Tourism & Protected Area Specialist at African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)

 This position will report to the Vice President for Programs, East & Southern Africa.
Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop a holistic blueprint for commercialization of the National Park System in Nigeria to optimize tourism opportunities and increase self-generating revenue for the park system.
• Review, improve, and develop the institutional structure of the protected area authority, drawing on global best practices and supporting commercial optimization of the protected areas.
• Develop administrative procedures, policies, accounting manuals, and other frameworks required for a restructured wildlife authority.
• Develop tourism and business plans for parks and identify potential PPP and business opportunities.
• Concession tourism sites and activities in up to three parks deemed feasible for commercialization.
• Oversee the protected area program, ensuring timely implementation and seamless coordination with the Government of Nigeria and AWF technical staff and conservation capital.
• Oversee the project budget, contracts and all operations, ensuring efficient use of resources, and being responsible for accurate reporting and capturing best practices and lessons learned.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years’ experience working in protected area finance or tourism design and development in Africa.
• Experience working with protected area authorities in Africa.
• Experience developing business plans for tourism operations.
• Experience in concessioning and tendering tourism facilities.
• Familiarity with protected area global best practices.
• Familiarity with Nigeria’s protected area system.
• Program management experience and coordination of field teams.
• Ability to work well with governments and local authorities.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Computer literate with a good knowledge of MS Office.
• English speaking.

Interested candidates are invited to submit a cover letter, detailed CV, and a writing sample as a single PDF document indicating daytime telephone numbers, address, and the names of three referees with the job title in the subject line. Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted. Given the urgency in filling this position, candidates will be screened on an ongoing basis and the position will be closed once it is filled.