Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Closing date: 15 Nov 2016
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is an International NGO, based in Bronx, New York, United States of America, working for the nature conservation with field programs in several African countries including DRC where we work in different National Parks and Reserves to support the actions of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN) and other partners.
In the framework of support to the DRC Program, WCS is contracting an enterprise development specialist to oversee the economic aspects of its projects ongoing and planned around Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Bukavu to ensure their success and long-term sustainability. Projects of main interest for the position include a micro-enterprise scheme, improved cook stoves in Bukavu, agro-forestry, cavy (guinea pig) small business development.
Title: Enterprise development specialist
Job base: Bukavu, South Kivu, DRC
Vacancy advertisement number: WCS-RDC/Enterprise-Dev-Bukavu/FY17
Salary: Dependent on experience
Duration: 4-6 months, renewable
Publication date: 16 September 2016
Responsibilities:The consultant will be responsible for the following key tasks:
- Evaluating WCS’s current projects based in Bukavu and around Kahuzi-Biega National Park, plans and team capacity – identifying gaps, weaknesses in current training modules and approaches, then recommending solutions and developing a road map to improving the projects.
- Assessing rural micro-entrepreneurship opportunities that have reasonable chance of success. Microcredit beneficiaries include hunters and other illegal resource users within around Kahuzi-Biega National Park; they likely may not know what business opportunities exist that they can seize. The consultant will work with beneficiaries and reach out to other stakeholders in the region to determine what activities the beneficiaries can engage in.
- Training project staff and beneficiaries in relevant business and economic methods necessary for the projects’ progress (micro-entrepreneurship principles, business plan development, tracking finances etc). Training should be geared to towards the target audience’s level of education and immediate needs.
- Developing business plans for relevant project beneficiaries (cook stove producers, guinea pig keepers, micro-credit scheme, tree nursery) while working with beneficiaries to ensure plans are both relevant and will be adopted.
- Providing other technical expertise to WCS where needed.
Qualifications and skills required from applicants:- Advanced University degree in Business Administration, International Development, Economics, or related field.
- Knowledge of and experience with rural distribution challenges and opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid
- Experience and knowledge of value chains
- Business plan writing experience for rural SMEs and/or micro-enterprises
- Experience conducting trainings in business development or entrepreneurship
- Strategic and creative thinking skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in both English and French
- An interest in WCS’s mission
How to apply:
Please send your CV and cover letter to the email address indicated below. Only applications sent to these addresses will be considered. Due to the anticipated number of candidates, we are unfortunately not able to respond to phone calls or individual enquiries.
wcsdrcongorecruitment@wcs.org copying akirkby@wcs.org and ldavies@wcs.org