Head of Geospatial Unit

As part of African Parks’ clear roadmap for bolstering our institutional platform to support this growth and the effective management of these areas, we are building an exciting new Geospatial Unit within the Conservation Development department. The Geospatial Unit will be responsible for:

- Supporting the organization with mapping, remote sensing, geospatial data management to support strategic decision-making and institutional requirements though the organisations collaborative approach of Web GIS and associated services;
- Supporting the growth, strategic research and strategic planning of African Parks with geospatial analysis of protected areas and their surrounding landscapes;
- Supporting impact reporting via the development of an accurate index to monitor habitat integrity, for Nature Based Solutions (Fundraising) and Business Intelligence;
- Standardizing cartography style guidelines for African Parks;
- Standardizing AP GIS layers and managing ArcGIS Enterprise data and services.

**Primary Functions and Responsibilities**
- Develop and implement a strategy for the Geospatial Unit to take African Parks’ geospatial capability to the next level.
- Capacitate the Geospatial Unit, initially with a Geospatial Analyst (who would broadly be responsible for the development of static maps, user support and system admin).
- Support the Growth, Conservation Planning and Research functions with strategic thinking by providing mapping and high-level geospatial analysis of specific protected areas and their surrounding landscapes.
- Oversee the cloud ArcGIS Enterprise data, ensuring that all GIS data for each park (such as park boundaries, roads, rivers) is up to date.
- Conduct park specific geospatial analysis, e.g., summarising animal movement data and packaging the findings in an easily understandable manner; or creating maps of patrol effort in a park.
- Conduct remote sensing analysis, such as burn scar analysis using tools such as Google Earth Engine.
- Support with GIS analysis and remote sensing for Nature Based Solutions product development and monitoring.
- Foster relationships with external geospatial partners (e.g., providing inputs and reviewing results).
- Train and support specific users across the organisation to improve their GIS skills, as required.
- Lead the development and implementation of a standard mapping style for African Parks’ that is professional and aesthetically aligned with our organisational graphic ‘look and feel’.
- Produce accurate and practical operational maps for parks.
- Produce useful and aesthetical maps for tourism, which can be used in digital and print form.
- Produce maps, graphics, interactive web and story-maps for external audiences, i.e. donors, social-media followers, as needed and in coordination with relevant departments (Marketing & Communications, Fundraising etc.).
- Support with the creation of geospatial dashboards and web-based maps using ArcGIS to help inform conservation decision-making, but also to show impact.

**Required qualifications and skills**:

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in geography, GIS, data analysis or a related field;
- A minimum of 5 years relevant experience;
- Good understanding of geospatial data (vector data, raster data, projections);
- Proficient in software such as ArcGIS Pro and QGIS and have used code (Python, R, Google Earth Engine) for geospatial analysis;
- Familiarity with ArcGIS Enterprise and its relevant systems management requirements;
- Remote sensing skills to create insight from satellite images;
- Cartography skills to produce professional, aesthetically pleasing and accurate maps;
- Ability and enthusiasm to set up a new unit with associated systems and processes;
- A keen interest in and passion for nature conservation, with an understanding of its complexities;
- The ability to learn quickly and adapt to solve new challenges;
- Good people and relationship management skills;
- The ability to work independently and also collaboratively;
- An excellent eye for detail.

**Beneficial Skills**:

- Speak French and/or Portuguese and have a willingness to travel to remote places;
- Experience with software such as Earth Ranger, Tableau, Power BI, and the Adobe suite.