Community Conservation Senior Manager

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Position description

Panthera is the only organization in the world that is devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world’s premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global strategies for the most imperiled species. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera partners with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities, governments around the globe, and citizens who want to help ensure a future for wild cats. Panthera Corporation consists of Panthera Corporation- USA and several foreign legal entities and foreign branch offices. For more on Panthera, visit www.panthera.org.

About the Role

We are seeking a dedicated individual to fulfil the role of the Community Conservation Senior Manager for the Panthera Zambia Project. In Zambia, Panthera operates an integrated conservation and community livelihoods programme across the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE) and the Kafue-KAZA community conservation corridor, in close collaboration with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and local communities. Panthera Zambia’s community conservation work spans two complementary landscapes: (i) Game Management Areas (GMAs) in the southern GKE — Mulobezi, Mufunta, and Sichifulo; and (ii) open community lands in the Njoko-Loanja Wildlife Dispersal Area in Western Zambia — one of the last areas in Zambia where cheetah persist outside protected areas, and a critical ecological connectivity corridor between the Greater Kafue and Greater Sioma Ecosystems. Together, these landscapes represent a flagship integrated community conservation programme for carnivore coexistence, livelihood development, and community governance in Southern and East Africa.

The Community Conservation Manager will lead all aspects of this programme and build an integrated community conservation strategy for Panthera Zambia. This is a senior technical and managerial role combining field-level implementation, community engagement, multi-stakeholder coordination, fundraising, and scientific communication. The incumbent plays a critical leadership role in an innovative, complex, and rapidly growing programme.

Role Purpose

The Community Conservation Senior Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for Panthera Zambia’s community conservation portfolio. The incumbent will oversee the design and implementation of innovative community-based conservation models addressing human-wildlife coexistence and sustainable livelihoods, with a particular focus on establishing a legally recognized community conservancy in the Njoko-Loanja corridor. The Manager leads grant fundraising and donor relations for the community conservation portfolio, manages a dedicated team, and ensures robust programmatic and financial accountability across all grants.

Key Responsibilities

Programme Strategy and Design

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership for all community conservation activities within Panthera Zambia’s programmatic footprint, including GMAs and open community areas.
• Lead the design and ongoing refinement of innovative community conservation models that integrate carnivore coexistence, human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation, community governance, and sustainable livelihoods.
• Champion Panthera’s Wildlife Values programme — an innovative Conservation Performance Payment approach — ensuring its effective implementation, adaptation, and documentation as a replicable model for wider Application across the Southern and East Africa Regional Programme.
• Drive the strategic vision and implementation of the establishment and legal gazettement of the Njoko-Loanja Community Conservancy (target landscape: 7,000-20,000 km²), working in close partnership with local communities, traditional authorities, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), and the Forestry Department to secure long-term conservation, sustainable land use, and community-led natural resource governance.
• Develop and refine annual and multi-year work plans in coordination with the Zambia Country Director, aligned with grant requirements and programme strategy.

Community Conservation Formation and Governance

• Lead engagement of communities and traditional authorities in participatory processes to support the formation and expansion of Community Natural Resource Management Committees (CNRMCs) across the proposed conservancy area.
• Oversee participatory resource mapping workshops, conservancy boundary-setting, and development of a natural resource use plan, including business plans for nature-based enterprise development.
• Coordinate the co-design of a community-led constitution and governance framework for the conservancy.
• Facilitate stakeholder consultation workshops with communities, traditional leaders, DNPW, government agencies, and partners to develop an agreed legal framework for the conservancy governance and management.
• Build and maintain relationships with DNPW, the Forestry Department, the Department of Community Development, and relevant local and traditional government structures.
• Oversee capacity building for CNRMC Executive Committees in financial management, benefit-sharing, governance, and conflict resolution — including facilitating annual membership meetings, general meetings, and training workshops.
• Coordinate community outreach visits and ensure broad community awareness of the conservation partnership and its benefits.

Wildlife Values Programme and Livelihoods

• Oversee the implementation and expansion of the Wildlife Values programme, ensuring transparent wildlife sightings data collection, verification, incentive disbursement, and annual wildlife sightings review workshops with each CNRMC.
• Support CNRMCs in the selection and community-led implementation of livelihood development projects funded through Wildlife Values income.
• Identify and develop additional wildlife and natural resource-based livelihood and revenue streams for communities, including ecotourism, sustainable hunting, carbon markets, biodiversity financing mechanisms, and access to Constituency Development Fund (CDF) opportunities.
• Oversee women’s empowerment programmes including sewing groups, business training, and marketing support, ensuring genuine participation across gender and age groups.
• Support COCOBA (community conservation banking) and linkages to sustainable financing mechanisms at local government level.

Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation

• Oversee the management, training, and support of Community Conservation Officers (CCOs), including SMART data collection, HWC task force coordination, and deployment of non-lethal mitigation measures (e.g., chili bombs, beehive fences, or other emerging tested and effective measures).
• Ensure HWC incident response systems function effectively and that communities are capacitated to lead mitigation activities.
• Track and analyse HWC trends and adapt programme responses accordingly, liaising with DNPW on incidents requiring government response.

Wildlife Monitoring and Science

• Oversee community-based wildlife monitoring including camera trap surveys, community sightings logbooks, and wildlife census activities.
• Establish and maintain a species inventory for the conservancy area; coordinate a long-term, data-driven monitoring programme in conjunction with CNRMCs.
• Ensure wildlife data informs programme evaluation, adaptive management, and Panthera-wide science outputs.
• Identify high-priority wildlife sanctuary areas and work with communities and traditional leadership to establish temporary protections pending formal conservancy establishment.
• Evaluate whether Community Conservation interventions are achieving their intended outcomes, including reducing HWC, increasing equitable community benefits, strengthening local governance and legitimacy, influencing land-use practices, and delivering measurable conservation gains.

Environmental Education

• Oversee the Eco-club programme across primary and secondary schools in the programme area, including formation of new clubs, distribution of educational materials, and support for quarterly environmental awareness campaigns.
• Ensure teacher and environmental champion training programmes are designed and delivered effectively.
• Provide strategic oversight and guidance to strengthen conservation awareness and stewardship among youth and local communities, ensuring alignment with the Wildlife Values programme’s communications and engagement strategy.

Other responsibilities

• Identifying, developing, and submitting high-quality grant proposals to bilateral, multilateral, and philanthropic donors.
• Managing active grant portfolios: preparing and submitting narrative and financial reports, managing budgets, and ensuring compliance with all donor requirements.
• Preparing project budgets for new proposals in coordination with the Finance team.
• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of funding landscapes and trends relevant to community conservation, CBNRM, and HWC in Southern and East Africa.
• Directly supervise the Community Conservation Coordinator; provide oversight of CCOs and other field staff through the Coordinator.
• Design staff workplans and provide regular, timely progress updates to the Zambia Country Director and Regional Hub Director.
• Mentor and build the capacity of community conservation team members, with particular emphasis on report writing and grant writing skills, in accordance with Panthera’s succession management approach.
• Where requested, contribute to the development and refinement of community conservation approaches at other Panthera sites across the Southern and East Africa Regional Programme.
• Draft and submit high-quality technical, programmatic, and financial reports to donors, the Country Director, and the Regional Hub Director, ensuring compliance with Panthera and donor reporting requirements, timelines, and standards, and providing accurate updates on project progress, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned.

Qualifications

Essential

• Advanced degree (MSc or equivalent) in conservation, wildlife management, natural resource management, rural development, social sciences, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in community-based conservation or natural resource management in sub-Saharan Africa, with significant field-level programme implementation
• Proven track record in grant writing and fundraising, with demonstrated success securing and managing substantial grants from bilateral, multilateral, or major philanthropic donors.
• Strong understanding of CBNRM principles, community governance, and conservation policy in the African context.
• Demonstrable experience in human-wildlife conflict management and mitigation.
• Experience managing, mentoring, and developing field-based teams.
• Strong project management skills including work planning, budget management, and multi-donor reporting.
• Excellent written and spoken English; strong scientific and technical writing skills.
• Willingness and ability to undertake frequent travel to remote and logistically challenging field sites, including extended multi-day stays.
• Valid driver’s license with 4WD experience in remote terrain.

Desirable

• Experience working in Zambia or the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA landscape.
• Knowledge of Zambia’s wildlife legislation, protected area management systems, and DNPW processes for conservancy establishment.
• Experience with Conservation Performance Payments, Payments for Ecosystem Services, or similar benefit-sharing mechanisms.
• Familiarity with SMART data collection tools and community-based monitoring approaches.
• Experience in environmental education programme design and delivery.
• Published scientific or technical work related to community conservation, HWC, or CBNRM.

Equal Opportunity

Panthera is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive team and encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Application instructions

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