Marine Project Manager, Mozambique

About Fauna & Flora

Fauna & Flora (F&F) saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, whilst improving the livelihoods of local people. Their guiding principles are to work with and alongside local partnerships, act as a catalyst for change, make conservation relevant and base decisions on sound science. Founded in 1903, F&F is the world’s longest established international conservation body; its conservation work, and impact, spans the globe.

F&F Marine Programme

Although F&F has been working in marine conservation for decades, it launched its formal marine programme in 2011, focused on three strands: securing important areas to safeguard marine biodiversity; informing and influencing policies and practice affecting the marine environment; and supporting key national and local institutions to help them deliver effective marine conservation.

Since 2011, F&F has worked across 17 countries with over 90 partners and has contributed directly to the establishment or strengthening of over 50 marine protected areas and dozens of new no-take zones, witnessed a reduction in destructive fishing activities at 45% of all sites, and seen evidence of recovery in key species groups and habitats. A recent external review of the Marine Programme showed strong progress and indicated clear need and opportunity for F&F to further grow this programme of work.

Mozambique Programme

F&F has been working in Mozambique since 2004, supporting the management of Niassa Special Reserve. Since 2018, F&F’s portfolio within Mozambique has also included direct support to Chimanimani National Park, which has led to the signing of a co-management agreement with the Mozambican Government for 10 years.

The Marine Programme started in 2022 in Inhambane, supporting partners working in the conservation of biodiversity, and supporting the national and provincial government in developing locally led conservation and management of Mozambique’s biodiversity. Currently, F&F is also implementing activities in Massinga and Morrumbene on mangrove restoration, including: supporting the locally led conservation and management of Mozambique’s biodiversity; supporting the national and international recognition of Mozambique’s biodiversity; and supporting Mozambique to achieve gains for biodiversity and people whilst engaging with business, infrastructure and development.

The Opportunity

F&F is offering a unique opportunity for a Project Manager, Marine to lead the delivery of a topical and exciting programme of work. The successful candidate will have proven project and programme management abilities and strong technical skills, and will be able to develop robust and defensible strategies for intervention on priority marine conservation issues, focused on ultimate biodiversity impact, and be able to communicate to key audiences. F&F is looking for an experienced technical programme manager with a proven track record in project design and the ability to work constructively with a range of stakeholders, comfortable building strong and effective relationships with corporates, policy makers, scientists and NGOs, including NGOs and teams within F&F’s wider countries of operation.

The postholder will work closely with other members of the Africa and Marine teams to ensure the Mozambique Marine Programme is well aligned with, and where appropriate embedded within, regional operations, and will lead the development of a dynamic portfolio of marine conservation projects, in line with agreed programme priorities and the wider organisational strategy.

The postholder will be the lead spokesperson for F&F’s Mozambique marine work, able to provide technically defensible and organisationally aligned representation of the programme and approaches used, communicating with confidence and credibility to a range of audiences and building and maintaining positive organisational and external relationships. The postholder will take responsibility for project delivery, and will be accountable for fundraising, and delivery and reporting for existing grants.

Terms and Conditions

• Start Date: 1st September 2026.
• Duration of Contract: Open-ended.
• Probation Period: Six months.
• Salary: 2,989,165.00 MZN per annum.
• Benefits: 25 working days’ annual leave entitlement plus national public holidays observed in Mozambique; medical insurance for the postholder and up to three dependents.
• Hours of Work: full-time position, working 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday inclusive.
• Candidates must have pre-existing right to work in Mozambique.

Job Description

• Job Title: Marine Project Manager.
• Reporting to: Country Manager, Mozambique.
• Line Manager of: Project Officers, Field Officers.
• Key Relationships: Technical Specialist (Marine), Africa (UK); Senior Manager East and Southern Africa; Programme Manager – Grants and Operations ESA; Senior Development Manager, Africa Programme and Operation Team; Director of Marine Conservation; Fundraising Teams; Grants and Operation Manager.

Purpose: the main purpose of this position is to lead current Marine projects and increase the impact of the Marine work in Mozambique.

