Head of Conservation , BirdLife Europe

BirdLife Europe, in Cambridge or Brussels, is looking for:

Head of Conservation

(Europe and Central Asia)

1       Introduction

We are looking to recruit a dynamic, self-motivated Head of Conservation to provide vision and leadership in driving forward BirdLife Europe’s conservation Programmes

BirdLife Europe is the European Division of BirdLife International, and is one of the six BirdLife regional offices around the world. BirdLife Europe leads and supports the European and Central Asia Partnership of BirdLife International, which consists of 49 independent, grassroots Civil Society Organisations with over 2 million members.

Together with BirdLife International, present in 121 countries through a Partnership of autonomous Civil Society Organisations, we protect wild birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, by working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. We are the global authority on the status of bird species, with unparalleled technical expertise in bird and biodiversity assessment, and capacity to link local conservation activities and groups to domestic and international policy and conservation work. 

 

2       Overall purpose of the job

To shape BirdLife Regional conservation vision and be the driving force behind BirdLife Conservation Programmes and Regional plans to protect species, and conserve sites and habitats, by advancing actions for threatened species, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, and priority habitats and ensuring that BirdLife work is underpinned by a strong scientific foundation.

 

3       Duties

3.1    Main duties

1.    To lead the development, implementation and review of Conservation Programmes actively involving BirdLife Partners in Europe and Central Asia and coordinating with the BirdLife Global and Regional Secretariats. In particular focusing on the Regional Conservation plans of the following BirdLife Programmes: Preventing Extinctions, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Migratory Birds, Seabirds and Marine Environment, Forests of Hope, Climate Change, Invasive Alien Species.

2.    To actively engage with relevant BirdLife Partners and Global and Regional Secretariat staff to ensure that BirdLife’s Conservation action and policy and advocacy agenda is underpinned by solid scientific evidence and data. The Head of Conservation will not engage directly in policy work but, through the scientific work, will help her/his colleagues to achieve policy objectives.

3.    To lead the team coordinating the conservation action and scientific work of the BirdLife Partnership in Europe and Central Asia, ensuring production of outstanding and high impact publications.

4.    To identify current and future research needs, to design and coordinate suitable projects to meet them and to get academics to focus on addressing the research priorities identified by BirdLife.

5.    To support the BirdLife Partners in their activities to collate, verify, analyse, interpret and disseminate relevant scientific information and data in the most effective way. 

6.    To ensure that the high standards of regional scientific data are maintained and enhanced.

7.    To plan funding requirements of regional Conservation work, help produce fundraising proposals,manage cost centre budgets, and help ensure reporting requirements are met.

3.2    Other duties

1.    To support the data and analysis needs of BirdLife Regional Task Forces and other European advocacy projects, by preparing periodic assessments, indicators and reviews and reports of key data sets.

2.    To be responsible for recruiting, managing and training regional conservation and science managers, officers and assistants.

3.    To participate in, or set up, relevant programme/project teams and working groups and to represent BirdLife at external technical meetings and in steering groups.

 

4       Qualifications required:

PLEASE, READ THIS CAREFULLY: Before submitting your application take time to score your qualifications for this job. Remember to be honest, this is the best way to increase your chances to get the job. Please use the following scores: 0 = I do not have this qualification, 1 = basic, 2 = good, 3 = very good). 

Before submitting your application, please answer to the following questions:

Question	Answer
Do you score only 2 or 3 in qualifications from 1 to 9?	NO: you are not qualified enough to apply to this job YES: please pass to the following question
Is your total score more than 65?	NO: you are not qualified enough to apply to this job YES: you can apply for this job

If you are qualified to submit your application, please attach the scorecard to the cover letter.

Please consider that any application sent without individual and total scores or with any 0 or 1 in qualifications from 1 to 8 or with a total score of less than 65 will be automatically discarded.

 

Essential Qualifications                       (Score: 0 = I do not have this qualification, 1 = basic, 2 = good, 3 = very good)		Score
Experience & Knowledge
1	Good general education – University Degree in relevant environmental subject: Biological Sciences and/or nature conservation.
2	Very good general knowledge and authoritative manner about birds and biodiversity conservation.
3	In-depth knowledge of conservation issues related Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Preventing Extinctions of Species, Migratory Birds, Seabirds and Marine conservation, Forests, Climate Change, Invasive Alien Species
4	At least 5 years work experience in birds and biodiversity conservation
5	At least 5 years work experience with International NGO networks
6	At least 3 years of Management experience
7	At least 3 years work experience of development of nature conservation funding applications
8	Very good understanding of EU nature conservation policy issues, in particular the Birds and Habitats Directives
9	Good knowledge about BirdLife work and structure
Skills & Abilities
10	Excellent written skills with the ability to produce technical nature conservation briefs, reports and publications
11	Excellent communication and interpersonal skills required to build relationships with partners and stakeholders
12	Experience in hiring, training, developing, supervising and appraising personnel
13	Ability to motivate and work with a team of colleagues based in separate offices
14	High standard of computer literacy (Excel, Word, Power Point and Outlook and the Internet)
15	Ability to understand, generate and manage budgets
16	Fluent in English (Additional languages are an asset)
Approach to work
17	Accuracy and precision
18	Demonstrable ability to create and follow work plan and prioritise own workload with minimum supervision.
19	Flexibility and adaptability (multiple assignments, working under pressure, responsiveness to requests, follow-up of decisions)
20	Openness: capacity to integrate new ideas and approaches
21	Ability and willingness to travel for work and willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends as required
Personal disposition
22	Strong self motivation and curiosity and commitment to nature conservation
23	Problem solving attitude and capacity to resolve potential conflicts.
24	Assertiveness and confidence
25	Creativity both in thinking and in executing tasks
	TOTAL

 

5       Employment conditions:

Salary range: 33000 – 35000 GBP per annum (if based in the UK) or 55000-58000 EUR per annum (if based in Belgium). Benefits according to BirdLife standards in the UK or Belgium.

Please do not apply if you are not ready to live in Cambridge or Brussels. Final location will be decided in agreement with the selected candidate.

6       How to apply:

Please submit the qualification scorecard, a full CV and a comprehensive cover letter (all in English) setting out your reasons for applying for the post and outlining the qualifications experience knowledge and skills that you feel you can bring to the role to: europe@birdlife.org

Closing date:  1^st September 2013 at midnight CET. Please consider that applications received after the closing date will be automatically discarded.

 

7       Short listing and interviews:

Short listing is based on CV, scorecard and cover letter. Successful candidates will be asked to attend face to face interviews and perform an additional test. 

Please note that due to the large number of expected applications only successful candidates will be contacted.

Interview day:  10^th September 9am – 4pm, in Cambridge.