[Coral-List] FW: can you pls post this position (3rd request)

[Kim Friedman]

 Position:  PRINCIPAL REEF FISHERIES SCIENTIST

SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY

BACKGROUND

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is a technical advice, assistance, training and research agency serving 22 Pacific Island countries and territories of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. SPC is an intergovernmental organisation. Its work covers a range of sectors including natural resources (agriculture, forestry, fisheries) and socio-economic programmes (culture, health, demography/statistics, women and youth). It is a bilingual organisation, with English and French as its official working languages.

SPC currently has approximately 290 staff members and a total budget of XPF3.2 billion (approximately USD32 million) per year.

The Coastal Fisheries Programme (CFP) makes up half of SPC's Marine Resources Division, with 30 staff in six sections covering aspects of development, training, information, management, aquaculture and reef fisheries assessment relating to the use of Pacific Island domestic marine living resources. Its overall goal is 'to significantly assist SPC members in their commitment to apply the ecosystem approach to coastal fisheries and aquaculture by 2010'.

The Principal Reef Fisheries Scientist is the manager of the European Union-funded reef fisheries assessment projects implemented by SPC's Reef Fisheries Observatory (RFO). The RFO is presently compiling the first major baseline assessment of Pacific Island reef fisheries (both resource and human aspects) using common methodologies across most of the Pacific Community work area. The work is already in progress and well past the initiation phase, but will require tight organisation to ensure the comparative baseline reef fisheries assessment is completed and country reports are written up within the planned time.

The post is based at SPC Headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, and involves considerable travel. The Principal Reef Fisheries Scientist (PRFS) will manage activities to achieve goals and objectives within planned budgets and timeframes, and produce timely administrative reports as required by SPC and European Union supervisory processes. The PRFS will organise, supervise and take part in conducting the fieldwork, analysis, interpretation and presentation of information relevant to the assessment of the status of reef fisheries in the region, and to Pacific Island reef fisheries managers at all levels, and will maintain linkages with project partners and SPC Heads of Fisheries. The primary clients of the project are the governments and people of the island members of the Pacific Community. The successful applicant must have a strong awareness of members' information needs in relation to coastal fisheries management, a record of successful and harmonious collaborative work with Pacific Island fisheries services, and the ability to manage a small team of self-starting professionals.

The post requires a manager with considerable initiative and excellent knowledge of reef fisheries, or fisheries science in the Pacific Community region, and experience in developing and managing applied field research programmes. In their application, candidates should describe their experience, ability and qualities in relation to the requirements outlined above.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The duties of the Principal Reef Fisheries Scientist are implemented in consultation with the Director as appropriate. The duty statement of the Principal Reef Fisheries Scientist is as follows:

1. In consultation with the Coastal Fisheries Programme Manager, within the approved framework of the Reef Fisheries Observatory under the Coastal Fisheries Strategic Programme Plan, and component project plans, supervise and maintain an integrated work programme that is linked to the priority needs of member countries and territories collaborating in the PROCFISH and COFISH projects.

2. In supervising the implementation of this work programme, the Principal Fisheries Scientist shall:

(a) provide effective and perceptive leadership for supervised project staff;

(b) ensure that the range of work of the project is adequate to provide the best available scientific advice on the status of Pacific Island reef fisheries, including resource and human components of fisheries, and to develop a better understanding of the status of supporting ecosystems;

(c) maintain close collaborative relations with Heads of Fisheries in SPC member countries and territories;

(d) ensure that the scientific work of the project is maintained at an internationally recognised standard of excellence.

3. In consultation with the staff of the project and other collaborators, maintain consistent sampling and methodological approaches for assessing resource and human aspects of Pacific Island reef fisheries, supervise the implementation of fieldwork plans, analyse and interpret results, and prepare narrative and financial progress reports and primary information outputs.

4. Maintain close working relationships with other sections of SPC's Coastal Fisheries Programme, in particular the Fisheries Management Section, and with other organisations involved in the project (including research organisations and intergovernmental organisations), in particular Heads of Fisheries in SPC member countries and territories.

5. In collaboration with other project staff, prepare field survey reports, national reef fisheries assessments, reviews and scientific papers for publication, and present project findings within the collaborating countries and to regional and/or scientific meetings.

6. Perform other project-related duties as required.

 

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Very important

* Post-graduate degree in a discipline relevant to reef fisheries assessment.

* Experience in Pacific Island fisheries research, particularly field research programmes involving local collaborators.

* Minimum of five years directly relevant project management experience, including financial responsibility.

* Demonstrated capability to lead a team of specialists, preferably by example.

* Demonstrated ability to successfully collaborate and work in an integrated programme involving colleagues from several different countries and cultures.

* Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the capability of equally engaging scientific, governmental and public audiences.

Important

* Willingness to travel the Pacific Islands region for extended periods, sometimes under difficult physical conditions.

* Ability to develop working agreements and relationships with fisheries services and other collaborators in SPC member countries.

* A working knowledge of both English and French would be an advantage.

Applicants should include a list of their publications, particularly those relevant to Pacific Island reef fisheries assessment.

NATIONALITY

Owing to the source of funding, only applicants who are passport-holders of European Union or ACP countries are eligible for this post. (ACP countries in the Pacific Islands region are Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.)

TENURE

New appointments will be for a period of three years in the first instance, subject to a one-year probationary period, with the possibility of renewal for a further three years, subject to performance and continued funding availability.

DUTY STATION

Noumea, New Caledonia.

ADDRESS

Applications should be addressed to the Director-General, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, PO Box D5, Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia, to arrive by 15 February 2006. Applicants should provide full personal details, describe their qualifications and experience, and explain how these suit them for the specific requirements of the advertised position. Relevant previous appointments, present position and salary, and the names and addresses (including telephone, fax, e-mail contacts) of three referees should also be provided. Testimonials may be provided with the application, but are not necessary and will not be considered a substitute for confidential referee's reports, which will be commissioned directly by SPC.

Applications may alternatively, or additionally, be submitted by email to spc at spc.int, preferably in plain text or Rich Text Format (RTF).

More can be learned about SPC through the website http://www.spc.int <http://www.spc.int/> .

 

Dr Kim Friedman 
Senior Reef Fisheries Scientist (Invertebrates) 
Secrétariat de la Communauté du Pacifique (CPS) 
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) 
BP D5 - 98848 NOUMEA CEDEX 
Nouvelle-Calédonie 
Phone: +687 265 474
Fax: +687 26 38 18
E-mail : kimf at spc.int <mailto:kimf at spc.int <blocked::mailto:kimf at spc.int> >
<http://www.spc.int/coastfish <blocked::http://www.spc.int/coastfish> >