Africa Fisheries Analyst

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to the multidisciplinary Africa team across core countries
• Work collaboratively with national governments, civil society organisations, regional agencies, industry partners and the analytical team to collect, analyse, and display data on commercial fishing activities.
• Identify analysis priorities of partners and collaborators through in-country and regional workshops and virtual discussions.
• Analyse fishing and shipping vessel AIS and other potential data that may be available like VMS, vessel databases, and oceanographic datasets, using Big Query (SQL) and R.
• Create technical reports and presentations based on analyses, produce summary graphics and maps of industrial fishing vessels, and present recommendations as required in support of data transparency and sharing of information to combat IUU fishing and support design and monitoring of marine protected and preferential access areas (PAAs).
• Lead the production of technical reports in support of MCS activities including pre-patrol analysis and patrol support, port-control and PSMA-related analyses and ad hoc reports in response to specific requests from collaborators and partners. 
• Research and understand national and regional fishery and marine resource management frameworks and policies as they relate to analytic findings and report recommendations.

Support the Sr. Program Manager, Africa, in engaging a wide range of stakeholders and governments to advance the mission of the organization in the region

• Participate in in-country workshops and virtual discussions designed to identify analysis priorities of partner organisations.
• Assist with the development and delivery of materials for regional and national training and capacity building activities to country governments, NGOs and CSOs on relevant fisheries monitoring tools and support for MCS operations and activities.
• In support of the Program deliverables, contribute to briefings, white papers and case studies and engage with civil society and government partners as required.
• Develop and maintain an informed awareness of topics that relate to fisheries management, safe and decent working conditions on fishing vessels, and (IUU) fishing 
• Learn about new datasets and share technical knowledge across the other regional teams.
• Internally communicate feedback received from external partners to adapt and update GFW tools.
• Participate in media interviews, public speaking & GFW training events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Regional travels will be required (estimated about 15% of time), as well as some international travel beyond the Africa region

Candidate description

Required

• Bachelor’s Degree 
• At least three years of relevant professional experience working in fisheries management or marine conservation, preferably in a West Africa country (but not essential)
• Fluency in database handling, data mining and experience in using SQL (Google Big Query) and/or R programming software or a demonstrated ability to acquire these skills in a timely way.
• Strong spatial data handling skills with experience in analysing vessel tracking data and creating maps or spatial inferences in GIS or programming languages
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and French and the ability to communicate complex technical and scientific information to non-technical audiences.
• Highly organised, analytical, and detail oriented with an ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment.
• Ability to work quickly and efficiently to a very high standard of detail, including to independently error check and troubleshoot code.
• Good interpersonal skills and an ability to remotely cultivate relationships

Preferred

• Master's degree in a relevant area or equivalent experience
• Experience analysing vessel tracking and identity information and/or big data handling experience, including statistical analysis. 
• Experience in fisheries compliance, and monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) including analyses around the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA)
• Experience in delivering trainings to governments, NGOs, CSOs and researchers
• Experience in engagement and support of fishing industry and/or communities in conjunction with relevant national agencies.
• Working knowledge of other languages besides English and French is desired; such as Spanish or Portuguese.