The Manager brings technical expertise and lived experience in Indigenous and community rights and equity across numerous priority focal areas connected to human rights and conservation in the region, including community participation and leadership, equality and non-discrimination, land tenure and access, security, gender and intergenerational equity, livelihoods, financial inclusion, human-wildlife conflict and market development. The Manager understands the promise and pitfalls of carbon sequestration and benefit-sharing, as well as protected are management, and they are able to navigate and articulate the tensions inherent in these global strategies to address climate change and reverse biodiversity loss in sub-Saharan Africa. They understand robust and culturally responsive monitoring and evaluation, and are comfortable with both qualitative and quantitative metrics. They know all pertinent UN rights frameworks, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and have a deep knowledge of Indigenous and community organization and claims-making in Africa. They advise country program teams on specific issues and are able to respond in a timely manner to questions and needs that arise.
The Manager will lead the development of an integrated approach and management plan for the consistent application of TNC’s Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF) and will work with Africa Gender Advisor to assess and mainstream processes projects, programs and strategies. They will serve as the Safeguards Advisor to project teams, and at times, lead the development and management of Terms of References (ToRs) and contracts for safeguards and/or gender consultants for large complex projects.
The Manager builds on the deep experience of country programs and supports the Conservancy as a key partner in this space, building internal capacity and strengthening external partnerships in support of this work. Working closely with TNC IPLC teams in relevant country programs, across the Africa Region, and globally, they bring together guidance, best practices, case studies, templates, curricula and networking opportunities to support the adoption of key strategies and learning and sharing, to meet our commitments to respecting human rights in all our work. Working with Indigenous and community organizations, human rights organizations, donors, governments, academia, corporations and other non-profit organizations, they will help shift the paradigm of conservation through placing Indigenous and community rights and leadership at the center of our work at the regional level.
The Manager will report directly to the Global Director of Human Rights in Conservation with dotted-line reporting to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Director Africa. They will collaborate with Safeguards colleagues across TNC in the development and application of tools, resources and frameworks. This position shall be based where TNC has a registered office in Africa; Angola, Gabon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania or Zambia.