BirdLife International is seeking an experienced Social Marketing Consultant to strengthen community-based vulture conservation efforts in Côte d’Ivoire. The consultancy offers an opportunity for a behaviour change and social marketing specialist to support SOS-Forêts through training, practical tools and technical guidance.
Social Marketing Consultant – Capacity Building Training
The consultant will work under BirdLife International’s Preventing Extinctions Programme and support the project “Restoring Vulture Populations in Côte d’Ivoire through Community-Based Conservation.”
The initiative focuses on improving the conservation status of threatened vulture species in and around Comoé National Park by addressing drivers of belief-based use and trade, increasing stakeholder awareness and strengthening local capacity for conservation action.
The assignment is particularly suited to professionals with substantial experience in social marketing, behaviour change, training and biodiversity conservation.
Key Details
- Organisation: BirdLife International
- Position: Social Marketing Consultant – Capacity Building Training
- Location: Remote / Worldwide
- Working arrangement: Fully virtual
- Contract: Consultancy
- Duration: 20 working days
- Period: August–September 2026
- Language: French
- Deadline: 26 August 2026 at 23:59 BST
About the Assignment
Vultures play an important ecological role, but populations in many parts of Africa face significant threats. In Côte d’Ivoire, belief-based use and trade contribute to pressures on these species.
BirdLife International, working with SOS-Forêts, is implementing a project designed to address these challenges through community-based conservation.
The Social Marketing Consultant will help strengthen SOS-Forêts’ ability to use behaviour change and social marketing approaches to understand audiences, identify behavioural drivers and develop more effective conservation interventions.
Rather than focusing only on awareness raising, the consultancy will help build practical capacity to understand why particular behaviours occur and how conservation initiatives can encourage positive behavioural change.
Key Responsibilities
The successful consultant will assess existing capacity within SOS-Forêts and develop a practical training programme tailored to identified needs.
Responsibilities will include:
- Assessing existing social marketing capacity.
- Identifying training and capacity-building needs.
- Designing and delivering French-language training.
- Supporting staff to apply social marketing concepts to conservation challenges.
- Developing audience segmentation approaches.
- Supporting behaviour analysis.
- Helping plan baseline research and data collection.
- Contributing to a draft Social Marketing campaign strategy.
- Developing practical guidance and reference materials.
- Documenting training outcomes and lessons learned.
- Providing recommendations for future capacity strengthening.
The consultant will work collaboratively with SOS-Forêts staff to ensure that the training and tools are practical and applicable to their conservation work.
Expected Deliverables
The consultancy will produce several key outputs.
1. Social Marketing Capacity Needs Assessment
The consultant will prepare a report assessing existing social marketing capabilities within SOS-Forêts, identifying priority training needs and recommending the focus of the capacity-building programme.
2. French-Language Social Marketing Training Package
The training package will include:
- Presentations.
- Trainer guides.
- Participant handouts.
- Practical exercises.
- Case studies.
- Social marketing tools.
- Reference materials.
3. Planning and Baseline Research Tools
Working with SOS-Forêts, the consultant will develop tools covering:
- Stakeholder mapping.
- Audience segmentation.
- Behaviour analysis.
- Baseline research questionnaires.
- Interview guides.
- Data collection instruments.
- Components of a draft Social Marketing campaign strategy.
4. Training Delivery Report
The consultant will document the training process, including the agenda, participants, evaluation results, outcomes, lessons learned and recommendations.
5. Final Consultancy Report
A final report will summarise the activities undertaken, outputs delivered, recommendations and proposed next steps.
Qualifications and Experience
BirdLife International is looking for a professional with an advanced university degree in a relevant discipline such as:
- Behaviour Change.
- Social Sciences.
- Conservation Biology.
- Natural Resource Management.
- Another closely related field.
Candidates should have at least five years of demonstrated experience in Behaviour Change and Social Marketing.
Relevant professional experience should include:
- Designing and delivering training programmes.
- Capacity building.
- Social marketing.
- Behaviour change.
- Conservation or biodiversity projects.
- Community-based natural resource management.
Experience working in Africa is desirable, while experience in West Africa would be an advantage.
Skills Required
The successful consultant should demonstrate:
- Excellent French communication skills, both written and spoken.
- Strong knowledge of social marketing and behaviour change.
- Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills.
- Strong training and capacity-building abilities.
- Experience developing practical tools and training materials.
- Strong organisational and time-management skills.
- Ability to work independently.
- Ability to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality outputs.
The requirement for excellent French makes this opportunity particularly relevant to consultants who can confidently deliver professional training and technical materials in French.
Remote Working Opportunity
One of the major advantages of this consultancy is its fully virtual working arrangement. The successful consultant can be based anywhere in the world, while all training and technical support will be delivered remotely.
The assignment will comprise approximately 20 working days between August and September 2026, covering preparation, training delivery and completion of the required deliverables.
How to Apply
Interested consultants should submit a complete application consisting of:
- A cover letter explaining their interest and suitability.
- A technical proposal of no more than four pages, outlining their proposed approach and including a sample of previous work.
- A CV demonstrating relevant social marketing, training and capacity-building experience.
- A financial proposal.
- Three professional references, including contact details.
Applications should be submitted by email to Recruitment-west-africa@birdlife.org no later than Wednesday, 26 August 2026 at 23:59 BST.
Applicants should review the full Terms of Reference carefully before submitting their application.
Who Should Apply?
This consultancy is particularly suitable for experienced professionals who combine behaviour change expertise with social marketing and conservation experience.
Candidates who have previously designed behaviour-change campaigns, facilitated professional training, worked with community-based conservation programmes or developed audience research and segmentation tools may be especially well positioned for the assignment.
The role also provides an opportunity to apply social marketing expertise to an important biodiversity challenge while supporting local conservation capacity in Côte d’Ivoire.
With the consultancy being fully remote and open to applicants worldwide, qualified specialists with the required French-language and professional experience can apply regardless of their current country of residence.
Application Deadline
26 August 2026 at 23:59 BST
Qualified social marketing, behaviour change and conservation professionals are encouraged to prepare their technical and financial proposals early, ensuring that their application clearly demonstrates relevant experience, previous training work and an understanding of community-based conservation challenges.
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