Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania is Earth’s longest lake, containing 17 percent of the world’s freshwater and boasting over 300 fish species. The lake forms the western boundary of Tanzania’s Greater Mahale Ecosystem—a 4.8 million-acre forested landscape that is home to more than 90 percent of Tanzania’s endangered chimpanzees. However, only 10 percent of the GME’s land is formally protected and the majority of the area’s chimpanzees live outside these protected areas. With one of the world’s highest annual population growth rates (4.8 percent), the region faces extreme poverty, rampant development and associated environmental degradation (all of which are intensified by climate change). Weak local governance and inadequate social services leave families almost wholly dependent on the area’s natural resources to meet their basic daily needs.
In 2011, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Pathfinder International created a partnership to address the pressing population, health and environment (PHE) issues in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem under the flagship of the “Tuungane project”. Tuungane, meaning ‘Let’s unite’ in Kiswahili, is an integrated conservation and development project that unites NGOs from the health and conservation sectors in the Kigoma and Tanganyika Districts surrounding Mahale National Park on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The two conservation partners already have a strong foothold in the region. Together, these two partners have committed themselves to a long-term project with the vision to see the Greater Mahale System as a diverse, functioning ecosystem that sustains healthy and resilient human and natural communities forever. The two organizations have developed the long-term goals of the project, including:
- Terrestrial ecosystem health is maintained and improved in critical areas
- Freshwater ecosystem health is maintained and improved in critical areas
- Local communities with healthy sexual and reproductive lives
We are seeking a Project Manager to provide strategic leadership in integrated planning, project cycle management, annual work plans and budgets development, staff management, results monitoring and reporting. We are therefore looking for an individual who is experienced in project management in remote settings, organizational capacity building expertise, innovative problem solver, effective team coordinator, proven networker and self-starter. The Greater Mahale Ecosystem is remote, with limited transport and communication networks, making it a very challenging living and working environment.
The Tuungane Project Manager is responsible for implementing strategic activities in partnership with Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as LGAs, managing staff, developing and managing budgets and helping to raise funds to achieve project objectives in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem of western Tanzania.
She / He works closely with the Africa Region staff, other divisions of TNC and Pathfinder International, government agencies, regional institutions, NGOs, multilateral and bilateral agencies, land and water managers, communities and the private sector to develop, coordinate and implement project strategies.
The Project Manager is employed by The Nature Conservancy and is charged with leadership in business planning, implementation of annual work plans and reporting project outcomes and challenges to an executive team on a quarterly basis. She/he is also responsible for gaining Government support and for helping to secure additional funding. Both government and private fundraising will be supported and coordinated by existing TNC fundraising staff in Tanzania and America.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Strategic plan development: guide and oversee the development and implementation of Tuungane’s vision for integrated management and the associated strategic objectives
- Work plan design and budgeting: oversee development and implementation of annual project work plans and budgets
- Reporting accountability: provide timely and quality report writing for both organization
- Staff management: supervise a diverse, geographically dispersed and multi-institutional project team
- Staff capacity development: create and implement skills improvement, coaching, mentorship programs to improve the capacity of the cadre of staff in the execution of their responsibilities
- External relations and policy management: Maintain and establish key partnerships with international, regional, national and local governmental, multilateral, bilateral, and non-governmental organizations that can help advance project objectives in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem. Raise awareness of Project’s mission, goals and capacity among key government, multilateral, bilateral, NGO and local authority officials.
- Relationship with Partners: maintaining continuous working relationship with Partners, village government and communities
- Monitoring and evaluation: implement a robust result monitoring and learning system that tracks program results, suggests improvements, and informs broader policies
- Fund raising: explore funding opportunities and prepare marketable funding proposals and prepare concise briefing materials and talking points
- Communication: Provide seamless dissemination of accurate information regarding Tuungane’s integrated work in Tanzania to the stakeholders through various media
- Decision Making: Make strategic decisions based on analysis of existing information, experience and best judgment
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- 10 years’ experience in integrated development or equivalent combination of education and experience with the last 4 – 5 years having been at middle to senior management level.
- Knowledge of current trends and practices in the health, conservation and development sectors in Tanzania
- Knowledge of the complexity of political and civil society involvement with respect to population, health and environmental aspects
- Experience in designing, implementing and directing multiple complex projects and ensuring program accountability.
- Experience in Reporting and donor management
PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- Proven project management skills, including the ability to develop long-term goals, set clear and measurable objectives, establish and meet deadlines, and work within teams to complete deliverables on time and within budget.
- Experience working with a diverse set of stakeholders and coordinating complex inter-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and international multi-stakeholder processes of institutional development at multiple levels.
- Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in Kiswahili, English and other relevant languages.
- Demonstrated leadership qualities and ability to work effectively with and through others in a decentralized and geographically dispersed organization.
- Proven interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills and must be able to prepare and present project proposals, and develop written communications on various PHE issues
- Ability to find creative solutions to problems and negotiate with and influence others;
- Supervisory experience, including ability to set objectives and manage performance.
- Ability to develop practical applications of social, economic and scientific concepts and innovations for PHE purposes.
- Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity, health and livelihood information systems and initiatives.
- Experience in working with LGAs and knowledge of the government systems including the fiscal cycle of the GoT