Park Manager, Bangweulu Wetlands African Parks

Position title: Park Manager, Bangweulu Wetlands

Location: Bangweulu Wetlands, Zambia

Starting date: ASAP

Overview:

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We currently manage      22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries covering over 20 million hectares in: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Sudan.

Role and Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Regional Manager – Southern Region, the primary purpose of the role will be to: 

• develop and implement an integrated strategy for the park’s sustainable development;
• ensure the effective operational management of the park;
• provide strong leadership to the PMU team;
• represent and promote African Parks with all stakeholders.

Key Performance Areas (KPA’s)

• Develop and execute a park strategy in accordance with the Partnership Agreement (mandate) with the Government and African Parks Network (APN) objectives;
• Develop, revise, and monitor implementation of, a five-year business plan;
• Develop and implement an annual activity plan and budget;
• Develop and implement plans for recovery and sustainable development of the park / protected area.
• Develop and maintain positive community, government (national & local), donor, and other stakeholder relations;
• Ensure financial management processes and fiscal discipline rigorously applied
• Drive revenue generation through development of sustainable marketing and tourism and other commercial revenue streams;
• Ensure all park activities conducted in accordance with African Parks policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s);
• Ensure the park is adequately resourced (financial, people, equipment, etc) to effectively meet its day-to-day operational requirements;
• Promote the development and recruitment of local nationals into the park in accordance with the Partnership Agreement and the needs of the park;
• Build a constituency for conservation;
• Build a strong values-based team culture in the park;
• Provide accurate and meaningful reports to the park Board, APN and other stakeholders as required;
• Ensure successful conservation law enforcement in the protected area.

Required qualifications, competencies and experience:

• Tertiary qualification, preferably conservation related, an advantage;
• 10-15 year working experience;
• 5 years experience working in similar environments and roles;
• Experience in non-profit organisations an advantage;
• Experience working in multi-cultural environments;
• Strong commercial skills;
• Strong financial management skills;
• Project Management skills;
• Analytical skills;
• Stakeholder relationship management skills;
• Conservation law enforcement experience an advantage;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Proven team leadership ability;
• Results oriented;
• Highly resilient;

Key relationships:

• PMU team
• Regional Manager
• APN COO
• AP Park Manager community
• Park Board
• Key government officials
• Key donors