Specific Duties — Project Management and Development

• Work with F&F teams to ensure funding proposals and resulting contracts, and lead on impact analysis with Africa and Marine teams’ support, are set up in accordance with F&F policies and procedures, and comply with implementation conditions within Mozambique.
• Manage the subsequent local implementation and delivery of F&F’s project commitments.
• Ensure workplans and budgets are kept up to date to meet project aims, objectives and timelines, and ensure that activities are implemented in line with workplans and within budget.
• Determine the future direction of the Mozambique marine programme, liaising with the Country Manager and with the support from Africa and Marine and other teams’ colleagues, to develop opportunities and partnerships to expand the programme to maximise marine conservation impact.
• Work closely with other programme managers and Technical Specialists to strategically develop new cross-cutting projects (e.g. plastics, livelihoods and illegal wildlife trade).
• Identify new funding opportunities for marine projects within the Mozambique Programme.
• Lead proposal development, in coordination with the Country Manager, Africa team and fundraising teams in the UK, and in line with F&F’s project cycle.
• Work with F&F teams (in Mozambique and the UK) to ensure monitoring and evaluation is built into proposal design.
• Lead on donor reporting, ensuring reports are delivered to a high standard, on time and in accordance with donor requirements.
• Coordinate external technical input from consultants and experts.

Specific Duties — Partnership Development

• Build relationships with the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries at national and provincial level.
• Manage and strengthen relations with F&F’s in-country and international project partners, including establishment and implementation of project agreements and new partnerships, maintaining regular and transparent communication with partners’ teams to ensure implementation and coordination as smoothly as possible (including clear roles and responsibilities across partners and fitting under relevant donor requirements).
• Promote collaboration, networking and experience sharing within F&F, and also externally with relevant government agencies/ministries and organisations, particularly through provincial, national and international fora.
• Manage current subgrants and contracts with partners and contractors, with technical and administrative support from the Mozambique and Africa teams as needed.
• Manage relationships with Seascape implementing stakeholders.

Specific Duties — Finance and Administration

Manage and administer all current and future coastal and marine projects in Mozambique on a day-to-day basis, working with the Africa team (UK), implementing partners and key stakeholders. This involves:

• Developing and agreeing work plans.
• Regular budget monitoring with partners/subgrantees to ensure timely and effective expenditures.
• Timely submissions (i.e. invoices and transfer requests) to ensure appropriate cash flow.
• Compliance with F&F’s systems, policies and procedures and Delegation of Authorities.
• Compliance with Grant Agreement requirements (including co-financing, procurement and sub-grant requirements).
• Timely submission of finance reports.

Specific Duties — Technical Support

• Ensure robust programme design, identifying threats, intervention points and knowledge gaps.
• Provide technical advice, implementation, and monitoring for projects focused on addressing marine biodiversity and fisheries management issues.
• Provide capacity building as required to partner organisations and community-based initiatives.
• Identify, organise and support workshops/trainings to be conducted by external stakeholders (consultant or organisation/network) when the required skills are not sufficient within F&F’s existing teams.
• Support local partners technically on the implementation of F&F sub-grants and related activities.
• Ensure that field operations are conducted to a high standard of health, safety, welfare, environmental good practice and cultural sensitivity, in line with F&F global policies and procedures and any national policies and procedures.
• Facilitate the identification and establishment of local fisheries and habitats co-management areas (e.g. APGCs) with community structures (CCPs), liaising with relevant institutions to ensure effective management action, official recognition and support.
• Present F&F’s marine work (and partnerships) in Mozambique and in the region at relevant conferences and gatherings as required, in coordination with regional and global colleagues.
• Represent F&F at workshops and meetings related to the marine programme in Mozambique and internationally as needed.
• Support gathering communication materials from implemented activities (e.g. photos, videos, interviews of community members) in accordance with F&F communication policy and principles, to help raise the profile of the Mozambique marine programme and its impact.
• Share communication and visibility materials on the projects with the Country Office and UK Communications teams and respective donors.
• Ensure visibility of marine country interventions with government and local stakeholders.

