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Kazakh Steppe (Altyn Dala) Project Manager

Employer
CHM
Location
Flexible – Based at Sandy (HQ) & Cambridge – with regular travel to Kazakhstan
Salary
£27,574.00 - £30,590.00 Per Annum
Closing date
9 May 2021

Kazakh Steppe (Altyn Dala) Project Manager
Reference:
MAR20218087
Location: Flexible – Based at Sandy HQ & Cambridge – with regular travel to Kazakhstan
Salary: £27,574.00 - £30,590.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days Annual Leave

In Kazakhstan, the historic range of the Critically Endangered Saiga Antelope defines three seasonal migration corridors covering >110 million hectares of steppe grasslands, wetlands, woodlands and semi-desert that also supports globally important biodiversity. Grasslands, including steppe, are the least protected terrestrial habitat on Earth.

The Kazakh Steppe (Altyn Dala) Conservation Initiative benefits these habitats, biodiversity and communities within this area as a well-established partnership between the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Geology, Ecology & Natural Resources (Government of Kazakhstan), Frankfurt Zoological Society, Fauna & Flora International and our client.

Job Summary

As Kazakh Steppe (Altyn Dala) Project Manager, you will be based at this charity’s Headquarters in Sandy and at the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge, with regular travel to Kazakhstan.

You will work with the Head of Capacity Development & Projects (Programme Lead for Kazakh Steppe) and you will be central to enabling this organisation build on >15 years of low-profile successes, delivering its ambitious role in the Altyn Dala partnership.

You will coordinate all the organisation's technical assistance, knowledge transfer and capacity building to enable effective partnership progress, and you will also provide specialist advice to catalyse rural livelihoods in steppe communities. Your role will incorporate budgeting, reporting, and designing fundraising bids to deliver key activities that result in lasting benefits for species, sites and at landscape scale: Restoring and conserving the steppe ecosystems of Kazakhstan and helping to make this financially sustainable.

Internally, you will coordinate the organisation's Programme Board of technical experts who contribute directly to this work. Externally, you will represent the charity in the partnership Operating Group, working closely with all partners to enable effective planning and fundraising, overseeing fieldwork and reporting. Importantly, you will also join the partnership’s Rural Livelihoods Working Group, bringing your own personal expertise in helping remote rural communities to develop livelihoods that are sustainable and compatible with nature conservation objectives.

Main Responsibilities:

  • Within the charity, help the Head of Capacity Development & Projects (as Programme Lead for Kazakh Steppe (Altyn Dala)) to secure and coordinate essential technical and financial resources to enable this organisation to fully realise its role in the partnership by delivering its agreed Programme Plan
  • Organise the organisation's regular internal Altyn Dala Programme Board meetings preparing agendas, inputs and action lists as well as monitoring and reporting on implementation risks and incidents
  • Manage selected core Programme budgets, individual contracts and project budgets in line with the charity's and donor requirements
  • Within the Altyn Dala partnership, help to design, develop and then begin implementing the overarching long-term Partnership Vision and Theory of Change for 2021- 2025
  • Lead the organisation’s input to the Altyn Dala Operating Group and support the Kazakh team to deliver the agreed outcomes and outputs in line with the Partnership Annual Workplan
  • Play a central role in developing the Rural Livelihoods Working Group to enable remote rural communities to generate income from sustainable activities compatible with nature
  • Work with staff, partners, external contractors and volunteers as necessary to ensure that actions are delivered to agreed standards of cost, quality and time
  • Assist by developing key project documents including communication tools using traditional and digital formats to promote this partnership internationally

Essential skills, knowledge & experience:

  • Master's Degree in biodiversity conservation, rural development or related fields
  • Knowledge of and direct work experience in temperate grassland habitats, preferably in Central Asia or Europe
  • Proven track record managing major projects, including work planning and scheduling, budgeting and financial management, risk and impact monitoring and reporting
  • Direct experience in collaborative project design and planning, including institutional grant proposal writing for biodiversity conservation and/or rural development
  • Proven ability to work in a multi-national team, coordinating effectively people who you don’t manage, building capacity where needed and positively motivating and empowering colleagues with equality and respect
  • Understanding of key concepts in biodiversity conservation from species recovery to protected areas management, ecosystem restoration policy analysis to advocacy
  • Knowledge of and direct work experience in rural community engagement and livelihood creation using microenterprises, preferably in Central Asia, Europe or Asia, with business acumen to help design microenterprise creation and business planning that generates sustainable income for rural steppe communities
  • Accomplished spoken and written communication skills in English using traditional or digital tools that enable stakeholders’ understanding of the Programme
  • Russian language skills (reading, writing and speaking) will be a very desirable ability
  • Evident diplomacy and negotiation skills to negotiate, solve problems and avoid and overcome challenges working with people from diverse sectors and backgrounds
  • A flexible creative approach, with the ability to work under pressure and adapt to changing circumstances, working from the strategic big picture to operational details.

Closing date: 23:59, 09 May 2021

Interested?
Please click 'Apply’ - you will be prompted to complete a short CHM Recruit form before being redirected to complete your application.

No agencies please.

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