Global Tree Seed Bank Unlocked – Africa Projects Officer

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership team at Wakehurst. The post will support the delivery of the “Global Tree Seed Bank – Unlocked” the fourth phase of Kew’s exciting initiative to secure, research, and make available, seed collections from the world’s most important and threatened tree species.

This is a three-year post to begin January 1st 2024.

The primary purpose of the role is to manage and deliver the African work packages of the project entitled “Global Tree Seed Bank – Unlocked” (GTSB) in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Madagascar. The post holder will ensure that project resources are delivered in a timely manner, the necessary botanical and seed conservation capacity exists with our in-country partners and that project targets including seed collecting, training and research outputs, as defined in the project documentation, are met on time and to budget.

The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate recent experience in the delivery of plant conservation projects overseas. They will be an excellent team player, capable of working to strict deadlines as part of a strong institutional team. The ability to work independently with project partners, often in challenging overseas environments is vital to the successful execution of the job.

This requires an ability to follow the complete project management cycle as well as identify strategic opportunities that will bring longer-term benefits to plant conservation in the West Africa region and Madagascar.

We are looking for someone with botanical skills who will be excited to further develop their knowledge of the African flora. A strong working knowledge of data management tools such as MS Excel and MS Access is essential and a working knowledge of a proprietary botanical database such as BRAHMS or Earthcape will be an advantage.

The post holder should have good interpersonal skills and be able to communicate technical information, both written and verbal. This post requires a working knowledge of French, modest support for extra tuition will be available. The successful applicant will have some experience in delivering formal training courses in the field, herbarium, and laboratory/ seed bank.

Training will be given where required, and the post holder is supported by a friendly dynamic team and in regular catch ups with relevant stakeholders. However, much of the role entails working on the post holder’s own initiative, thus good organisational and prioritisation skills are essential.

This role is based at Wakehurst with the option of regular home working, subject to operational requirements.

Job contact :

• Name : jobs@kew.org
• Email : jobs@kew.org

Recruitment team

• Email : jobs@kew.org