Senior Specialist 2: NMSI Technical Lead - Cape Town/Pretoria at South African National Biodiversity Institute

Job Description

Biodiversity Research, Assessment & Monitoring Division

• The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is looking for a self-motivated individual to manage the National Monitoring Support Initiative project and provide technical leadership for the work on strengthening South Africa’s national biodiversity monitoring framework; developing a system for reporting to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) including the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP); coordinating and guiding the work of a team of people developing reproducible workflows for biodiversity indicators and overseeing the design and build of the indicators database to meet needs of the National Monitoring System.
• This position requires a degree in Ecology, Biology, Geographic Information Systems or Data Science or equivalent qualification at NQF 7. A postgraduate qualification at NQF 8 will be an added advantage. This position also requires 8 years of work experience in the relevant field, 4 years of which should be in first line management position(s).

The following competencies are required for the candidate to be successful in this position:

• Experience and knowledge of spatial and non-spatial data analysis and data science methods and processes, including the use of programming languages (preferably R or python), version control, relational databases, and statistical and spatial analysis methods.
• Experience in data science in the environmental sector – preferably working with biodiversity/environmental-related indicators. Proficiency in Microsoft 365 is essential. Understanding of research processes and outputs, ideally related to state of biodiversity assessment and reporting. '
• Knowledge of international biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
• Project management experience, including coordinating teams of staff and external contributors, and managing donor-funded project finances and reporting to donors. Knowledge about government, human resources, procurement, and financial management policies at project level would be an added advantage.

Key Performance Responsibilities include:

• Manage the donor-funded National Monitoring Support Initiative project finances, governance and reporting.
• Design and implement the South African national biodiversity monitoring system to ensure effective reporting against the monitoring framework of the GBF and NBSAP;
• Oversee the sourcing, developing and management of data to be utilised for the national biodiversity monitoring system, and manage relationships with data providers;
• Oversee and manage development and implementation of indicator-related data analyses and other workflows; ensure appropriate databasing; ensure correct computation of indicators and;
• Implement and drive change, human capital development and transformation.