Senior Landscape Technical Advisor, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary

Organization Background:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization
established in 1895 and based in New York, that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding
critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit
nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of
landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150
protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural
understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive
alongside local communities. The WCS Country Program in Cambodia, is a relatively large,
vibrant program with long-term programs in four major forested and/or wetland landscapes:
Eastern Plains (Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary), Northern Plains, Major Rivers, and Tonle Sap.

Position Summary:

WCS seeks a full-time Senior Landscape Technical Advisor to oversee the management and build
out of the WCS program in the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) where we work in partnership
with the Ministry of Environment (MoE). The KSWS program builds on nearly 20 years of WCS
support to communities and government and has operated as a REDD+ project for the last 12
years. Recent sales of a significant volume of credits means the site is well-financed and
looking to increase its impact through the rapid roll-out and implementation of a new,
significantly scaled, landscape strategy.

KSWS consists of nearly 300,000 ha of lowland and hill semi-evergreen and deciduous forest. It
supports globally significant primate and bird populations. Nearly 30,000 people live on the
edge of or inside the protected area, many of them ethnic Bunong. Following the loss of forest
to the south and west, KSWS is now located on a deforestation frontier. The protected area has
been a REDD+ project for twelve years, generating and selling a significant volume of carbon
credits. The challenge now is to prevent deforestation and maintain the integrity of KSWS in
the face of mounting threats. The Keo Seima Landscape Strategy has been developed to achieve
this goal, by motivating and inspiring government, local communities, and civil society to
value and protect KSWS.

The Senior Landscape Technical Advisor will be responsible for the overall management of the
Keo Seima Landscape Strategy to ensure adherence to strategy objectives, performance
requirements, and adaptively manage activities as needed. The Senior Landscape Technical
Advisor will directly oversee management of the site-based Keo Seima Project Manager and Keo
Seima Operations Manager and have overall oversight for WCS field staff in KSWS. The position
will benefit from the support of a strong set of Technical Advisors in the fields of law
enforcement, community engagement, REDD+, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation impact.
This is a unique position that will benefit from access to significant funding, a strong
technical support team, and an established landscape presence.

Major Responsibilities:

• Provide overall managerial oversight and coordination for all aspects of the Keo Seima
  Landscape Strategy (including developing and maintaining team work plans, providing guidance on
  implementation and coordination of activities across teams and grantees, overseeing site
  budgeting and finances);
• Lead development of annual action plan and deliverables with relevant stakeholders
  including government, partners and local communities;
• Build out the administrative and financial capacities of the program to enable the scaling
  of landscape interventions and staffing;
• Oversee and provide capacity building to the site-based Keo Seima Project Manager and
  Operations Manager on all aspects of project implementation;
• Provide overall leadership on monitoring and evaluation to identify emerging issues,
  understand implementation challenges, resolution and achievements;
• Oversee the implementation of the KSWS REDD+ Comms strategy and ensure that sub-grantees
  deliver and comply with the communication plan;
• Through support to the Keo Seima Project Manager, ensure wise use of funds to effectively
  and efficiently implement the Keo Seima Landscape Strategy;
• Provide technical oversight, guidance and capacity building for all senior KSWS technical
  advisory staff, managers, and team leaders;
• Identify gaps and resources for capacity building to achieve the project’s objectives;
• Establish strong professional relationships with relevant local and national government
  counterparts;
• Liaison with government and NGOs partners to ensure alignment of REDD+ project activities;
• Serve as principal liaison with relevant WCS initiatives, globally and regionally, in the
  context of the project.

Minimum Requirements:

• Postgraduate degree or equivalent experience in a related field;
• Extensive experience of project management associated with natural resource management
  issues, ideally in Asia;
• Experience of grant management, including overseeing complex sub-grantee, consortium or
  partnership relationships;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to manage multiple teams and deadlines to
  achieve short-term goals while maintaining sight of the wider vision;
• Proven ability to inspire, manage, guide and support local staff of different capacities
  and cultures;
• Strong verbal and written skills in English to international standards; preferably also has
  Khmer language skills.

Application Process:

Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications should apply by emailing an
application letter and CV together with salary requirements and the names and contact
information of three references to: [email protected]
by April 03rd, 2024 deadline. Please include “Senior Landscape
Technical Advisor, Keo Seima REDD+ project” in the subject line of your email.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer and the organization complies with all employment and
labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates
from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We
are dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an
inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value.

The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The
organization does not discriminate for employment based on age, color, disability, gender
identify, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other
characteristic protected by laws and regulations

Please note that only short listed candidates will be contacted for
interview.