Programme Manager

Our client is an internationally recognized, high-impact Kenyan-based conservation organization dedicated to protecting Africa’s critical wildlife and natural heritage. The organization is committed to changing hearts, minds, and laws to ensure Africa’s iconic species endure for generations to come.

Its work is anchored on three strategic pillars. The first focuses on transforming the narrative of conservation in Africa through the production of compelling African stories and by developing the capacity of African filmmakers and storytellers. The second pillar promotes conservation education to inspire environmental stewardship, while the third focuses on advocacy, driving policy influence and public engagement across both storytelling and conservation education initiatives.

The organization is bold, innovative, and impact-driven, achieving its mission through direct action and strategic partnerships. It seeks professionals who are passionate, forward-thinking, results-oriented, and committed to making a lasting difference in conservation.

Role Overview

The Programme Manager for conservation education will be responsible for setting strategic direction and ensuring excellence in delivery, partnerships, impact, and financial sustainability of the Conservation Education Program. You will lead a lean, high-performing team while building and maintaining strong relationships with a growing network of partner schools.

This is not a desk-bound management role. You will stay closely connected to what is happening in schools, use data and insights to inform decisions, understand donor priorities, and identify opportunities for improvement. You will turn these insights into clear strategic direction, effective execution, and compelling communication that inspires confidence among schools, partners, and funders

Key Responsibilities

Programme leadership

• Compliance, Safety and Security
• Own the annual programme plan, budget, and delivery calendar
• Programme Implementation & Reporting
• Set and track targets across all MEL levels inputs, outputs, results, outcomes, and impact
• Ensure the programme is delivered consistently and with quality across all schools
• Lead the programme’s expansion strategy and manage the transition to scale

Team and patron management

• Line-manage the Education and Field Lab team
• Oversee the patron network, ensuring patrons are trained, supported, and retained
• Manage part-time and contract staff including admin, interns, consultants and field liaison roles
• Training and Capacity Building
• Build a culture of learning, accountability, and care within the team

Donor relations and fundraising

• Adhere to donor reporting schedules and compliance and ensure that reports are submitted on time.
• Lead on grant applications and donor prospecting to fund programme growth
• Work with the team to translate MEL data and field stories into compelling donor
• communications and reports
• Represent the programme at external events, conferences, and partner meetings

MEL and reporting

• Champion a culture of evidence and learning across the programme
• Oversee the MEL system working with consultants and ensuring data is collected, analysed, and used to improve delivery
• Produce quarterly progress reports and an annual impact report
• Identify what is working, what is not, and act on it

Content and curriculum

• Oversee the development and quality of conservation education modules
• Ensure content is species- and issue-relevant, age-appropriate, and aligned with
• school contexts
• Manage relationships with conservation experts and content contributors

Qualifications & Skills

• At least 5 years’ experience in programme or project management, ideally in education, conservation, or a related field.
• A track record of actually delivering a programme or project from end to end, not just contributing to one.
• Proven ability to manage relationships with donors, partners, and stakeholders
• Strong written communication: you can write a donor report and a school newsletter and both will be good
• Comfortable working with data: you don’t need to be a statistician, but you can read a dashboard, spot a pattern, and ask the right question
• Experience managing small teams and remote or distributed networks
• Genuine passion for conservation and wildlife education
• Highly organised, self-directed, and calm under pressure
• Experience with MEL frameworks, logframes, or theory of change
• Familiarity with Google Workspace (Forms, Sheets, Looker Studio)
• Experience working with schools, teachers, or youth programmes