Democratic Republic of the Congo: The World Wide Fund for Nature seeks the services of a consultant for the Development of WWF-DRC 5 years Country Strategic Plan

I-Scope

The Consultant will focus on the overall coordination of the Strategic Planning process for WWF - DRC to be completed in February 2016. Based on the Conservation strategy that he/she will consolidate in close working relationship with WW-DRC Conservation and Operation team, the Consultant will assist the Country Director in ensuring that all the components of the DRC Strategic Plan (Conservation Strategy, Communication Strategy, Partnerships and Fundraising Strategy, Operations/Finance, Monitoring & Evaluation) are consistent with each other and contribute to the WWF-DRC’s conservation effort, as an empowered country office, over the strategic planning period, guided by a *Truly Global*perspective. In this respect his/her core assignment will focus on:

• Conservation Strategy: Consolidating the country team’s draft ideas in Forest, Green economy, Protected Areas, Wildlife Programme into a strong Conservation Strategy focusing only on three main pillars, notably: (i) Forest and Green Economy, (ii) Wildlife and Protected Areas, (iii) Transformational Energy and Infrastructure;
• Country Strategic Plan: Embedding the Conservation Strategy, Operations & Finance Plan, Fundraising and Partnerships Plans, Communication Plan, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Plan (under development by WWF DRC team) into one strong and ambitious transformational Country Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

II- Deliverables, main activities and methodology

Under the supervision of the Country Director and in collaboration with the SMT, the Consultant will carry out the following main responsibilities:

A- Conservation Strategy structuring and writing

1.Review of basic documentation

· Documentation providing WWF guidelines on strategic planning;

· Documentation providing strategic orientation to:

• Lessons learned from other WWF offices (e.g., Kenya, Cameroon, Gabon, Tanzania);
• Lessons learned from key NOs (i.e., WWF-NL, WWF-Be, WWF-De, WWF-SE, WWF-No, WWF-US);
• WWF International documentation on (e.g., GPF, Global Goals, Africa Ecological Future, etc.);
• ROA GHoA documentation (e.g., WWF Africa 2020 Strategy Roadmap, latest GHoA Strategic Plan);
• Documents from major donors providing strategic guidance (EU, WB, AfDB, USAID, KfW, Sida, Norad, DFID, AFD, etc.);
• Documents from key partners providing strategic perspectives (Government agencies, especially ICCN, MEDD, CNREDD, etc. and also main partnering entities like WCS, USFWS, ACF, ZSM, WRI, SNV, Pact, private sector partners, etc.);
• DRC and other relevant legal and policy frameworks.

· Documentation on main WWF-DRC ongoing projects and programmes, especially workplans, budgets and recent progress reports:

• Big projects (>200k per year) under all thematic programmes;
• Big Projects (>200k per year) under all geographic programmes.

· Documentation on recent conservation efforts in WWF-DRC;

• Results of strategic planning exercises conducted in June 2015 (PPMS & other);
• Report of the preparatory works done by a previous consultant named Edina;
• Review of the current WWF-DRC Conservation Funding Model;
• Review of the current WWF-DRC Business model;
• Review of the current WWF-DRC Conservation Programme Monitoring and Evaluation;
• Review of the current WWF-DRC Program Communication model;
• Review of the current WWF-DRC Program operations and finance management model.

· Synthesis report on documentation review and preliminary identification of main WWF-DRC challenges and issues; in particular, attention should be paid to the Overview of monitoring and evaluation approaches and procedures (to be tailored: general for CoP and focused on Lac Tumba or Salonga for respective Landscapes leaders).

*2.*Gathering information from internal WWF sources

· Interviews/workshops – WWF-DRC

• Country Coordination (CD, COO, Cons. D., DF, Comms Officer., CoP-CAFEC, F&PO, IAO);
• Thematic programme teams (Forests/GE, PAs, WL);
• Geographic programme teams (will require travel; inputs are needed not only from managers but also from staff).

· Interviews/workshops – WWF-ROA, NOs, International (some travel; some Skypes)

3.Gathering information from outside sources

· Interviews – major donors (USAID, SIDA, World Bank, AfDB, EU, AFD, DFID etc.)

· Interviews – key partners (WCS, SNV, VF, Oxfam, Unicef, Ministry of Tourism, UC FIP, etc.)

· Interviews – key governmental partners (MEDD, GEF Focal point, CN REDD, ICCN, Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Tourism etc.)

4.Preparing and drafting the Conservation Strategy (using the problem and solution tree model, SWOT analysis etc.)

In strong collaboration with each pillar team (Forest and Green Economy, Wildlife and Protected Areas, Transformational Energy and Infrastructure):

· Revise and identify the potential challenges and issues under each pillar;

· Synthesize proposed pillar with their outcomes and impacts through a “theory of change”/results chain model;

· Establish a Conservation strategy review committee with tasks and timeline;

· Prepare a first draft of the conservation strategy with linkages to all five other operational strategies (Fundraising and Partnerships, Communication, M&E etc);

• Approaches, strategies and tactics by key programme;
• Cross-cutting strategies and tactics to ensure coordination amongst the programmes;
• Linkages to higher-level strategies and policies including trans-boundary strategies.

· Review of draft conservation plan by committee and finalization of second draft;

· Share and circulate the draft Conservation Strategy for comments and approval by the SMT and ROA.

