Full Time, Permanent (40 hours/week)
Chester Zoo is an international conservation organisation operating the UK’s largest and most popular zoo, as well as many wildlife conservation and research projects around the world. To help us in our mission to conserve biodiversity worldwide, we are recruiting a South Asia Programmes Coordinator to join our diverse team of conservation scientists.
The Field Programme Coordinator will manage our portfolio of projects in South Asia and southern China. Working with various departments within the zoo as well as our field teams overseas, they will manage our Assam Haathi Project (India) and Living with Tigers Project (Nepal), both of which focus on community-based human-wildlife conflict mitigation. This entails working closely with the in-country Project Managers who oversee field operations with up to 20 field staff around multiple project sites. They will also act as the zoo’s focal liaison for our conservation activities for the region, which includes several smaller partnership projects as well. The day-to-day tasks revolve around general project management, monitoring and evaluation, report and proposal writing, liaising with our development, marketing and PR teams, and spending time overseas with the field teams on the ground as needed.
Candidates should hold a PhD in a conservation-related topic, with around 5-10 years of experience working in conservation projects in developing countries, preferably in South Asia. Very good knowledge of conservation social sciences, including stakeholder dialogue, livelihoods, and social marketing will be essential, as these projects mostly take a people-centred approach to solving conservation problems. The candidate must have outstanding project management skills, including planning and design, and coordination of teams and budgets while working to deadlines and targets. Experience with monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment is important. The candidate should also demonstrate excellent writing and communication skills, and experience working in multicultural teams.
Although based in the UK at Chester Zoo, this position will require frequent travel to India and Nepal, and other parts of Asia including southern China. The salary is £30,832 per annum and the position reports to the Head of Conservation Science.
To apply for this position, please provide your current CV and a covering letter stating why you believe you should be considered for the Field Programme Coordinator role.
The deadline for applications is Friday 18th December 2015 with interviews expected to be held on 7 or 8th January 2016. For questions about the role please contact Dr Alexandra Zimmermann, Head of Conservation Science, Chester Zoo, at a.zimmermann@chesterzoo.org.
Requirements
- •A PhD in a conservation-related topic.