Commercial Development Coordinator

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. We currently manage 22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries covering over 20 million hectares in: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Zambia, South Soudan and Zimbabwe.

The Ennedi Nature Reserve is a mountain range, sculpted over millennia by water and wind. It rises to an altitude of more than 1,400 metres and covers 50,000 km² of rocky plateaus, herbaceous steppes, savannahs, fossil rivers and sand dunes. Rich in fauna and waterlogged, Ennedi is well known as the Eden of the Sahara. Fauna and flora abound in this open-air museum where thousands of paintings and engravings adorn the mineral landscape. For all these reasons, in 2016, UNESCO inscribed the Ennedi Massif on the list of mixed sites – natural and cultural – of the World Heritage of Humanity and the government of Chad has entrusted its management to African Parks Networks since 2017.

The long-term sustainability strategy of Ennedi provides for the development of tourism with a wide range of possible offers. Faced with this observation, it is important to guarantee access to the reserve to nationals and internationals with exceptional tourist offers.

The Oundoumbah camp is an integral part of this tourism strategy through which we wish to achieve the following objectives:

1. Support the economic sustainability strategy by generating revenue for the management of the reserve.

2. Support the social sustainability strategy by creating local engagement and jobs through this product, directly benefiting local people through the following actions:

– Concentration on the domestic market;

– Employment and capacity building of local staff (training);

– Increased visibility of the park, thus benefiting the surrounding communities (community tourism, handicrafts, traditional activities, etc.)

Job Overview

The Commercial Development Coordinator will join the ENCR, for twenty-four (24) months, as a key member of the Business Development Department.

The primary objective of the Commercial Development Coordinator is to directly support the conceptualization and implementation of the ENCR Tourism Development Plan.

He/she must support the department’s team in continuously ensuring the quality of reception and accommodation offered, pricing and logistics relating to the proper functioning of the establishments.

He/she will support the department’s team in building and maintaining stable long-term relationships with tourism operators and institutions in charge of tourism as well as selecting trusted suppliers for the supply of said establishments.

To achieve this goal, the Commercial Development Coordinator mainly engages in the following activities:

General

• Implementation and execution of Commercial Development activities in accordance with the developed and validated plan;

• Appropriate management of purchases with the use of appropriate budget lines;

• Organization of tourist accommodation, internal and external consultants, etc.;

• In collaboration with the PM and FRM, management, VIP reception, donors and other important people;

• Programming and hosting of internal APN events within the ENCR;

• Preparation and submission of monthly departmental reports upon request;

• Ensure the healthy maintenance of relationships with different suppliers for the supply of the host institutions.

  What does the success of the Commercial Development Manager look like

• Tourism development strategy in place;

• Tourist accommodation must be open and start welcoming guests;

• The team and the organization are operational;

• Guest satisfaction and majority of positive feedback;

  Key Metrics and Objectives

• Deliverables according to the targets in the Ennedi business plan);

• Local tourism team trained and ready to welcome guests and manage any tourist aspect of the reserve;

Key Relationships

• Director of the park and his Deputy;
• Head of Departments;
• Reporting and financing manager;
• Administrative and Financial Director.

Required Qualifications, Competencies and Experiences

• Strong experience in managing tourism operations in at least one remote region of Africa;
• Strong experience in the development of local tourism teams;
• Strong management and organizational skills;
• Fluency in English and French (written and spoken);
• Very good communication skills and ability to defend a project;
• Results-oriented and strong ability to work independently;
• Team player and ability to work with multicultural and multidisciplinary teams;
• Strong personal integrity and reliability;
• Ability to produce professional written materials in English and French for promotional and informational purposes.