5.Costing of each strategic pillar in collaboration with the Operations team

The Consultant is expected to accurately and realistically estimate the financial resources needed to deliver the WWF-DRC Conservation Agenda on scope, time and budget. The cost estimate needs to move the WWF-DRC Country Office from a donor driven to a program needs driven approach. In this respect the Consultant will:

· Work closely with the WWF-DRC finance team, to understand the historical cost structure of all programmes and evaluate the cost of delivering on our three Conservation strategic pillars;

· Work closely with WWF-DRC logistics team with support from ROA Logistics Manager to evaluate the logistics implication to deliver on our key pillars in full consideration of DRC context and the remoteness of our landscapes;

· Work closely with POD, Communication team, Monitoring and Evaluation and ICT to evaluate the costs related to their involvement.

B -Country Strategic Plan structuring and writing :

Preparation of comprehensive strategic plan combining all five departmental strategies

The Country Strategic Plan will consist of one coherent, well-structured and well written document embedding the Conservation, Fundraising and Partnerships, Communication, Operations and M&E strategies. It will respond through a clearly detailed plan to the “What”, “When”, “How”, “Where”, “For How long”, “With who”, etc. of the WWF-DRC overall programme. In this respect, the Consultant will:

· Work closely with the Fundraising and Partnerships Officer to integrate into the Country Strategic plan, the WWF-DRC Fundraising and Partnerships Strategy that will enable the Country Office to efficiently and effectively implement the Conservation strategy;

· Work closely with the COO to integrate into the Country Strategic plan, the operation strategy that will enable the Conservation strategy to be implemented with the highest return on investment and full achievement of important KPIs (organogramme, ratio expatriate staff Vs local staff, ratio operational costs Vs programmatic costs, costs recovery, logistic capacities, IT and communication equipment, etc.);

· Work closely with the Communication Manager and Officer at ROA and DRC level to integrate into the Country Strategic plan, the communication strategy that would enhance WWF visibility, brand through publishing conservation achievements to various stakeholders and audiences;

· Suggest a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Plan that fits well the suggested size of WWF-DRC programme and set the basis for a high quality of verifiable deliverables;

· Working closely with the SMT and building from earlier-mentioned internal and external data gathering, develop a WWF Business Model that clearly demonstrates how WWF-DRC will remain performant in its conservation delivery while also remaining very influential, powerful, cost effective and financially sustainable in the long-term;

· Consultant with the SMT designated staff to act as a drafting team and coordinator; drafting team to propose a drafting workplan to SMT;

· Structure will follow “Recommended Contents of the Strategic Plan”, Annex A of COUNTRY STRATEGIC PLAN – GUIDELINES;

· Process will follow “Recommended Process for Developing Strategic Plans”, Annex B of COUNTRY STRATEGIC PLAN – GUIDELINES;

· Drafting team to use FAQs, Annex D of COUNTRY STRATEGIC PLAN – GUIDELINES as a checklist throughout the strategic plan preparation process.

III- Tentative calendar

· 01 to 30 November 2015: Review of documentation and Direct information gathering (internal and external);

· 15 November to 31 December 2015: Country strategic plan structuring and assembling of conservation Strategy materials, first draft of WWF-DRC Conservation Strategy developed and sent for approval;

· 1 to 15^th January 2016: Integration of comments in the Final Conservation Strategy and its finalization, early stage of Country Strategic Plan writing on going;

· 15 January to 29 February 2016: Country Strategic Plan writing, Draft 1 circulated, comments gathered and integrated and final approval received from ROA;

IV -Profile

Required qualifications and experience

· At least a master’s-level degree in forestry, conservation biology, natural resource management, international development or related field of study;

· At least 10 years of field experience managing large, complex conservation and/or natural resource management projects as well as team/task force coordination is required.

Requiredskills and competencies

· Strong background in natural resource management, including species conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation (REDD+), land-use planning, and/or related topics;

· Strong knowledge base on the environmental policy/legal framework of the DRC as related to biodiversity conservation sustainable forest management is preferred;

· Experience building good working relationships with local and international partners, including government authorities, NGOs, technical partners, and bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors is highly desirable. Must be a team player with very strong diplomatic skills;

· Strong capabilities and experience in strategic, business and operational planning;

· Experience in managing large multi-donor conservation programs (including programmatic and finance/operations aspects) is required;

Demonstrated success in managing multi-disciplinary and multi–cultural teams;

· Position requires excellent communication skills, both oral and written, and institution strengthening and training skills;

· Fluency in written and verbal English and French is essential;

· Sharing WWF values: Knowledgeable, Optimistic, Determined and Engaging.

Working relationships

Internal–working relationships with,Country Director, Chief Operating Officer, Conservation Director, Director of Finance, Communications Officer, Chief of Party-CAFEC, Fundraising & Partnerships Officer, Internal Audit Officer, Programme Managers; ROA, WWF-Int, key NOs and relevant COs

External- Working relationships with key partners: Major donors (EU, WB, AfDB, USAID, KfW, Sida, Norad, DFID, AFD, etc.), major DRC agencies (ICCN, MEDD, CNREDD, etc.) and other partnering entities (WCS, USFS, ACF, ZSM, WRI, SNV, Pact, private sector partners, etc.) WCS, USFS, ACF, ZSM, WRI, SNV, Pact, private sector partners, etc.

• A cover letter;
• A detailed CV including references from at least 3 similar consultancies carried out within the past 10 years;
• A proposal of fees for the assignment (note that transportation, accommodation and meals will be covered by WWF-DRC and therefore should not be included).

All applications should be sent to recruit-roaydehub@wwfafrica.org.**The subject should read DRC-SP.**