Conservation job opportunity at ZSL: 2
Role Profile
We are looking to recruit an exceptional, passionate, and inspiring individual to lead the work of the EDGE of Existence Programme. The individual will lead and manage the EDGE programme, with oversight of all activities, including the capacity building components within the programme and science, strategic development, donor and partnership engagement and effective conservation action for EDGE species. The role represents a tremendous opportunity for an individual who is truly passionate about capacity building to deliver locally led species conservation. You will need to be well organized, diplomatic, and have experience managing or leading a programme with full budget oversight and line management responsibility. You will also ideally have experience planning, or leading, threatened species recovery programmes/projects in the field, particularly in developing countries. The role will interact broadly across the organisation, including with colleagues in ZSL’s conservation programmes, the Institute of Zoology and the zoos.
About the EDGE of Existence programme:
EDGE species are Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered, meaning they are unique species at risk of extinction. EDGE species have few close relatives and sit at the end of long branches on the tree of life, so tend to be unusual and remarkable in the way they look and live. Often overlooked by the conservation agenda, they represent irreplaceable evolutionary history: once they are gone, there will be nothing like them left on Earth.
The EDGE of Existence Programme is a global initiative building local capacity to conserve these little-known species. This is essential when biodiversity-rich countries often have the most limited conservation capacity. The EDGE of Existence programme has been running since 2007, and to date has supported 129 EDGE Fellows in 46 countries worldwide working on 127 EDGE species. We catalyse locally led conservation action to protect EDGE species in developing countries around the world. We train and mentor promising future conservation leaders to undertake much-needed action for some of the most threatened and evolutionary distinct species and equip them to become conservation champions for their species.
For full details and the online application process click on this link
I have over 30 years of experience of species conservation and protected area management; human–wildlife conflict mitigation; countering the illegal wildlife trade; conservation-related research; biodiversity surveys; monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL); impact evaluation; and wildlife policy formulation, including the writing and implementation of action plans. Much of my time since 1988 has been spent in Asia and, from 2007, Asia and Africa. I spent the 1990s living and working in protected areas in Java, advising on their management with a particular focus on ungulates, wild dogs, and leopards. From 1998, I focused on elephants, particularly on the development of reliable monitoring methods, human–elephant conflict mitigation, and, since 2004, the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants. I worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for 18 years, working to conserve elephants in partnership with other NGOs, communities, and governments, and ultimately coordinating WCS’s elephant conservation work in Asia and Africa.
In February 2018, I co-founded the NGO, Asian Arks, and served as its CEO until September 2020 with the aim of replicating and extending models of directly managing protected areas under long-term agreements with governments and communities, which the NGO African Parks and others have shown to be successful. From early 2018, I also worked as an independent consultant, partly to support the work of Asian Arks, which as a start-up was unable to pay for full-time staff. Consultancy projects completed include advising the Government of Mozambique on CITES policy, development of a threat monitoring protocol for protected areas and biodiversity offset sites in the Lao PDR, and a human–elephant conflict mitigation strategy for the Government of Gabon. Since December 2021, I have been employed by ZSL to lead the development of a robust conservation planning process to help ZSL’s teams design effective and adaptive long-term conservation strategies and deliver conservation impact.
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Hi @Simon Hedges , thanks for sharing these job opportunities at ZSL! Could you please add your posts to the room "job opportunities"? This is the only way that our members will be notified of your posts by email. Thanks and please let us know if you have any questions.
Hi Thirza - all tree posts are included in the room "job opportunities" and badged "Opportunities". Thanks! Simon
Wonderful! Thanks, Simon!