West Africa Blue

West Africa Blue (“Blue”) is on a mission to work hand-in-hand with communities to preserve, restore and sustainably manage coastal ecosystems in West Africa. Our first blue carbon project is under development in Sierra Leone and will be the largest in Africa, building on 12 years of trusted relationships with our community partners. In neighboring countries, we have agreements in place or work underway to develop similar, nature-based carbon projects.

Blue was co-founded in 2022 by Solon Capital Partners, a leading, West Africa-focused investor established in 2010 to provide capital and support to high-impact organizations throughout the region. Our team is diverse, innovative, entrepreneurial, and committed. We share a love for nature and a deep, longstanding connection to West Africa. We embody a balance of efficiency and speed of implementation with strong values and a mission-driven approach. Our goal is to set the highest standards for equitable benefits sharing, transparency and sustainability in our projects.

The Role

With our flagship project in Sierra Leone underway, as well as several other country projects in the early stages, Blue is seeking a dynamic professional to take on the exciting and critical role of Blue Carbon Technical Expert to help support the Blue team implementing our projects, with an emphasis on supporting our French speaking countries. This position will be the link between Blue's global and country teams to help ensure that projects move forward smoothly and on schedule.

The Blue Carbon Technical Expert will be responsible for implementing the following core functions:

• Supporting country teams, with a focus on implementation in French-speaking countries, including:

• • Field work (planning, budgeting, executing and reporting).
  • Communications (between the local team and the international team, writing content for newsletters and social media posts).
  • Report writing (contributing to milestone reports, government reports and field activity reports).
  • Community engagement (creating content with the team, translating content, planning, budgeting).
  • Stakeholder engagement (meetings with government, CSOs, NGOs, universities, other local organizations).

• General support for various components of carbon project development including pre-feasibility and feasibility analysis, spatial analysis, carbon accounting, fieldwork, certification process requirements, education and awareness programs, theory of change development, livelihoods, conservation and restoration programs, biodiversity programs, marine protected areas and others.

• General support for Blue’s technical project development and scientific requirements, working closely with other members of the in-house team and third-party partners to support the identification, assessment, design, development and operation of projects.

• Development or translation of resources, such as documents, memos, presentations, research or similar, in English and French.

The Candidate

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in marine or environmental sciences, carbon science or relevant technical field.
• Experience with community livelihood projects.
• Experience working in West Africa.
  
• Fluency in spoken and written English and French.

It will be beneficial for candidates to have the following:

• Proven ability to quickly learn and understand complex subject matter.
• Superb written communication skills, with a keen eye for detail.
• Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
  

The following attributes will be critical for success in this role:

• An open mindset and a strong sense of cultural awareness.
• Passion and sense of urgency around nature-based solutions and communities.
• Hands-on problem solver.
• Energetic, proactive, respectful, and patient engagement with colleagues.
  

The role will be primarily remote in nature but will require extensive travel throughout West Africa, including extended time in-country, starting with Guinea.

The role will report to the Director of Blue Carbon.

We offer competitive compensation packages akin to those at start-ups and fast-growing businesses.