Role Description
The Strategic Initiatives & Programs Officer leads priority cross-cutting initiatives that strengthen MGFI’s organizational capacity, conservation impact, and long-term effectiveness.
The role is ideal for a strong generalist and systems-builder who can take new initiatives from concept to implementation and help integrate successful programs and systems into regular organizational operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic initiatives & systems: Develop and institutionalize systems that improve organizational efficiency and coordination, including digital workflows, project management tools, SOPs, dashboards, knowledge management, and improved HR/performance systems.
- Conservation programs: Lead or coordinate conservation or sustainable tourism initiatives such as EarthRanger, The Long Run membership and learning, conservation impact monitoring, and other strategic programs/networks.
- Grant & program management: Coordinate major grants and partnerships, including work plans, targets, budgets, deliverables, reporting, and cross-team implementation.
- Organizational performance: Help establish and monitor organizational, program, and core revenue targets and identify opportunities to improve service levels and funding generation through geotourism.
- Special projects: Lead priority projects that cut across departments or do not yet have a natural organizational owner.
- Leadership support: Provide additional coordination and execution support to senior management during major initiatives, periods of growth, and organizational transitions such as training junior officers.
Key Qualifications
- 2–4 years of relevant experience in project/program management, operations, organizational development, conservation/development, consulting, or related fields.
- Strong project management, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
- Demonstrated ability to take ownership of projects and move them from idea to implementation.
- Excellent writing, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Customer service orientation and people management.
- Comfortable learning and implementing digital tools and new organizational systems.
- Able to coordinate multiple workstreams, teams, partners, and technical specialists.
- High degree of initiative, sound judgment, adaptability, and follow-through.
- Comfortable working outdoors, undertaking regular fieldwork, and spending extended periods in a forest-based environment.
- Experience in conservation, M&E, grants, community programs, organizational systems, or conservation technology is an advantage.
- Strong commitment to environmental conservation and MGFI’s mission.
Work Arrangement
The position is designed to be closely embedded in Masungi's on-ground operations. The Officer will normally work five days per week on-site at Masungi. There may be occasional meetings outside Masungi. Shared on site accommodations for staff are available upon request.
Ideal profile: A high-agency generalist and systems-builder who is equally comfortable in the field and behind a desk—someone who can understand a problem, organize the right people and resources, implement a practical solution, and leave behind a program or system that works.
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