Technical Lead, Guinean Forests Integrated Program

Application deadline: Tuesday 30 June 2026 – 23:59
Location: Dakar, Senegal

Full-time : 40 hours per week
Contract: 2 years fixed term, with the possibility to renew for up to 5 years.

Expected start date 3 August 2026

Salary: EURO 48,000 per year

BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership. Through our unique local-to-global approach, we deliver high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.

We are looking for a dedicated and visionary Technical Lead, Guinean Forests Integrated Program (GFIP) to be responsible for the overall program management, including coordination with partners and participating countries.

In this role you will contribute to BirdLife’s work by ensuring that regional and program-level activities foster knowledge-sharing and facilitate effective collaboration among stakeholders within the Guinean Forests Biome.

How you will do this:

Programme Leadership & Delivery

• Lead delivery of the Guinean Forests Regional Programme in partnership with Conservation International, ensuring effective coordination, compliance, and impact.

• Oversee programme planning, budgeting, reporting, implementation, and delivery across country projects and regional initiatives.

• Manage the Project Management Unit and coordinate partners, consultants, sub-grantees, and stakeholders to achieve programme objectives.

• Drive stakeholder engagement, advocacy, outreach, and regional collaboration to strengthen conservation outcomes.

• Embed innovation, gender equality, social inclusion, environmental safeguards, and sustainable financing across programme activities.

Team Leadership & Capacity Building

• Lead and develop project teams, consultants, and partners to deliver high performance and strengthen institutional capacity.

• Provide technical leadership, training, and knowledge exchange to government and non-state stakeholders across West Africa.

Policy, Learning & Partnerships

• Support policy development and regional alignment to advance biodiversity conservation, forest restoration, and sustainable landscape management.

• Foster learning, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships to scale impact and promote best practice.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting

• Lead monitoring, evaluation, and reporting processes to track results, ensure accountability, and meet GEF and donor requirements.

• Oversee programme performance reviews, reporting cycles, and evaluations to support continuous improvement.

This role will require regular travel (up to 30% of your time).

What we are looking for:

You are an experienced conservation and development professional with a postgraduate qualification (or equivalent experience) in Sustainable Development, Natural Resources Management, Biodiversity Conservation, Ecology, Environmental Studies, or a related field. You have a strong track record of leading complex, multi-partner programmes and delivering results in biodiversity conservation, landscape management, and sustainable development—ideally within West Africa.

You bring experience working with GEF-funded initiatives, policy engagement, stakeholder collaboration, and capacity strengthening across forestry, biodiversity, and climate change. You are a confident communicator and relationship builder, fluent in English and French (Portuguese is an advantage), with the ability to influence diverse audiences and communicate technical information clearly and creatively.

You are self-motivated, culturally aware, and thrive in collaborative, fast-paced environments, with strong problem-solving, reporting, and delivery skills.

See the full job description here.

Salary & benefits:

Commensurate with experience and qualifications and in accordance with BirdLife International, Africa Division terms and conditions.

BirdLife values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Find out more about our Diversity statement.

We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and supportive culture, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We aim to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity.

We will consider putting into place appropriate reasonable adjustments for candidates who may have a disability.

Interviews: Interviews will be held during the week of 17 July 2026.