Conservation Operations Lead

Conservation Operations Lead

Reports to: Mark Gately, Director of the Africa Protected Areas Management Unit

Location: Kigali-Rwanda

Country Program/Sector: Africa Protected Areas Management Unit (APAMU)

Capacity: Africa-wide

Position Type: Full-time

Coordinates with: WCS APAMU team, Landscape Teams.

About Us

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a private, nonprofit U.S. organisation founded in 1895. Its mission is to preserve wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, developing science-based solutions, and taking conservation action that benefits nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, a presence in more than 60 countries, and experience in creating more than 150 protected areas around the world, WCS has accumulated the biological knowledge, cultural understanding, and partnerships necessary to ensure that wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organisations, this knowledge is applied to address species, habitat, and ecosystem management issues that are critical to improving the quality of life for poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct use of natural resources.

Job Purpose:

The Conservation Operations Lead will provide high-level operational expertise and strategic support to strengthen the efficiency, compliance, and effectiveness of WCS's conservation programs across Africa. This role is responsible for strengthening operational systems and standards that ensure high-impact delivery. He/she will serve as a key advisor and support function to landscape programs, providing hands-on technical assistance and adaptive support, capacity building, operational planning, and organisational effectiveness. He/she will also support the strategic use of conservation technology to enhance the effectiveness, transparency, and sustainability of conservation operations across WCS's Africa portfolio of protected areas. He/She will combine a strong understanding of conservation management with technical expertise in information systems, field data collection tools, and monitoring technologies, while also providing leadership in operational planning and coordination for new site engagement, staff capacity development, and systems integration.

Major Responsibilities

Support the operationalisation of the Start-Up Toolkit in sites where WCS has upgraded its collaborative management partnership or in new WCS-managed sites.

• Development of appropriate management systems in new start-up sites.
• Capacity building and mentoring of teams.
• Management auditing: implementation review of management systems

Contribute to strategic planning and program design to ensure operational feasibility and alignment with conservation objectives.

Conduct management assessments and develop appropriate mitigation strategies in collaboration with site, country, and regional leadership, as requested.

Collaborate with operations and field teams to identify bottlenecks and implement solutions that improve efficiency and accountability.

Build the capacity of field teams through training and monitoring.

Support the development of SOPs, performance and impact indicator dashboards for optimal monitoring of field activities.

Pilot and scale innovative tools and platforms that enhance data-driven decision-making in WCS-managed protected areas.

Support the use of technology in strategic planning and impact assessments.

Support the development and roll-out of standard operational systems, tools, and SOPs across the region.