Title: Senior Program Officer, Kidepo Landscape
Department: Country Program, Uganda
Reports to: Country Director
Matrix Management: Senior Program Manager, Uganda
Supervises: Field Officers, Interns /Volunteers, Driver
Location: AWF Kidepo Field Office, Uganda
About AWF
Established in 1961, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an Africa-based global conservation organization whose mission is to ensure that wildlife and wild lands thrive in modern Africa. AWF has operated in Uganda since 1968 and continues to deliver conservation outcomes by embedding wildlife in national development planning and promoting nature as a key driver of economic growth and social transformation. AWF Uganda Country Strategy (2025–2030) envisions “Uganda where wildlife & wild lands thrive as natural assets for national economic development & social transformation.” AWF achieves this through national-level policy engagement & landscape-level programming.
Since 2007, AWF has implemented people-centered conservation in the Kidepo Landscape, a biologically rich area covering over seven districts in Northern Uganda. AWF Kidepo Field Office oversees conservation efforts in the greater Kidepo Valley Conservation Area (KVCA) through partnerships with government (especially UWA), communities, the private sector, & civil society.
Position Summary
The Senior Program Officer is the strategic and administrative head of AWF’s Kidepo Field Office. This position provides leadership, coordination, planning, and implementation oversight for all AWF operations in the Kidepo Landscape. The Senior Officer will drive landscape-level conservation programming and ensure effective stakeholder engagement, performance monitoring, results-based reporting, and office administration.
The Senior Officer plays a critical role in advancing AWF’s conservation priorities, leading field operations, and ensuring strong partnerships with UWA and other key stakeholders to address conservation threats and improve ecosystem resilience in line with AWF's strategic plan and Kidepo landscape strategy.
The Senior Program Officer will be based at the AWF field Office in Karenga District, Kidepo Valley Conservation Area, and will report to the Country Director.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic leadership & landscape coordination
- Lead implementation of the Kidepo Landscape Strategy (2023–2033) in alignment with AWF Uganda’s Country Strategy (2025 – 2031).
- Provide technical and strategic guidance to all field activities to ensure integration of biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and ecosystem resilience.
- Coordinate and align AWF efforts with government priorities, especially with UWA, District Local Governments, & relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
- Serve as the Head of AWF’s Kidepo Field Office with responsibility for administration, operations, finance, logistics, & people management at the landscape level with technical guidance from the Senior Finance & Administration Officer & oversight support from the Senior Program Manager.
- Lead and supervise field staff to ensure performance management, staff welfare, and team development.
- Ensure compliance with AWF policies, donor guidelines, and national legal frameworks.
Program planning, monitoring, and oversight
- Oversee the development, implementation, & tracking of annual landscape work plans & budgets.
- Lead monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of landscape interventions to promote adaptive management, informed decision making and delivery of targeted conservation outcomes.
- Supervise data collection, project documentation, & preparation of donor & internal reports.
- Undertake regular visits to project sites to oversee the implementation and monitoring of the project and document progress.
- Lead project planning, review, and reflection sessions with key landscape stakeholders to assess progress, identify challenges, and inform next steps.
- Organize and facilitate joint stakeholder monitoring sessions to enhance transparency, collaboration, and shared accountability in project delivery.
Stakeholder engagement, coordination, and partnerships
- Provide leadership in building and maintaining partnerships with UWA, NFA, District Governments, and other CSOs and development partners.
- Represent AWF at local, national, and regional forums including landscape platforms, technical working groups, and community engagements.
- Facilitate and coordinate ongoing dialogue and frameworks related to collaborative conservation approaches in the Kidepo landscape.
- Convene, in collaboration with UWA and relevant institutions, inclusive landscape-wide coordination forums to strengthen collective action, knowledge exchange, and alignment among conservation stakeholders.
Communications, knowledge management & advocacy
- Document and disseminate success stories, learning briefs, technical reports, and position papers.
- Promote AWF’s role as a conservation thought leader through proactive communication and public engagements in the landscape.
- Ensure landscape-level lessons inform AWF Uganda’s broader programming.
Resource mobilization and growth
- Identify program growth opportunities and contribute to proposal development.
- Support stakeholder and partnership mapping to identify potential collaborators, donors, and influencers critical to the landscape’s conservation agenda.
- Track funding opportunities relevant to the Kidepo Landscape and provide technical input to fundraising initiatives.
Qualifications and Competencies
- Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Conservation Biology, Environmental Science, Agroecology, or a related field.
- Additional qualifications in Project Planning & Management or Monitoring & Evaluation is an added advantage.
- At least 7 years of experience in conservation or natural resource management, with 3+ years in a leadership role.
- Proven field experience in project and people management, strategic planning, budgeting, and M&E.
- Strong understanding of Uganda’s conservation context.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate multi-stakeholder initiatives including government, communities, CSOs, and private sector.
- Excellent communication, report writing and leadership skills.
- Willingness to live and work in remote field locations.
- Strong experience in stakeholder engagement and partnerships.
- Demonstrated experience working with local communities and government agencies such as UWA.
- Experience working in a donor-funded organization.
- Experience in Project Management.
- Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Fluency in English required, knowledge of local languages an added advantage.
Deadline:March 25,2026
