Job Opportunity for Project Associate at Wildlife Conservation Society India in Bengaluru

About the Organization: The Wildlife Conservation Society—India (WCS-India) is a non-profit organization incorporated under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 to pursue training and conservation activities for the protection of India’s wildlife and wild habitats. Its core strength is a long track record of on-ground conservation informed by science, training, education and contribution to pro-wildlife policy issues across the globe. We work in partnership with governmental and non-governmental organizations to deal with conservation challenges such as human-wildlife interaction, combating wildlife trafficking, conservation of marine ecosystems and species, conservation of endangered species, livelihood development of local communities, and so on. Committed to wildlife conservation and the ecological worldview that recognizes the inextricable link between human welfare and the protection of wildlife and wild spaces, WCS-India endeavors to inspire positive attitudes in people towards wildlife. WCS-India is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability. The WCS-India Marine Program aims to conserve the unique diversity of India’s coastal habitats and seas by working with communities and partner organizations to overcome these challenges through a multidisciplinary approach. The program’s efforts are focused on five broad work streams: (1) strengthening the Marine Protected Area (MPA) / other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM) network of India (2) reducing marine megafauna bycatch (3) curbing the decline of sharks and rays (4) incorporating sustainability into marine centric tourism and supporting sustainable fisheries and (5) generating awareness on India’s marine biodiversity. 

About the Project: Under the Area-Based Management (ABM) project, we focus on a habitat approach towards conservation, which in turn, ensures and involves various stakeholders including coastal communities. The aim of the ABM project is to identify coastal and marine biodiversity hotspots and facilitate efforts to accord these sites protection as MPAs/OECMS and strengthen the capacity of the stakeholders using a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach. We also work towards improving the management of existing MPAs or supporting management efforts by developing the capacity of relevant actors at the site. 

Job description: The primary responsibilities of the Project Associate are: 

• Design and conduct ecological and socio-economic surveys in the coastal areas of Maharashtra and Goa. 
• Maintain a data repository, analyze collected data, and draft donor reports and scientific or popular articles as per project deliverables. 
• Liaise with individuals, research institutes, and governmental and non-governmental agencies through meetings, stakeholder workshops, etc. to facilitate collaborative efforts, statutory clearances, and compliance. 
• Conduct necessary reviews, preliminary site surveys, stakeholder workshops, and outreach activities for relevant stakeholders as per project requirements. 
• Contribute to the WCS-India social media and any other outreach activities of the Marine Program. 
• Ensure the timely completion of activities and deliverables of the project, in collaboration with Program members.
• Collaborate with members of the Marine Program or WCS-India on research ideas, ancillary projects, and activities such as fundraising. 

Eligibility Criteria: 

• Post-graduate degree, preferably a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Conservation Sciences, or allied subjects. 
• Inter-disciplinary work experience of 3-5 years in wildlife sciences or marine conservation.
• Demonstrated ability in curating, analyzing, and visualizing data using GIS platforms and analytical software such as MS-Excel, R, etc 
• Excellent language and communication skills in Marathi or Konkani and English.  

Desired qualifications: 

• Experience working with coastal communities in Maharashtra and Goa. 
• Demonstrated experience in drafting scientific or popular articles and reports. 
• Demonstrated experience in conducting ecological and socio-economic surveys. 
• Ability to work systematically and independently, take initiative, meet deadlines and be willing to work with a team. 
• Highly motivated with a good understanding of issues pertaining to marine sciences, conservation, and management. 
• Experience in conducting training modules and/or workshops for various stakeholders is desirable. 

If interested, kindly get in touch with us at careers@wcsindia.org with the subject line “Application: Project Associate – Area-based Management & Coral Reef Workstream”, your CV, a writing sample/communications portfolio and contact details of three references by 15th June 2023. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.