Carbon Projects Senior Manager, Africa

Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.

POSITION SUMMARY - This position is based in South Africa, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, or Botswana

CI’s Conservation Finance Division (CFD) and the Africa Field Division (AfFD) are seeking a Carbon Projects Senior Manager to assist in developing a portfolio of investable site- and jurisdictional-scale initiatives, within the African region. The Senior Manager will be responsible for assessing early-stage pipeline opportunities, conducting project scoping, feasibility and due diligence assessments, supporting the design of jurisdictional opportunities, performing field visits when necessary, and moving priority opportunities to full-scale development. For the first 12-18 months the role will primarily be focused on providing support during the origination and early development phases, thereafter, the role may evolve to include responsibility for helping develop Project Description Documents (PDs), Monitoring Reports (MRs), and guiding projects through the validation and verification processes for certification standards such as the VCS and CCB, Gold Standard or other domestic and jurisdictional standards. 

The Senior Manager will work in close collaboration with the Technical and Delivery team and the Carbon Project Origination team within CI’s Conservation Finance Division in addition to the Africa Field Division and CI’s country offices (e.g., Kenya, Liberia, Botswana, Madagascar, and South Africa), external stakeholders, partners, consultants, and CI’s NCS Center in Arlington, to ensure alignment between regional and global strategies.  

RESPONSIBILITIES

• The position will be dedicated to leading the project management of NCS Carbon projects as they transition from pipeline concepts to portfolio projects, including but not limited to managing internal and external project processes, workflows, budgets, and teams, working with service providers and project partners to complete the development of feasibility assessments and coordinating feedback and recommendations to advance projects to the implementation phase. Where required, directly contribute to the due diligence of projects and analysis and writing of feasibility reports. This might include aspects such as assessing the agents and drivers of deforestation or barriers to restoration, key carbon project eligibility concepts, conducting potential emissions reduction and removal analysis, estimating project and program intervention costs, identifying enabling conditions and policy gaps, guiding governance, safeguards, and benefit-sharing frameworks, as well as risk mitigation, business models, etc. 
  
  
• The position will be dedicated to supporting the Regional Carbon Origination Lead to identify, research, and qualify new project and partner opportunities which will grow the region’s NCS portfolio. Work directly with carbon project owners, implementation partners, and other stakeholders to collect, coordinate and assess relevant data and information 
  to help prioritize opportunities and ensure they meet CI’s high-quality criteria and safeguards requirements. Conduct field and desk-based assessments to guide elements of project scoping such as calculation of potential carbon benefits, community engagement, risk identification and analysis, project design, legal and regulatory considerations, and proposed financing plans. Write and prepare Project Information Notes (PINs) and guide projects through CFD’s internal carbon development and approval processes. Manage project origination and evaluation workflow through identification, scoping, and due diligence stages including working closely with implementing partners,creating work plans and budgets for projects. Maintain origination and project databases to ensure that information regarding project opportunities is wellrecorded and available across teams. 
  
  
• The position will be devoted to providing carbon technical expertise in-house to support the identification of NCS strategic priorities for the Africa Field Division and the organization’s climate goals. Where applicable, provide carbon technical expertise and input to support relevant Africa Field Division project/program funding applications or project/program execution. Develop and maintain CI’s network of relationships with partners and support capacity building for CI teams and external stakeholders as needed. Work closely with, coordinate, collaborate, and communicate with all institutional carbon-related staff & teams (within the Conservation Finance Division/Carbon Finance unit, Center for NCS, Climate Policy, and the Blue Carbon Program team) to ensure alignment with their initiatives, views and how their approaches address and support the needs/goals of the region. 

WORKING CONDITIONS

• This is a full-time position (35h/week).
• Frequent travel (~30%) within the African region will be required, often this will entail travel to remote locations with rustic conditions.
• Flexibility in work schedule is required in order to accommodate time differences between the Arlington, VA office and international field offices located in multiple time zones.
• Guidance on flexible work arrangements will be shared during the interview process.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental management, natural resource management, forestry, conservation biology, sustainability, climate science, or another relevant discipline.
• 5 to 7 years of experience working on the development, management, or implementation of NCS and/or terrestrial conservation projects, and/or the carbon markets.
• Knowledge of land use sector (eg REDD, ARR, Blue Carbon, sustainable grassland management) or rural energy efficiency (eg fuel-efficient cookstoves, solar energy, water filters) carbon accounting approaches and methodologies.
• Excellent project management and coordination skills, and a strong attention to detail.
• Experience working with local partners, with an understanding of the on-the-ground realities and challenges of project development and delivery.
• Proven team player able to work effectively across cultures and within and across organizations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and ability to build on existing knowledge to develop new approaches.

Preferred

• Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Experience working across different African countries.
• French language skills.
• Experience working across several different NCS pathways and project types (e.g. REDD, sustainable grasslands management, ARR, Blue Carbon).
• Familiarity with land management project design (e.g. using Open Standards).
• Experience with GIS and Remote Sensing including land use change modeling.
• Experience in rangeland ecology including soil organic carbon dynamics

To apply for this position please submit a resume and cover letter.

See all Conservation International Career Opportunities HERE

Conservation International is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility-committed employer. We are proud to have a diverse, global workforce where employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, position requirements, business needs, market conditions, merit, and other legitimate nondiscriminatory factors.