Location: Dakar, Senegal
Closing date for applications: 30th May, 2024
Contract status: Regional post, full-time
Start date: 15th June, 2024
Contract duration: Permanent
Remuneration: Competitive based on experience

We rebuild tropical fisheries with coastal communities
Blue Ventures is a marine conservation organization that puts people first. We support coastal fishers in remote and rural communities to rebuild fisheries, restore ocean life and build lasting pathways to prosperity. Our work began two decades ago in Madagascar’s remote coastal communities and is growing globally.
Across a dozen countries, we’re partnering with traditional fishers and community organizations to design, scale, strengthen and sustain fisheries management and conservation at the community level. We bring partners together in networks to advocate for reform, and share tools and best practices to support fishing communities across the globe.


Summary job description
Our Partner Network team is responsible for the scoping, selection, relationship building, and ongoing stewardship of organisations working directly with fishing communities that partner with Blue Ventures globally. Partnership is at the core of Blue Ventures’ strategy, to seek out and support community-focused organisations by providing funding and technical assistance that can catalyse, expand, and sustain partners’ work in establishing community-based fisheries management and locally managed marine areas.

The Partner Network team is responsible for building and maintaining the relationship between Blue Ventures and these partners. This includes scoping and identifying potential civil society and non-governmental organisations, conducting needs assessments on capacity and funding requirements, and developing multi-year agreements to provide sustained support. We strongly believe in the power of networks and movement building and the Partner Network team is central in identifying and supporting opportunities for lateral learning and knowledge exchanges among partners, identifying capacity-building needs and organisational strengthening and connecting the voices and experiences of partners to build a global community of practice that share an aligned vision of coastal fisheries reform that place communities at the center of lasting solutions.

We are currently recruiting a Head of Partnership Network to lead the strategic development and expansion of our Partner Network in the West Africa Region. The Head of Partnership Network West Africa plays a crucial role in advancing the organisation’s mission, expanding its influence and contributing to impact through effective relationship building across the region. This role involves leading and managing a team of Partnership Coordinators to form and implement partnership growth strategies, nurture relationships, foster collaboration and learning, and ensure the sustained success of the partnership network across the region and its link to the global community of practice being supported by Blue Ventures.
Reporting to the Director, Partnership Network, and the West Africa Regional Director, this is a full time role based in Blue Ventures’ offices in Dakar, Senegal, with regular travel across the West Africa region and globally to work closely with colleagues, partners and communities and other stakeholders.

This job requires extensive travel, including to remote locations, which may be weather and tide dependent, and working across multiple time zones, therefore flexibility and adaptability will be key requirements to being successful in this role.
The successful candidate will be a motivated, proactive and highly organised individual, with excellent communication and relationship building skills. Excellent knowledge of a human rights based approach to community-based management and conservation especially in the context of small-scale fisheries and coastal habitat protection are essential. A demonstrated track record of establishing, maintaining and managing multiple, long term, partnerships with community based organisations, including review, guidance and support for projects delivered by partners as well as exceptional written and verbal communication, mediation, troubleshooting and conflict resolution skills.

We are looking for an individual who is open to new ideas and embraces innovation, who can demonstrate experience of building effective relationships for long term partnerships for conservation and small scale fisheries development.
You will thrive in environments that are collegiate and ambitious, and be able to demonstrate experience of working independently and with a team to solve complex problems in challenging situations.