Marine Spatial Planning Coordinator Kenya Mid level

Mombasa, Kenya

The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive. We’re rooted in our Mission and guided by our Values, which includes a and Respect for People, Communities, and Cultures. Whether it’s career development, flexible schedules, or a rewarding mission, there’s lots of reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want a better insight to TNC? Check out our  or on .

Our goal is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that all our colleagues around the globe feel a sense of belonging, and that their unique contributions to our mission are valued. We know we’ll only achieve our Mission by hiring and engaging a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we work. In addition to the requirements in our postings, we recognize that people come with talent and experiences outside of a job. Diversity of experience and skills combined with passion is a key to innovation and a culture of inclusion! Please apply – we’d love to hear from you. To quote myriad TNC staff members, “you’ll join for our mission, and you’ll stay for our people.

In Africa together with our partners, we are witnessing critical milestones in integrated land and ocean protection, fisheries, water source protection management, energy development and sustainable food production. Working together and strengthening our resolve in tackling global challenges such as climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss that stands to adversely impact the nearly 1.4 billion people that share Africa.

The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Africa Oceans Strategy focuses on securing large scale ocean protection by supporting effective marine spatial planning and community-based conservation approaches. Our work seeks to establish sustainable financing (e.g. through Blue Bonds – debt conversion-based instruments) to enable conservation outcomes at Large Marine Ecosystem scale, by supporting policy and regulatory frameworks, as well as local capacity, with emphasis on linking science and communities to habitat protection and management. TNC’s work on marine fisheries aims to safeguard productive marine fisheries for ecosystem health and as important foundations of food and livelihood security. TNC has established partnerships with several non-government and government agencies to support fisheries and coastal community-based conservation throughout Africa.

The Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Coordinator (Kenya) supports coordination and development of a Marine Spatial Plan for Kenya. They work in collaboration with TNC’s  Africa Ocean Strategy and Global teams and other TNC staff as appropriate to advance the Africa Ocean Strategy under TNC’s 2030 Goals. They will advance TNC’s role in a national ocean conservation agenda in Kenya by providing technical and coordination support towards development of an MSP for Kenya through collaboration with the Government of Kenya (GoK), key implementing partners and other stakeholders.

The MSP Coordinator will be part of the implementation team that oversees the project: “Strengthening the Blue Economy of the WIO through integration of ecosystem services and effective biodiversity conservation” including all aspects of protection, science, stewardship, and community relations. The MSP Coordinator will maintain an excellent working relationship and coordinated with project team members and ensure effective integration of all project components into the MSP process including the use of tools like FishPath and on-board electronic monitoring systems. The MSP Coordinator will support marine & ocean ecosystems biodiversity conservation, ecosystem mapping and restoration.

This position will report to the Program Lead – WIO Blue Economy, and work closely with project manager, TNC’s Africa Fisheries Team, Africa Oceans Strategy Director and Global Oceans Team. The position will be based at TNC’s office in Mombasa, Kenya. This is an initial 2-year term limited position with an extension of tenure subject to performance and availability of funds. No employment visas or assistance is being offered with this position except for the local labour employment requirements.

The MSP Coordinator supports coordination of the development of a MSP for Kenya in collaboration with the GoK team while liaising with relevant stakeholders and other partners as appropriate to ensure effective organization and advancement the MSP process. They support partners in designing and organization of the marine spatial planning process and overseeing the successful implementation of all MSP-related workshops and meetings.

They work with governments, stakeholders, academics, NGOs, civil society, private sector, coastal communities, and other partners to develop a holistic evidence-based marine spatial plan. They support development and application of diverse and tailored decision-support tools and approaches for conservation prioritization and planning to scale up effective and equitable area-based conservation through coordination, capacity building, national collaboration, and promoting lessons sharing and best practices. They support integration of decision-support tools into Kenya marine biodiversity and conservation strategies as part of the MSP process.

Want to help save the ocean? This is an exceptional career opportunity for a highly motivated, capable individual interested in joining the world’s leading conservation organization!

• Develop an elaborate Marine Spatial Planning approach and implementation plan with the objective of improving effective decision-making.
• Coordinate, monitor and ensure timely implementation of the Marine Spatial Plan for the Kenya project and ensure its implementation in accordance with the workplan.

• Facilitate, engage, and support the relevant Government and non-governmental MSP stakeholders and MSP Coordination and Technical Working Groups in Kenya to ensure they provide the necessary MSP process contributions in the required time and quality.
• Collaborate with TNC subject matter experts and other partners as appropriate to identify and mainstream additional support for marine spatial planning process.
• Assist in building technical and management capacity of stakeholders in support of Kenya’s Marine Spatial Planning.
• Supporting spatial action mapping to achieve the GoKs BE vision and TNC’s 2030.
• Support the preparation, implementation, and evaluation of MSP workshops, meetings, and events.
• Process and compile all contributions provided by internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective MSP plan development.
• Support knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation and reporting of MSP process in Kenya.
• Maintain weekly, monthly, annual project reports and prepare timely bi-annual and technical progress reports including news coverage, outreach materials etc.
• Ensure that all MSP outputs are publicly available on websites maintained by GoK, TNC and other partners’ websites as specified from time to time.
• May involve working in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances.
• May involve frequent travel domestically and/or internationally, evening and weekend hours

• BA/BS in natural sciences, social sciences, ecology or related field with 5 years’ experience or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Demonstrated on-the-ground experience and knowledge with advancing ocean conservation and participatory processes such as marine spatial planning, coastal zone management, marine protected area networks and/or sector-based management plans, and remote sensing.
• Experience and significant knowledge of ocean-based economic development (blue economy), including sectors and users of Kenya’s ocean space.
• Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with multiple levels of government, private sector, non-governmental agencies, coastal community leaders, donors and other development partners.
• Experience with facilitation, building stakeholders consensus and conflict resolution.
• Experience manipulating, analyzing, and interpreting data on fisheries and fisheries performance as well as ecosystem interactions.
• Experience managing complex or multiple projects, including coordinating the work of other professionals and partners.
• Fundraising experience, including identifying donor prospects and donor cultivation
• Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
• Experience using applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Web Browsers.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Over 7 years of experience in interdisciplinary conservation and Marine spatial planning
• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated
• Experience with leading strategic and adaptive planning and operations in the areas of public policy, governance and/or economic or community development.
• Ability to explain marine and ocean conservation practices to technical and non-technical audiences
• Knowledge of current trends in Fisheries, aquaculture practices in conservation, and natural resource preservation.
• Completing tasks independently with respect to timeline(s), conversant with analysis tools and management skills
• Excellent communication skills via written, spoken and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.

Since 1951, TNC has been doing work you can believe in. Through grassroots action, we have grown from a small non-profit into one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than 1 million members, over 400 scientists, and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and partners, we impact conservation around the world!

TNC offers competitive and comprehensive benefits packages tailored to the individual countries where we work. These may include health care benefits, retirement benefits, parental leave, paid time off, life insurance, and disability coverage as well as an employee assistance program and other life and well-being benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our on nature.org/careers.

We’re proud to offer a flexible work environment that supports the health and well-being of the people we employ.

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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.

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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.