nationally.
MMWCA has three primary objectives: –
- To provide a convening space for open discussions; a hub for knowledge sharing and coordination across conservancies; a voice for advocacy; and driving policy in the interest of conservancies and conservation related issues across the Mara.
- Support the creation and development of conservancies and their neighboring areas across the greater Mara ecosystem, as a sustainable form of land-use and to provide mechanisms for equitable and value-based benefit sharing to sustain land under conservation.
- Lead and/or implement development and conservation programmes across member conservancies to facilitate coordination, collaboration and synergetic action.
The Role
Reporting to the CEO, the Chief Operations Officer will be responsible for:
- Day-to-day execution of MMWCA Strategy-Mission, Vision and Core values;
- Leadership and mentoring of diverse technical teams (governance, peace, livelihoods, security, natural resources, wildlife and enterprise), and matrix management to ensure coordinated technical support across the team and the conservancies;
- Leadership and oversight of the annual plans, budgets and reporting of all operating units;
- Leadership and motivation of all staff, including staff performance management and professional development;
- Oversight of MMWCA institutional policies (HR, logistics, procurement, IT, office administration, and transport management etc);
- Oversight of MMWCA infrastructure development;
- Coordination of working relationships with partner organizations to support Conservancies, and management of partner/donor visits;
- Coordination of MMWCA’s support to improving Conservancies’ field operations, staff and board capacity, governance and technical programmes;
- Oversight over the management of MMWCA’s Monitoring and Evaluation system, from data collection to analysis and visualization, feedback and reporting;
- Oversight over the development of effective internal and external communications and media relations.
The Person
We are looking for a special blend of deep, practical field-operational experience combined with multi-sectoral technical capacity, and an ability to operate with sensitivity and diplomacy in a remote environment.
Based at MMWCA’s HQ in Narok town, the Chief Operations Officer will have:
- Over 10 years’ experience in practical operations management across a broad geography;
- A strong technical background in areas related to community-conservation;
- Proven organizational leadership skills in managing people, programmes and assets;
- Experience within complex organizations requiring matrix management of technical and geographical teams across the landscape;
- Demonstrated experience in managing HR, procurement, admin and logistics of a team;
- Knowledge of a working environment involving government, donors, NGOs and social enterprise;
- A personal style that inspires trust, team work, professionalism, cooperation and passion for MMWCA’s mission;
- Strategic thinking in a complex governance environment;
- Excellent writing and communication skills, and ability to develop effective relationships
- Swahili language skills an advantage;
- A passion for community-led conservation and development in wilderness areas.
Minimum qualifications
- At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Administration, Humanities, Finance or related field
- Seven to 10 years of business management experience across a range of organizational disciplines;
- Qualified or possesses requisite experience in HR frameworks, financial management, marketing and operations;
- Strong human capital management knowledge;
- Excellent people skills, with an ability to partner with a dynamic leadership team;
- Financial reporting capabilities including budgeting and cash flow management;
- Strong process and planning orientation
- Has leadership and management abilities to oversee the organization
How to Apply
Please send your application with a detailed CV, highlighting relevant experience, a daytime telephone contact, email address, and contacts of three professional referees to reach us through recruitment@maraconservancies.org by 5.00pm on Wednesday 25th October 2017.