Deputy Director of Fisheries

LIKELY QUESTIONS

- How does your 15+ years of experience prepare you to serve as Deputy Director of Fisheries at Job Grade KF3?
- Describe your experience leading fisheries development, management, research, or conservation programmes at national or regional level.
- How would you apply the Fisheries Management and Development Act (Cap. 378) in managing a fisheries resource or resolving a compliance issue?
- What are the most urgent fisheries management challenges facing Kenya, and what practical actions would you prioritise in your first 12 months?
- How would you balance conservation, livelihoods, food security, revenue generation, and private-sector growth in fisheries?
- Describe your leadership approach when coordinating technical officers, county governments, Beach Management Units, fishing communities, development partners, and other agencies.
- What is your experience with monitoring, control and surveillance, fisheries compliance, licensing, enforcement, or combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing?
- If deployed to a regional office or a directorate such as Aquaculture, Capture Fisheries, Compliance and Enforcement, or Fish Quality, Safety and Trade, how would you establish priorities and deliver results?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS

- Tell us about a time you led a complex fisheries, aquatic-resource, or natural-resource management project with multiple stakeholders.
Model approach: Situation: Briefly state the project, location, stakeholders, budget or scope, and the problem being addressed. Task: Explain your mandate, leadership responsibility, and required outcomes. Action: Describe how you developed a workplan, assigned roles, engaged communities and agencies, managed risks, and tracked implementation. Result: Quantify outputs such as improved compliance, production, stock protection, income, project completion, or stakeholder participation; close with the lesson relevant to KeFS.

- Describe a time you handled resistance from fishers, communities, staff, or another stakeholder group to a fisheries management measure.
Model approach: Situation: State the proposed measure, such as closed seasons, gear restrictions, licensing, landing-site controls, aquaculture standards, or enforcement action. Task: Explain the need to protect the resource while maintaining trust and lawful implementation. Action: Show how you used evidence, consultation, public awareness, BMUs or local leadership, phased implementation, and fair enforcement. Result: State the level of acceptance, compliance improvement, conflict reduction, or resource-management outcome achieved.

- Give an example of a time you used data or research findings to improve a programme or policy decision.
Model approach: Situation: Identify the management problem and the weak or missing evidence base. Task: Explain your responsibility for generating, interpreting, or acting on information. Action: Describe the data sources used, such as catch assessment, landing data, farm records, inspections, surveys, stock assessments, laboratory results, or market data; explain how you translated findings into decisions. Result: Demonstrate a measurable improvement in targeting resources, policy, compliance, quality, production, or sustainability.

- Tell us about a time you managed a difficult compliance, enforcement, quality, or public-interest issue.
Model approach: Situation: Describe the violation, risk, or incident, such as illegal gear, prohibited fishing, fish safety concerns, export non-compliance, or conflict at a landing site. Task: Clarify your legal, operational, and leadership responsibilities. Action: Explain how you ensured due process, coordinated relevant agencies, documented evidence, communicated professionally, and applied the relevant law or regulations. Result: State the enforcement, safety, compliance, revenue, or reputational outcome, and emphasise fairness and integrity.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK

- Which directorates or regional offices have the most urgent leadership needs among the eight Deputy Director positions, and what are the priority outcomes for each?
- What performance indicators will be used to assess a Deputy Director during the first year, particularly for programme delivery, compliance, stakeholder coordination, and resource sustainability?
- How does KeFS currently coordinate its mandate with county governments, Beach Management Units, research institutions, security agencies, and development partners?
- What are the most significant operational constraints facing the Service, such as staffing, vessels, surveillance systems, laboratories, data systems, or field resources, and how is leadership expected to address them?
- What major policy, fisheries management, aquaculture, fish quality, trade, or enforcement initiatives will the successful candidates be expected to lead or support over the next two to three years?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR

- Unclear deployment expectations: Listen for vague answers on whether officers may be transferred frequently, deployed to remote regions without adequate support, or moved between directorates without clear role definition.
- Limited operational capacity: Note indications of insufficient field staff, transport, vessels, surveillance tools, laboratory capacity, project funding, or data systems, especially if expectations remain high without realistic resources.
- Weak governance or unclear decision-making: Be cautious if the interviewer cannot explain reporting lines, delegation of authority, coordination with counties and other agencies, or how technical decisions are protected from undue interference.