Project Coordinator

📢 Job Opportunity with WCS!

WCS is looking for a “Project Coordinator, Protected Area Management Planning” to join our team.

📍 Location: WCS Vientiane
🗓️ Type: Full-Time
🕗 Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (1.5-hour lunch break)
• Reports to (Supervisors): Country Director, coordinating with Senior Technical Advisor
• Supervisory For: Partial supervision of Policy Officer(s)
• Country Program/Sector: WCS Lao Program, Greater Mekong Region, GCP
• Expected travel: As required within the country to field offices, and internationally if/when needed

• Organization Background:
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.

• WCS Lao Program Overview:
WCS began working in Lao PDR in the 1980s, surveying wildlife and habitats around the country to assist the government in creating Lao PDR’s national protected area system. In the early 1990s, WCS documented wildlife and habitats in many of the newly created national protected areas and began supporting the government to train protected area managers, as well as raise awareness about illegal wildlife trade. In 1994, WCS officially established a country office in Lao PDR. Over almost three decades, WCS Lao PDR has successfully implemented more than 30 projects with the Government of Lao PDR, supported by more than 30 donors, and has increasingly moved away from a project approach into a more integrated, programmatic, strategic, and holistic approach to conservation.
Our vision for the Lao PDR Program is that the unique ecosystems of Lao PDR thrive indefinitely and are valued by the people of Lao PDR, and the world, for their biodiversity, natural beauty, and the services they provide to humanity. A core strategy to fulfill that vision is to improve protection and management of wildlife and wild places by building the capacity and meaningful participation of government and local stakeholders, raising public awareness through conservation outreach and education, providing alternative livelihoods—including nature-based tourism—to guardian villages, influencing institutional, policy, legal and regulatory reforms relevant to protected areas and wildlife, developing the national wildlife health surveillance network, and combatting illegal wildlife trade.

• Job Purpose Summary:
– To lead and facilitate the participatory development of management plans for six protected areas in Northern Laos.
– To ensure that plans are evidence-based, contextually relevant, and compliant with Lao PDR’s legal and policy framework, as well as international best practices for protected area management.
– To strengthen the capacity of local management authorities, stakeholders, and communities in plan development and implementation.
– To lead and facilitate revision of national guidelines on PA management planning, and testing these guidelines through the above management plans. This will include separate, but harmonised, guidelines on levels of protection.

🔍 Key Responsibilities Include:
Main tasks/duties/responsibilities:

1. Review and Assessment
• Conduct rapid ecological and social assessments in each protected area to compile baseline data on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, threats, and socio-economic conditions.
• Review existing documentation, previous plans (where available), legislation, and reports relevant to the management of protected areas in Laos.
• Collect information on Protected Area Management planning approaches used in Laos, and also international best practices (e.g. IUCN WCPA guidelines)
• Understand the pros and cons of various formats and previous Lao Management Plans, including their use and ‘ownership’ by Protected Area Management teams.
• Identify gaps in data and knowledge to inform further studies and/or consultation needs.

2. Stakeholder Engagement
• Identify stakeholders including relevant local government authorities, local communities, ethnic groups, civil society organizations, and relevant private sector actors.
• Lead multi-stakeholder consultations, workshops, and focus groups to gather input and build consensus on management priorities and strategies.
• Ensure the inclusion of gender, youth, and marginalized groups in the planning process.

3. Management Plan Framework Development
• Draft management plan frameworks (in Lao language) for the protected areas, including but not limited to:
o Vision, mission, and objectives
o Levels and Categories of NPA (including separate Guidelines)
o Zoning and land-use allocation
o Conservation targets and indicators
o Threat mitigation strategies (including climate change)
o Community co-management mechanisms
o Monitoring and evaluation frameworks
o Operational and financial plans
o Risk assessment and adaptive management mechanisms

• Facilitate validation workshops to review and refine draft management planning structures with relevant stakeholders.
• Link these draft guidelines with the previous (2020) guidelines, and learn lessons from implementation during 2020-2025.
• Link these draft guidelines with separate, but nested, guidance on establishing and defining the levels of protection for NPAs within the Lao legislation, and their links with global standards, in particular the IUCN PA categories.
• Finalize and support final presentation and translations into English
• Facilitate submission of official management plan guidelines and templates for approval by relevant authorities.

4. Management Plan Development for 6 NPAs
• Using draft management plan frameworks developed above, support the 6 Protected Areas, to develop (or update) draft management plans
• Facilitate validation workshops to review and refine draft plans with relevant stakeholders.
• Finalize and support presentations and translations into English.

5. Capacity Building
• Assess training and mentoring support needs of local management staff and partners.
• Design and deliver tailored capacity building activities (e.g., workshops, on-the-job training) to support protected area management planning, monitoring, and adaptive management.
• Develop guidance materials and relevant toolkits in Lao language for ongoing implementation and updates of management plans.
• Draft support documents, training materials, and presentations – in Lao language – to support these and other PAs to meet their obligations, enhance co-management practices, and deliver on the National Protected Area Roadmap.

6. Coordination, Reporting, and Communication
• Coordinate closely with government agencies, donor partners, and technical experts to align activities and avoid duplication.
• Prepare and submit regular progress reports, meeting notes, and technical documents as required, especially in Lao language.
• Develop communication products (e.g., policy briefs, presentations, community outreach materials) to disseminate findings and promote awareness of management plan objectives.

📝 Expected Deliverables
In English
Support project team with writing project reports, donor reports, and other reports and documents for external audiences:
• Inception Report
o Workplan and methodology
o Baselines
• Activity reports (expected to be quarterly)
• Capacity building completion reports
• Final project report (expected Mar 2027)
o Full summary of all project results
o Contributions to broader project
o Lessons learned and recommendations

In Lao:
Formal documents for consideration by Lao government agencies, local authorities, and local management units:
• Draft frameworks for Management Plans
o Templates
o Training / Guidance
• Draft formal guidelines to assign NPA levels and categories
• Draft formal guideline on NPA Management Plans
• Baseline assessment reports for each NPA
• Stakeholder engagement summaries and consultation records for each NPA
• Draft and finalized Management Plans for each of the six NPAs
• Capacity building workshop and training materials on guidelines
• Report on training (aiming for at least 40 NPA staff trained).

🎓 Qualifications:
Education:
• Advanced university degree in natural resource management, conservation biology, environmental science, or a related field
• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in protected area management and management planning
• Proven experience in participatory planning, stakeholder engagement, and facilitation
• Knowledge of Lao PDR’s conservation policies, legal framework, and socio-cultural context
• Strong analytical, report-writing, and communication skills in Lao language
• Professional proficiency in English language
• Familiarity with local languages or dialects an asset
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary and multicultural team
• Willingness to undertake extended travel to remote field sites under challenging conditions.

📬 To Apply:
Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications should apply by emailing a cover letter and CV (including 3 referees) to 📧 recruitmentlaos@wcs.org

🗓️ Deadline: 25 November 2025

📝 Subject line: Please include “Project Coordinator, Protected Area Management Planning” in the subject line of your email.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer, and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on age, color, disability, gender identify, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by laws and regulations.