Amboseli Landscape Manager

Inspired by Elsa the lioness, whose journey to freedom in Kenya was depicted in the 1966 film Born Free, the charity works globally, and in Kenya, to protect wildlife and their ecosystems.

Established in 2003, Born Free Kenya champions human-wildlife coexistence through hands-on conservation efforts, education, and community initiatives. In Amboseli and Meru National Parks, we

monitor lions, giraffes, and elephants, and we employ strategies to promote the co-existence of people

and wildlife in the surrounding community lands. We also support sustainable livelihoods, provide

conservation education, and collaborate with partners to protect people, wildlife, and their habitats.

Born Free Foundation is seeking a dedicated Amboseli Landscape Manager to be based in Amboseli to lead the Amboseli Landscape Programme. The core purpose of the programme is to promote coexistence between wildlife and communities within the Amboseli–West Kilimanjaro landscape to safeguard wildlife populations in perpetuity. This is a key role within Born Free Foundation Kenya, requiring strong leadership, excellent interpersonal and technical skills, financial, operational and administrative skills, and high levels of integrity. The role ensures effective programme delivery, strong partnerships, sound financial management, team supervision, and compliance with organisational, donor, and government requirements. This role will provide landscape leadership and coordination by supervising day‑to‑day work, supporting staff induction and capacity development, managing performance and staff welfare and ensuring compliance with organisational policies. The Manager will support the Head of Kenya Conservation and the wider Kenya and UK team to deliver the BFF Strategic Plan and contribute to Born Free’s global wildlife and habitat conservation goals.

• Lead the planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of all Born Free work within the ecosystem.

• Ensure the Programme delivers measurable conservation impact across the Amboseli–West Kilimanjaro landscape and continually explore opportunities to achieve this.

• Oversee day‑to‑day field operations, which may include activities promoting humanwildlife coexistence, education & community outreach and administration, among others.

• Oversee the effective implementation of all current projects, ensuring quality, timeliness, and alignment with agreed objectives.

• Liaise daily with the project management team to ensure adherence to work plans, schedules, delivery standards, and relevant policies and guidelines.

• Convene and lead regular (monthly) project management meetings, ensuring robust reporting, risk management, and follow-up actions.

• Report to HoKC, HOC and wider team on activity progress, challenges and adjustments regularly, and via internal 6-monthly and annual reporting, as required.

• Develop and lead the monitoring and evaluation process for the projects (including baseline development), together with Conservation team colleagues.

• Ensure projects are adaptively managed based on evidence, risks, and emerging opportunities (via data processing and protocol review).

• Support the documentation and dissemination of lessons learned where required to contribute to Born Free’s organisational Impact Reporting Framework.

• Oversee data collection using M&E tools, and ensure thorough, accurate, and timely internal reporting

• Support programme evaluations, baseline surveys, ecological monitoring, and lessons‑learned processes.

• Use evidence to inform decision‑making, adaptive management, and proposal development.

• Develop and manage the annual landscape workplan and budget in line with Born Free financial procedures and in alignment to anticipated outcomes.

• Manage day-to-day project budgets and ensure all expenditure complies with Born Free’s internal procedures and regulations.

• Identify risks and opportunities at landscape level and ensure mitigation measures are in place and actioned.

• Ensure cost‑effective use of resources, value‑for‑money, and full compliance with donor financial rules where applicable.

• Track expenditure against budgets on monthly, quarterly, and annual basis and propose budget forecasts and any programmatic changes in a timely way

• Provide leadership, supervision and staff management to the Amboseli team.

• Oversee implementation and tracking of project activities by team members.

• Manage performance, conduct appraisals for direct reports (two Project Officers), and identify training and development needs.

• Ensure Born Free’s values, goals, and objectives are clearly communicated, understood, and upheld by the team.

• Promote a positive, safe, inclusive, and accountable work environment, ensuring staff adhere to safeguarding, health & safety, and security protocols.

• Identify, develop, and maintain effective partnerships with stakeholders at landscape level, including communities, government agencies, NGOs, private sector actors, research institutions and other conservation actors.

• Represent Born Free and its initiatives at landscape-level meetings and relevant conservation forums.

• Promote Born Free’s objectives and ensure strong visibility of its work within the Amboseli Landscape.

• Identify opportunities for collaboration and resource mobilisation at the local level and liaise with appropriate staff for further support.

• Prepare and submit monthly updates, bi-annual and annual reports, technical papers, and other reports as required by the HoKC.

• Work closely with the Communications Manager to generate high-quality content for publications, press releases, factsheets, blogs, and reports related to the programme and landscape.

• Support the development of project proposals for fundraising and engagement with potential donors and partners.

• Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Wildlife/Biodiversity Management, Conservation Biology, Range Management, or a related field (master’s degree is an added advantage).

• At least seven (7) years’ experience in wildlife or natural resource management, with significant experience managing field-based conservation projects and working with local communities.

• Proven experience in team leadership, budget/financial management, project implementation, and stakeholder engagement.

• Prior experience within a conservation or animal welfare organisation is strongly preferred.

• Fluency in English and Kiswahili, with excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Strong project planning and management experience, including a strong understanding of M&E tools and systems

• Familiarity with donor-funded projects (USG, EU, FCDO, GEF, Foundations) will be an added advantage

• Strong leadership, coordination, and people‑management skills.

• Strong critical thinking skills, with the ability to drive programmes forward with urgency, care, and due diligence.

• Excellent negotiation, liaison, and conflict management skills.

• Demonstrated ability in project planning, proposal writing, budgeting, and financial management.

• Proficiency in analytical tools and working with databases and spreadsheets.

• Strong interpersonal, presentation, and technical report-writing skills.

• Ability to prioritise, manage time effectively, meet deadlines, and deliver against agreed targets.

• Capacity to build and maintain strong relationships across diverse stakeholders, including communities, government agencies, NGOs, researchers, and Born Free networks.

• Flexible, adaptable, proactive, and able to manage competing demands.

• Strong alignment with Born Free’s values and commitment to compassionate conservation.

• High levels of integrity, accuracy, and personal drive.

• Valid driving licence (Class BCE) with demonstrated experience driving manual fourwheel-drive vehicles in challenging terrain.

• High integrity, cultural sensitivity, and conflict‑resolution skills.

• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem‑solving capabilities.

• Ability to work in remote areas under challenging field conditions.

• Fluent in English and Kiswahili; knowledge of local languages is an added advantage.

The Amboseli Landscape Manager will work closely with programme and operations teams, including Meru Managers, Community Engagement Manager, Communications Manager, GIS Manager, GIS Officer, Fundraising & Partnerships Manager and Field Project Officers and the wider global Born Free team.

Interested and qualified candidates should forward their CV quoting the position as the subject of email by 5pm on 23rd March 2026.

Note: This job description outlines the roles, duties, and responsibilities of the post. It is not intended to detail all specific tasks. Born Free reserves the right to alter the content of this job description to reflect the changing needs of the organisation but is a correct reflection of the main duties of the post at the time of writing.

Thank you for your interest in working for Born Free, Kenya.