Africa Freshwater Fisheries Scientist at Nature Conservancy | May 2024

Africa

The location for this position is flexible within countries where The Nature Conservancy is a registered NGO and has an established office, with a strong preference for countries in Africa. TNC is registered in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Gabon, Angola, and South Africa in Africa.

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The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we develop innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world’s toughest environmental challenges so that people and nature can thrive. Our work is guided by our values, which include a commitment to diversity and respect for people, communities, and cultures. From a rewarding mission to career development and flexible schedules, there are many reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want to know more? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube   to hear stories from staff or visit  Glassdoor.

One of TNC’s primary goals is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that employees around the globe have a sense of belonging and feel that their unique contributions are valued. We know we’ll only achieve our mission by hiring and engaging a diverse staff that reflects the communities in which we work. Recognizing that people bring talent and skills that have been developed outside the scope of a job, we take a holistic approach to recruitment that considers life experience in addition to the professional requirements listed in our postings. Please apply – we’d love to hear from you. To quote a popular saying at TNC, “you’ll join for the mission, and you’ll stay for the people.”

The Africa Freshwater Fisheries Scientist will join TNC’s Global Freshwater Fisheries strategy team and support implementation of fishery and fish biodiversity conservation and management projects with a primary focus in Africa. They will join a diverse team with expertise in governance, management, gender, ecology and rights, matching the socio-ecological complexity of freshwater fisheries. The Global Freshwater Fisheries strategy is part of the newly created Aquatic Food Systems pillar of the TNC’s Global Provide Food and Water unit.

The Africa Freshwater Fisheries Scientist will work closely with on-the-ground colleagues, fishing communities, partner organizations and governments following a co-management approach to ensure freshwater fisheries are managed for the benefit of people and nature.

The Africa Freshwater Fisheries Scientist will have two main responsibilities. The first is to contribute to developing resources, training materials, and implementation frameworks for freshwater fisheries program delivery from a global perspective. The second is to provide technical expertise and support TNC community-based freshwater fishery projects throughout Africa. Current TNC inland fisheries projects include Upper Okavango Basin (Angola), Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania, Zambia, and lake-wide), Bas Ogooué (Gabon) and Upper Kafue Ecosystem (Zambia).

Candidates with strong quantitative backgrounds in freshwater fisheries science, freshwater fish ecology, or socio-ecological dimensions of freshwater fisheries in the Africa region are encouraged to apply.

The location for this position is flexible within countries where The Nature Conservancy is a registered NGO and has an established office, with a strong preference for countries in Africa. TNC is registered in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Gabon, Angola, and South Africa in Africa. This position might be eligible for relocation and immigration assistance.

The Africa Freshwater Fisheries Scientist is a unique opportunity to advance the conservation and sustainable use of freshwater fish and freshwater biodiversity in Africa and globally. You will join a global conservation NGO to bridge the gap between theory and on-the-ground implementation to address people and nature needs.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about freshwater fisheries to apply their technical expertise and experience to advance freshwater fisheries and conservation in Africa. Join TNC and apply today!

Specific roles and responsibilities:

• As a core member of the Global team, support the delivery of the Freshwater Fisheries Strategy and its objectives.
• Support the development of the Global team’s Centre of Excellence, including leading the creation of a central repository of TNC and external resources related to freshwater fisheries.
• Work closely with TNC country teams in the Africa region to understand project needs and provide technical expertise on freshwater fisheries governance and management.
• Support TNC country teams’ engagement with communities, governments and other partners in fisheries community-based co-management processes.
• Apply a diversity of tools, methods and other resources and advance project implementation through a socio-ecological approach.
• Design and support end-to-end data pathways from survey design, training, analysis through to communicating results to inform management.
• Support project teams’ adoption of a broad approach to freshwater fisheries as people and nature, including accounting for freshwater environments, ecology, community gender and other socio-economic components.
• Deliver freshwater fisheries training to colleagues and partners.
• Represent the context, interests and needs of freshwater fisheries in the African region internally and with external partners.
• Advance knowledge exchange with other regions in the team’s portfolio of projects such as in Latin America.
• Where needed, carry out work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, in hazardous terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances. travel may be required for approximately 20% of the time to succeed in this position.

• Master’s degree in a science-related field and two years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.                   
• Experience leading and working with cross-functional teams.                                       
• Experience synthesizing, interpreting, and communicating scientific information.         
• Experience preparing reports of findings.  
• Record of peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.
• Experience working and communicating with a wide range of people.
• Proficiency in English for written and verbal communication.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A PhD in freshwater fisheries, freshwater fish ecology, socio-ecological dimension of freshwater fisheries, or another related study area.
• Experience with freshwater fishery governance and management in Africa.
• Experience with fishery-related data collection, analysis, and communication.
• Familiarity with human dimensions of fisheries.
• Experience training fishery managers, communities, and partners.
• Multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Proficiency in French and/or Portuguese is desirable.
• Knowledge of software GIS and R applications appreciated.
• Proven negotiation skills.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to meet deadlines.

Job Family: Science

Job Number: 400006

Salary Grade: 7

To apply for job ID 55174, submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at https://careers.nature.org/ by 11:59 PM EST on June 16th. Need help applying? Visit our recruitment page or contact applyhelp@tnc.org.

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.

The successful applicant must meet the requirements of The Nature Conservancy’s background screening process.

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An attractive salary and benefits package is part of TNC’s value proposition to our employees. TNC strives to provide competitive pay and bases salaries on the geographic location of the role committing to being equitable across groups and providing hiring salary ranges when possible.

Since we support flexible and remote work for our employees, many positions have a flexible location within countries where we’re registered as a Non-government Organization and established as an employer. This may mean we’re unable to provide a hiring salary range in the posting for some of our positions. However, candidates invited to be part of our interview process will be provided their location specific range upon request.