BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL - JOB SPECIFICATION/DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: Asia Conservation Officer

DIVISION/DEPARTMENT: Asia Division

1. OVERALL PURPOSE OF JOB

The Conservation Officer will administer and support the BirdLife Partnership’s programmatic work in Asia
on threatened species conservation through its Preventing Extinctions Programme (PEP), and migratory
species and coastal wetlands through its the Global Flyways programme. The overarching goal of the officer
is to contribute to work that:
• deliver improvements in the status of the world's most threatened bird species,
• reduce the overall extinction risk across all bird (including migratory) species,
• strengthen the protection of key wetland sites in Asia

Supporting the Regional Director, and the PEP and Flyways Programme Coordinators by assisting them in
the development and coordination of conservation projects. The officer will directly manage selected
projects under supervision from the Coordinators. The officer will also assist in developing high quality
communications material and stories for these projects.

2. WORK RELATIONSHIPS

REPORTING TO (LINE MANAGER):

Regional Director for Asia

REPORTING TO JOB HOLDER (LINE MANAGED STAFF):

None at present

PRINCIPAL OTHER WORKING RELATIONSHIPS/RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN SECRETARIAT:

PEP and Flyways Programme Coordinators by assisting them in the development and coordination of
conservation projects.

PRINCIPAL WORKING RELATIONSHIPS/RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN BIRDLIFE NETWORK :

Close collaboration with colleagues in the Asia regional office, and with members of the global Flyways and
PEP Programme team. Interaction with staff throughout the Secretariat at the planning on matters relating to
Flyways and Species conservation, science, policy and project development. He/she may need to work with
the institutional fundraising and Business and Nature teams. In addition, he/she will work with
Communications to achieve profile-raising objectives, and with Finance and Legal to ensure that proposals
and grants are coordinated, planned and budgeted in accordance with internal policies and best practices.

PRINCIPAL EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Position may require engagement with institutional donors, supporters in Asia, BirdLife Partners and staff of
other international NGOs.

Asia Conservation Officer – December 2021

 BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL - JOB SPECIFICATION/DESCRIPTION

3. KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS GRID

.

Contact Level Contact Leve Contact Level

(1-3) l (1-3)
(1-3)
BirdLife network / other Policy makers (institutional
1 General public 1 1
NGOs /politicians/ corporations)
BirdLife advisory Funding organisations
groups, committees, 1 Press & media 1 (institutions, foundations, 2
reg. councils corporations )

Regulators/
BirdLife Global Council 1 1 Individual donors/ members 1
legislators/
auditors

Suppliers/service Scientific VIPs/ royalty/

2 2 1
providers community high worth individuals

Level of Contact
1.= General Informing. "Appearance, first impressions". May have some independent outside exposure
and contact, primarily informative.
2.= Presenting/Representing/Reporting "Relationship management". Independent exposure representing
BirdLife. Maintaining individual contacts. Usually managing information flow.
3.= Justifying/Negotiating - "Influencing decision makers". Independent exposure as lead contact,
representing Birdlife to highly influential people. Responsible for complex and sensitive/high risk
communications.

4. MAIN DUTIES/WORK PROGRAMME RESPONSIBILITIES

By main work area:

Core coordination
1. Assist in the coordination and management of projects which may relate to threatened
species such as (but not limited to) the Helmeted Hornbill, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Sarus
Crane, parrots and songbirds.
2. Support regional assessments to quantify the scale and impact of hunting and trade on other
bird species in Southeast Asia.
3. Support work on policy and communications (including writing news stories on conservation
projects) and fundraising
4. Contribute to thematic reviews to advance strategic aspects of the PEP and Flyways Programmes

Contributing to PEP and Flyways regional planning and implementation

5. Support the implementation of the PEP and flyways work plans working closely with respective
program coordinators
6. Administer small grant contracts on PEP and flyways priority species/themes for Partners, and
internal agreements with BirdLife Country Programmes, in the region, where funds have been
raised by the Secretariat
7. Manage regional projects that are species-focused or at key conservation sites
8. Assist in the development and oversee implementation of conservation strategies or action plans
for species identified as priorities by the partnership

Asia Conservation Officer – December 2021

 BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL - JOB SPECIFICATION/DESCRIPTION

5. LIMITS OF AUTHORITY/RESPONSIBILITY FOR RESOURCES

Financial/Budgetary Delegated authority from Head of Division as needed to spend from

project budgets

Contracts – Funders Delegated responsibility as needed to submit proposals and negotiate

contracts

Contracts – Delegated responsibility to hire short term/project staff/consultants and

Staff/Consultants recruit interns/volunteers (resource dependent)

Contracts – Service May have delegated responsibility to negotiate contracts

providers

Legal Responsibility May have delegated responsibility to negotiate funding contracts

6. EDUCATION/SKILLS AND OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

REQUIREMENTS KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ATTRIBUTES
Minimum General Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (eg. natural resource
Education management, conservation, sustainable development, economics,
international relations)

Job Specific Education/ Undergraduate degree in relevant subject, postgraduate desirable

Qualification
Job Specific Knowledge Knowledge of regional conservation issues and trends.

Experience Essential

Has relevant professional experience, preferably in conservation, ecology

or natural resource management. We will also consider new graduates
who have a strong interest in pursuing a career in conservation.

Desirable;

Has developed project concepts and/or developed programmes through

strategic planning and fundraising.

Has managed complex projects involving multiple stakeholders across

various sectors, geographies and cultural backgrounds.

Management & Ability to motivate and collaborate with others with cultural sensitivity.
organisational skills Ability to network and proactively engage with other organisations,
including key donors.
Ability to be pragmatic, work under pressure and meet deadlines.
Ability to manage and prioritise concurrent projects or areas of work.

Communications skills Demonstrated ability to communicate complex processes and ideas to

specialist and non-specialist audiences alike.
Ability to represent BirdLife to external audiences in a polished,
professional manner.
Storytelling and presentation skills a strong advantage.

Creativity & Initiative Ability to synthesize information and context from a wide range of
sources, and apply knowledge to practical outputs.
Collaborative, flexible, and respectful of others’ knowledge and
experience.

Asia Conservation Officer – December 2021

 BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL - JOB SPECIFICATION/DESCRIPTION

Self-motivated, curious and interested in new ideas.

Organised, creative problem solving and ability to learn by doing.

Computer Literacy Sound skills in using MS Office, managing e-mail and using the web.
Readiness to adopt and use new communications and collaboration
technologies.

Languages Excellent spoken and written English. Ability to speak other Asian
languages an advantage

Travel requirements Subject to travel restrictions, willingness to travel outside of the

Singapore (up to 20% of time).
OTHER DESIRED/HELPFUL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ATTRIBUTES

A passion to work collaboratively with international partners to promote conservation actions that will
help to protect birds and global biodiversity

Prepared by: Date:

Ding Li Yong, Mike Crosby & Vinayagan Dharmarajah December 2021

Asia Conservation Officer – December 2021