Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association

We are a passionate and dedicated team of Rwandan conservationists finding home-grown solutions to protect and restore threatened wildlife and wild places. We are working on some of Rwanda’s most urgent conservation problems; abolishing the illegal trade of endangered Grey Crowned Cranes, raising awareness of the important role of bats, promoting habitat restoration and designing projects to protect other threatened wildlife in Rwanda.

We have recently been awarded a 5-year grant to scale up our work at Ramsar protected Rugezi Marsh. We are looking for a highly skilled and passionate Project Manager who can help us to co-ordinate and implement the project activities, with the goal of increasing community involvement in the management and protection of Rugezi Marsh. This is an exciting opportunity for a mid-career applicant with proven experience of project management and leadership.

Job Title:      Project Manager – Rugezi Marsh 

Start date:          June 2023

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Hours:                  Full time position, with some out of office hours e.g. early mornings, evenings or weekends

Location:             Based at Rugezi Marsh, with at least 3 days a week of fieldwork. Office space available at Butaro – Burera district. Occasional travel to RWCA’s main office in Kigali, and other travel/fieldwork as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • To manage and oversee all RWCA’s project activities around Rugezi Marsh
    • Activities will include the following (N.B. this list is not exhaustive):
      • Team of Community Rangers
      • Joint Patrol exercises
      • Workshops for local leaders
      • Schools education & community youth clubs
      • Habitat restoration sites
      • Fodder grass initiatives
      • Rainwater harvesting projects
      • Livelihood projects
    • To support and co-ordinate RWCA’s existing community initiatives such as women’s groups, cooperatives, and livelihood projects, and support the implementation of new ones as per the project proposal.
    • To monitor our restoration sites around Rugezi Marsh and coordinate the team of Community Champions who work at these sites.
    • To co-ordinate and support a Wetland Health Assessments and biodiversity surveys at Rugezi Marsh.
    • To contribute to a Revised Management Plan for Rugezi Marsh.
    • To ensure the project activities are implemented within the designated project timelines.
    • To closely monitor project progress and identify and challenges and problems
    • To manage the project budget and provide financial reports in line with grant budgets.
    • To contribute to a project monitoring and evaluation plan and implement the measures and data collection needed for the project.
    • To write regular update reports for donors, and collect success stories, including photos to illustrate the impact of our work.
    • To work closely with other team members such as our Community Conservation Programme Manager and Habitat Restoration Manager to ensure the smooth running of all activities.
    • To Line Manage RWCA’s Field Assistants, Rangers and Community Conservation Champions based at Rugezi Marsh, providing support and promoting excellent teamwork.
    • To work closely with District authorities, local leaders and other partners.

Qualifications & Skills:

  • A Masters level degree in conservation, natural sciences or similar field.
  • At least 5 years’ experience in conservation, preferable with at least 1 year experience in project management or leadership.
  • A willingness to learn and take time to understand our project activities
  • Experience in managing grants and project implementation
  • Experience in financial management and/or M&E is an advantage
  • Experience of managing other staff and leading teams.
  • Exceptional communication skills:
    • written and spoken English and Kinyarwanda
    • Experience of public speaking, presentations and talking to the media
    • Adapting conservation messages depending on the audience
    • Report writing
  • Skills in data collection
  • Excellent computer literacy including Google Workspace & Microsoft Office.
  • Ability and experience to conduct meetings and other job tasks via online platforms
  • Experience of GIS and remote sensing would be an advantage.
  • Willingness to engage and interact with community members and put community members at the centre of the work that we do.
  • Sensitivity and understanding of diversity.
  • Attention to detail.
  • Problem solving skills and creativity.
  • Someone who is self-sufficient and takes initiative.
  • A good team-player.
  • A passion for Rwanda’s wildlife and our environment.

All interested candidates should submit a letter of application explaining why you think you would be the best candidate for the job, along with a full CV and details of 2 referees to contact@rwandawildlife.org. All applications to be received by e-mail by May 31st 2023.

Olivier Nsengimana, DVM, MVetSci 

Founder and Executive Director

Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA)

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