MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Implementation and portfolio management;
Lead responsibility in implementation of the “IslandPlas: Advancing Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution in African Islands” project across a range of Island areas in Eastern and Western Africa, in close collaboration with regional IUCN teams in the two regions;
Coordinate alignment of IUCN’s regional plastics work with other global and regional initiatives, including EPPIC, UNEP GPML, Nairobi Convention, BRS Conventions and with regional intergovernmental, private sector and civil society mechanisms and processes;
Spearhead the day-to-day coordination of project implementation and activities delivery across countries to ensure the highest quality of outputs and outcomes in line with project workplans and budgets;
Participate in the development of relevant programme KPIs and ensure that adequate measures are in place for their monitoring and reporting;
Support the regional COR team on technical reporting and on the development of a ‘Plastic Best Practices’ annual report.

Strategic and Technical leadership;
Provide leadership, strategic guidance and direction in strengthening the plastics sector constituency across the Eastern and Southern Africa region in support of a regenerative and sustainable Blue Economy, including liaising with external partners and organizations in the plastics and interconnected space;
Advise on emerging opportunities in the plastics sector that demonstrate potential at national and local levels to change the investment and action landscape in the WIO to address plastic pollution;
In collaboration with the IUCN Ocean team, identify and implement strategic initiatives to support the integration of best practices and learnings to global and regional platforms in support of agenda-setting and action to empower country-readiness to implement the global Plastics Treaty;
Act as a driving force for innovation to position IUCN as a leading organization in the region in addressing plastics pollution through a holistic, lifecycle approach in alignment with global goals and targets such as SDG 14, 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and the Global Biodiversity Framework;
Ensure that IUCN’s work in the region is of high technical quality, based on good science and drawing upon state-of-the-art thinking and knowledge;
Unlock synergies and collaboration with other regional and national ocean and terrestrial areas of work to support the innovative implementation of source-to-sea approaches in addressing plastics pollution.

External engagement and communication:
In consultation with the Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience ensure that IUCN is adequately represented in relevant international, regional and country fora and facilitate discussions in plastics to position IUCN as a reference in the Eastern and Southern Africa region;
Lead responsibility in identification and establishing and sustaining relationships, synergies and partnerships with relevant institutions and platforms in the region and internationally;
Provide evidence-based support and facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues on emerging issues and policy debates to address plastic pollution in the African continent, including through participation in regional fora and processes such as the INC process towards a global Plastics Treaty, AMCEN, regional working groups on marine plastics, Nairobi and Abidjan Conventions, among others;
Lead coherent and consistent communication of lessons learnt to key decision-makers and other stakeholders within the region and globally as appropriate, including via the web, print and media;
In collaboration with Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience identify and manage potential risks associated with IUCN’s public positions in the region and design strategies to mitigate the identified risks;
Act as a focal point for facilitating and supporting the involvement of IUCN Commissions, Members and other members of the Secretariat in the development and implementation of integrated programmatic activities to address plastic pollution.

Programme Development and Resource Mobilization:
As appropriate contribute in fundraising activities, including through development of concepts and projects documents;
Contribute to establishing, maintaining and nurturing good relationships with donors, funding agencies and other technical partners so as to ensure the financial viability of the plastics area of work in the COR programme;
Spearhead the development of a pipeline of bankable projects addressing plastic pollution in the coastal and marine conservation realm, including on actions across the plastics value chain that contribute towards a regenerative blue economy for coastal communities;
Undertake research and synthesize briefs on the growing body of work in plastic pollution.

Monitoring and Evaluation;
Contribute to the development of the COR Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Framework by providing leadership on identification and mitigation of key risks and barriers to effectively addressing plastic pollution in the Western Indian Ocean region;
Responsible for the coordination of programme monitoring and evaluation in the plastics area of work and related projects;
In collaboration with the Regional Head, Coastal and Ocean Resilience, ensure IUCN’s work is accountable to donors and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes;
Provide leadership to use data for programme decision-making, for the implementation of management actions based on the findings of monitoring, and to ensure that feedback from stakeholders inform programme development;
Contribute to progress tracking and programme reporting processes and requirements.

Other responsibilities:
Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time.