Specific Duties — Other

• Manage field offices and staff.
• Supervise the maintenance and inventory of field equipment.
• With the agreement of the Country Manager, perform any other tasks that may be requested from time to time that are appropriate to skills and experience, including broader representation of F&F and its Programmes.

Person Specification

Skills (Essential)

• Excellent organisational and time and team management skills.
• Strong technical skills relating to marine ecology and conservation.
• Excellent project management skills with proven experience in project design, development, implementation, risk management and evaluation.
• Excellent financial management, including budgeting, reforecasting and procurement skills.
• Ability to communicate publicly (written and oral) and with a wide range of audiences.
• Proven project financial/budget management.
• Strong written communication skills, including report and proposal writing.
• Fluency in English and Portuguese (spoken and written).
• Competent computer skills, including MS Office, data management and statistical analysis.

Skills (Desirable)

• Marine biodiversity field identification skills.
• Fluency in Inhambane local language(s), Chitswa and/or Bitonga.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

Knowledge and Experience (Essential)

• BSc degree in a related field (e.g. conservation, marine ecology) or equivalent level of working experience.
• Master’s degree in marine ecology, conservation biology or a related discipline, or equivalent work experience in a relevant field.
• Demonstrable experience across multiple projects and grant compliance.
• Proven experience in building and strengthening partnerships and partner organisations.
• Experience in fisheries and/or Marine Resource Management.
• Proven ability to write successful funding applications.
• Proven ability to develop, maintain and leverage partnerships for work at scale, including governments, national and local NGOs, community groups and businesses.
• Experience in complex stakeholder relationship management and the establishment of joint forums between different NGOs and stakeholders.

Knowledge and Experience (Desirable)

• Experience working in Marine Conservation in Mozambique.
• Experience working with Mozambican institutions, local or national government on management/conservation of natural resources.
• Experience with capacity development, including training, coaching and mentoring others.
• Experience of implementing and monitoring community livelihood activities.
• Proven ability to assess capacity, mentor and develop project staff and partners.

Behavioural Qualities

• Trustworthy.
• Excellent team player: able to seek out and harness the views and contributions of others and to update team members as well as partners on key developments or obstacles, to ensure such individuals are up to date and able to continuously support implementation.
• Self-motivated and output driven, committed to producing the highest quality of work.
• Flexible and adaptable in uncertain and changeable work situations, with capacity to deal with challenges in a patient, creative, positive and constructive manner.
• Able to build and maintain positive personal and organisational relationships.
• Able to work effectively and diplomatically in a geographically dispersed and international team.
• Flexible and responsive to the needs of the organisation.

Other

Essential: able to work in remote locations, with basic facilities; available to travel domestically and/or internationally.

Desirable: an understanding of key issues impacting conservation in Mozambique and/or the Southern Africa region.

F&F Values

Values underpin who F&F is and how it acts. Just as values shape who we are as individuals, they define F&F as an organisation, creating the culture of success for which F&F is renowned. Its people exemplify its shared values, which are interconnected and interdependent: F&F acts with integrity; F&F is collaborative; F&F is committed; F&F is supportive & respectful; and F&F gets things done.

How to Apply

Applications should consist of: a covering letter explaining why the candidate is applying, relating their experience and skills to the role; a full CV; and contact details for two referees (who will not be approached without the candidate’s permission).

Applications should be submitted electronically to Eduardo.Govene@fauna-flora.org. The position has also been advertised with an additional CC address of Claudia.Suca@fauna-flora.org; applicants are advised to check the original vacancy announcement for the current submission instructions. Applications should be marked “Marine, Project Manager, Mozambique” and should indicate in the covering letter where the vacancy was seen advertised.

Candidates selected for interview will be invited by email or phone as soon as possible. Regrettably, due to limited resources and the high number of applications received, F&F is only able to contact short-listed candidates.

Applicants with Disabilities

F&F encourages applications from individuals with a disability who are able to carry out the duties of the post. Candidates with special needs in relation to their application may contact Eduardo Govene, HR, email: Eduardo.Govene@fauna-flora.org. F&F values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.

More information: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eduardogove_jd-marine-project-manager-ugcPost-7490445947194306560-RarO/