The JRS Biodiversity Foundation is an independent grantmaking foundation based in the United States with an endowment that awards grants to increase the access to and use of biodiversity information in sub-Saharan Africa. Its mission is to increase access and use of information that will lead to greater biodiversity conservation and more sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. We believe that strategic support of biodiversity informatics and leveraged partnerships inform improved biodiversity conservation outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, JRS Biodiversity Foundation has granted millions to support diverse grantees in 25 African countries. In an effort to strengthen its grantmaking and engagement with partners, the Foundation is seeking a Program Officer to operationalilze our activities on the continent.

The position is for an initial two-year contract, renewable based on performance. Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), the Program Officer will play a major role in assessing progress and impact of the JRS grant portfolio, interacting with grantees and enhancing networking with JRS partners, identifying potential new collaborations to amplify JRS’ impact, scoping opportunities for new leveraged funding partnerships, and conducting  outreach activities to generate professional proposals for consideration in line with JRS’ mission to increase access and use of information leading to greater biodiversity conservation and more sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Assist JRS grantees to optimize grant development and project planning.
• Monitor JRS grantee project activities, milestones, capacity-building and outreach efforts to maintain continuous assessment of the impact of JRS support.
• Conduct analytical and technical synthesis of grant portfolio to assess options to increase efficiency and effectiveness of JRS support.
• Identify potential conservation champions, scientists, collaborators and other critical contacts with potential to advance implementation of JRS strategic program areas.
• Cultivate JRS partners across Africa, informing of opportunities for project development potential within JRS strategic areas and conducting outreach and relationship-building with potential partners.
• Represent JRS in international fora, documenting outcomes and scoping potential strategic partners.
• Support the ED in preparation of reports, relevant materials and other tasks as needed.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Higher degree in Ecology, Conservation Biology, BioInformatics or related field required;
• Two or more years’ experience administering and supporting grants and/or field projects in Africa to achieve demonstrated results required;
• Excellent written and oral English ability required;
• Demonstrated experience preparing written project reports, articles, analyses and proposals, with examples provided required;
• Proficiency in spoken and written French and/or project implementation experience in francophone African countries strongly preferred;
• Demonstrated experience in project implementation and impact analysis in multiple Sub-Saharan African countries strongly preferred;

Applicants will be screened on an ongoing basis; those interested should send CV with a letter of interest and a recent analytical writing sample by June 20 to jrsexecdirector@gmail.com.

JRS offers competitive compensation commensurate with the qualifications of the candidate.