Funding and Reporting Manager (FRM)

Background

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We utilise a clear business approach to conserving Africa’s wildlife and remaining wild areas, securing vast landscapes and carrying out the necessary activities needed to protect the parks and their wildlife. African Parks maintains a strong focus on economic development and poverty alleviation of surrounding communities to ensure that each park is ecologically, socially, and financially sustainable in the long-term.

Role Context

African Parks currently manages 23 national parks and protected areas in 13 countries covering over 20 million hectares. These landscapes are home to an estimated population of over 3 million people who legally reside either within the parks or on their perimeter. Since 2019, Iona National Park is being managed under an Public-Private Partnership Agreement between African Parks and the Angolan Government through the Ministry of Environment. Iona National Park is inhabited by local communities, and limited management in the past has led to unregulated use of the landscape, and to a disconnection between the conservation and sociological components within the protected area. With the beginning of African Parks’ co-management mandate, the Community Development Department (CDD) has made important strives, that now require a more decise and efficient management approach.

African Parks operations are funded primarily from major private donors (high-net-worth individuals), institutional donors (i.e., European Union, US Government and German Government) as well as foundations, conservation organizations, and increasingly from corporate partnerships. The organization maintains strong relationships with its key donors. Many of them are long-term supporters of African Parks. Fundraising is conducted by account managers across the world with teams in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa and supported by a central Proposal, Impact Reporting and Analysis Team (PIRATE) that facilitates communication and exchanges between front-facing fundraising account managers, head office support functions and park teams.

The funding and reporting manager (FRM) is a key position within the Park Management Unit and plays a critical bridge between the park team and the fundraising team. Reporting to the Park Manager and working closely with the PIRATE team, the FRM is the focal point for all fundraising related matters at the park level. This role requires strong leadership, analytical excellence and project management capabilities as it has to navigate between the park’s long-term strategy, financial and operational realities and funder’s interests, regulations and reporting requirements.

Key functions and Responsibilities

The Funding and Reporting Manager (FRM) is accountable for effective, timely and compliant delivery of the park’s grant portfolio. This requires very close collaboration with the park manager, the finance manager and the different heads of departments (e.g., biodiversity conservation and community development) to make sure activities are conducted in line with contracted grants, funding allocated to the right activities, and that any changes to spending or activities is communicated and aligned with account managers in the fundraising team. The FRM is responsible for ensuring that park’s business plans are aligned with the grant portfolio and vice-versa.

The FRM is responsible for providing the fundraising team with accurate and timely input for regular donor reporting. This includes tracking of progress against the park’s long-term sustainability strategy and associated impact metrics, spending against the park’s business plan and specific grant objectives as well as updates on key developments in the park. It also includes timely and regular incident reporting and follow-up in line with AP’s guidelines.

The FRM is the key resource person for the fundraising team to understand the park’s funding needs and develop high quality proposals to close the park’s funding gap through multi-year restricted as well as unrestricted funding both with public funders or private donors. The FRM is also the key project manager for the development of projects to monetize nature-based solutions (i.e., carbon credits or nature units). Together with the Park Manager, the FRM works closely with the account managers in the fundraising team in order to align on donor engagement strategies, either during donor visits to parks or with local / regional delegations and embassies of public funders.