Vanuatu Marine Spatial Plan Project Manager Position advertisement

Marine Spatial Plan Project
Department of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade,
Backgound
Vanuatu is 98% ocean and its sea covers an area twice the size of Italy (623,417km2). Vanuatu’s marine ecosystem goods and services are worth >US$70M annually to the local population, equivalent to over a third of the government’s annual expenditures.
But these values are under threat.
Recognising this, the Cabinet of Vanuatu recently launched its Ocean Policy (April 2017), a first for the Pacific. The many government agencies involved are now working hard to implement it. Particular attention is being given to implementing the most innovative part of the Policy: a national Marine Spatial Plan (MSP), inclusive of a national network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to be designed, endorsed and implemented by 2020.
The position
The Government of Vanuatu has recently received funding support from the Government of Italy to progress the nation’s Ocean Policy implementation, especially of the MSP. This funding will support, amongst other things, the employment of a National Ocean Policy and Marine Spatial Planning Manager for three and a half years within the Department of Foreign Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade.
This position will guide the delivery, for Vanuatu, a nation Marine Spatial Plan by 2020 and oversight the implementation of this plan and of Vanuatu’s National Ocean Policy more generally. This will position will be responsible for, and supervise a small team,