Tacugama, Sierra Leone, is looking for an Education Coordinator

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Conservation Manager Tacugama

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Apr 30, 2024, 6:21:59 AMApr 30

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Education Coordinator – Job Description

May 2024

Location: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Sierra Leone, West Africa

Position: Education Coordinator

Minimum Stay Required: 1 year;

Start Date: ASAP

Background

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) was established in 1995 by Mr. Bala Amarasekaran. The initial (and still crucial) goal of the sanctuary was to rescue and protect western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) recently declared as Critically Endangered, meaning the species is extremely close to extinction. Since its establishment TCS has rescued hundreds of chimpanzees and currently hosts a resident population of 120 individuals.

Despite one priority focus of TCS being the care of the resident chimpanzees, in 2011 TCS established its own outreach department to begin addressing the cause leading to the high number of orphans at the sanctuary. Now, another one of TCS' major and most critical objectives is the development of this department. The Tacugama Community Outreach program is responsible for conducting biodiversity and social research, as well as raising awareness and sensitizing the local people, stakeholders, government officials and others, through media engagement and environmental education.

Tacugama currently works in five project locations – all of which have a strong educational component. Education activities include working with schools in both urban and rural communities, working with nature clubs that have community club leaders, as well as conduct regular community workshops and awareness raising sessions.

The Vacancy

The Education Coordinator will work with a close team of roughly 10 outreach officers and report to the Conservation Manager.

Education Coordinator – Main Responsibilities

· Content Development – develop content for the different outreach projects, from conservation lessons for primary schools to agricultural workshops with rural communities;

· Monitoring and Evaluation – assist the team in developing a monitoring and evaluation plan for all Education Projects;

· Fieldwork – join trips to rural communities to conduct drop in sessions and monitoring of schools and nature clubs and community workshops;

· Data analysis & entry – analyse and enter data collected at schools, communities and other education interventions;

· Office Administration – assist the Conservation Management team with financial planning, invoicing, record keeping, marketing, personnel and logistics for education projects;

· Capacity Building – conduct regular capacity building and training sessions for the outreach staff to improve the skills of the team;

· Volunteer Program Coordination – assist with the coordination and supervision of outreach education interns and volunteers alongside the Management team;

· Report writing and submission of project progress reports to donors and funders;

· Project Management - Lead the planning, development, and execution of the education and sensitization component of selected projects;

· Grant Proposals – Develop grant proposals and funding applications when needed;

· Communications – work with communications team to develop articles, blogs, social media posts, radio discussion points, etc.

· Assist the team wherever else needed.

Education Coordinator Person Specification (Essential)

· Ability to work independently and as part of a team

· Proactive

· Good problem-solving skills and ability to be adaptive

· Excellent communication skills

· Fluent in English (verbal & written)

· Computer literacy, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.

· Ability to live and work closely with the rest of the team, comprising both International and National Staff

· Ability to live in remote communities for extended period of times to collect data in nearby forest areas

· Analytical and critical thinking skills

· Patience and a willingness to work to different cultural values

· Experience working in West Africa - an advantage.

· Experience with livelihood implementation – an advantage

· Experience with socio-economic research – an advantage

· Experience with teaching – an advantage

· Suitable candidates must be able to commit for a minimum of 1 year

Requirements

Master’s degree in biology, ecology, conservation, community development, conservation education or related subjects.

Contract

This is a full-time, six (6) day a week position.

If the successful applicant does not live in Sierra Leone, the contract will include: on-site accommodation; one African style meal per day; annual return airfare (subject to contract completion). The chosen candidate must provide evidence of personal health insurance, negative TB test, COVID and yellow fever vaccination.

To apply

Please send CV and cover letter to in...@tacugama.com and conser...@tacugama.com .