UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Future Ecosystems for Africa Project Coordinator (AD.09)

Description:

Future Ecosystems For Africa (https://futureecosystemsafrica.org/ ) is a research partnership between the Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Exeter. FEFA aims to establish, together with African project collaborators, an Africa-led, Africa-centred programme to drive change on the continent. FEFA is centred on the notion that Africa has a unique, but temporary, opportunity to guide development onto nature-supporting, rather than nature-eroding paths. Herein it prioritises ecosystem-based interventions of protection and rehabilitation, identifying whose voices need to be included in making these types of decisions, and what level of human use, across various ecosystems, remains sustainable.

FEFA aims to appoint require a Project Coordinator with experience in coordinating large, interdisciplinary research programmes. This position is based at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Project Coordinator position is a three-year full-time appointment, renewable, subject to securing additional funding.

Qualifications and job requirements:

  • A Honours degree (or equivalent experience) in environmental science, biology, law, governance or any relevant discipline. A Masters degree would be an advantage
  • Project management experience. Project Management certifications will be an advantage
  • Knowledge of Higher Education / Research environments
  • Good computer skills –ability to work with project management and administrative software
  • Experience working on projects in Africa would be an advantagePersonal attributes
    • Organised, structured working style, good time management, ability to multi-task.
    • Excellent communications skills with proficiency in spoken and written English
    • Excellent interpersonal skills, networking abilities, and teamwork skills
    • A capacity to take initiative where requiredDuties: You will be required to coordinate a diverse suite of projects from across the African continent within deadlines. You will be responsible for the day-to-day communication with project partners as well as with our programme funders and other stakeholders. Your duties include collaborating with project leads around the ongoing activities with respect to deliverables, collating progress-related data for reporting purposes, as well as providing support in overseeing the reporting activities to the funder. You will be required to assist with managing the programme budget and resource allocations, assist with student on-boarding and help coordinate a communication strategy, such as updating the website and social media, and creating up-to-date content for FEFA sourced from project partners. There are also many events, such as talks and workshops, associated with the programme, so another key task will be event management. There will be a need to build a good working relationship within Wits University with the students, finance, legal and HR teams and to keep up to date with ongoing activities in the area.

Remuneration: Commensurate with the level of appointment. Amount of Travel: Negotiable
Start Date: 1 March 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter

How to Apply

To apply: Applicants who meet the minimum requirements should apply by submitting their cover letter (one-page maximum), detailed CV (five-page maximum), and certified copies of all educational qualifications and identity documents with names and e-mail addresses of 3 referees. It is the applicant’s responsibility to have foreign qualifications evaluated by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

External applicants are invited to apply by registering their profile on the Wits i-Recruitment platform at https://irec.wits.ac.za/ and submitting applications. Internal employees are invited to apply directly on Oracle by following the path: iWits /Self Service application/” Apply for a job”.

Correspondence will be entered into with shortlisted candidates only.

Shortlisted candidates may be subjected to a competency assessment

The University reserves the right not to make an appointment and continue searching after the closing date.

Closing date: 25 January 2023

“The University is committed to employment equity. Preference may be given to appointable applicants from the underrepresented designated groups in terms of the relevant employment equity plans and policies of the University. The University retains the right not to make an appointment and to verify all information provided by candidates.”