Job Purpose:
Concern and HELVETAS will be implementing a resilience programme in North Gondar Zone with a focus on NRM, Health and Nutrition, Livelihoods and Governance. HELVETAS are the overall lead of the Project. Thus the NRM Project officer will work under the overall supervision and guidance of the HELVETAS Senior Project Manager and with the technical support of the FSL TA and PD in CWW Ethiopia. Thus the NRM Project officer will play a lead role in the following: ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of NRM activities directly related with natural resources management/Integrated Watershed Development and Management; and capacity building in the area of disaster risk reduction and building resilience to shocks. S/he will ensure that the Community facilitators, other technical officers of the project and the government counterparts at field level have the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to ensure Concern is implementing an effective Watershed Development and management programme that contributes to the local environment, livelihoods of the beneficiaries, and enhanced capacity for the governance of common property resources.
The NRM Project officer will also help setup and supervise all natural resource based assessments that will help the design and implementation of Watershed programmes; s/he will also participate in supporting gender assessments which will help identify the specific needs of women and vulnerable groups with regard to, which will take place twice yearly in each field location.
Main duties & Responsibilities:
Organisational
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the HELVETAS Senior Project Manager and with the technical support of the the FSL TA and PD in CWW Ethiopia, the NRM Project Officer will work in the development and implementation of Watershed and NRM related activities of the project. The project used Watershed Development as an entry point to Development in the SEGORP project and thus this intervention is the pivot/anchor around which every other activity is built around. The NRM Officer is responsible to plan, coordinate, direct and monitor the work of the project NRM activities, ensures that project NRM activities are properly implemented in accordance with the basic project document, donor, and Government guidelines and standards. S/he is responsible for capacity building including coaching and mentoring of the relevant staff and partners and its plan of action and submits periodic report.
The post holder will therefore ensure that a higher level of synergy and complementarity in and outside of the project is maintained.
Technical Roles
Develop and prepare operation action plan for community –based watershed and natural resources management in collaboration with concerned bodies
Support technically the mobilization and awareness creation of the target communities on the concepts, approaches and principles of watershed management in the watershed operational areas
Support/strengthen of community-based watershed management committees in the identified NRM sites and facilitates the development of by-laws
Support in identifying appropriate biological and physical conservation measures in the identified communal and closure areas
Establish and strengthen fuel efficient and energy saving stove producer groups
Use model farmers individual tree nursery sites for training, and use the model farmers for demonstration, assist and support selected model-farmers in establishing similar NRM structures (stone-bunds, wind-brakes, soil-bunds, etc) on their own land (trial / innovation for sustainability approach of NRM activities in the project period
Assists/supports the development of communities’ action plan for its implementation of identified physical and biological measures
Provides training for kebele development committee/Food Security Task Force on different environmental and Watershed concepts, approaches & principles
Advocate stakeholders for project activities & objectives to understand the project’s contribution to wider project goals and objectives
Innovates and advocate new ideas/technologies related to NRM that will speed-up implementation process and improve quality of NRM interventions
Develop, implement and document appropriate best-practices in community-based approaches to natural resource management
Contribute to the development of Terms of Reference (TORs) for meetings, workshops, assessments/surveys and trainings, selection of resource persons for ToT trainings for project activities
Develop training material for experts, community Facilitators, extension workers, animators and target communities trainings
Assist Gender integration in program activities through collaboration, learning and adaptation (CLA) strategies
Develop working agreements / MOUs with stakeholders as per need and share with Senior project manager
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Regularly monitor, review and evaluate the implementation of programs on NRM and watershed, take appropriate and timely action and extract lessons learned for future program development and implementation
Provide the relevant staff in in CWW Ethiopia and the Senior Project Manager in North Gondar with concise reports on NRM activity progress on a monthly basis
Contribute to the documentation of good practice and learning.
Participate in learning reviews and evaluations and ensure that learnings are applied in the development of future NRM programming
Capacity Building
Provide training as required on best practice approaches for the implementation of NRM and Watreshed actions to all project and partner staff
Fully understand Concern’s Engaging Men and Boys Strategy and lead the programme teams in its implementation
Carry out NRM training for staff, partners staff and Provide technical support to staff following completion of the trainings
Networking
Liaise with other INGOs, LNGOs, and Government representatives and take active role in forums, task forces, core group meetings and consortia related to NRM issues for learning, experience sharing and joint action implementation.
Jointly organise and implement campaigning events to influence decisions related to NRM as needed
Emergency response Concern is committed to responding to emergencies efficiently and effectively in order to help affected people meet their basic needs, alleviate suffering and maintain their dignity. To this end, when emergencies strike and the Ethiopia Programme is to respond, all staff are required to actively participate in the response, regardless of location and contribute to the efforts aimed at achieving the humanitarian objective of the organization.
Gender Equality Demonstrate understanding of Concern Ethiopia’s Gender Equality Strategy
Contribute to ensuring that Concern Ethiopia is a place where men and women are treated equally and with dignity and respect
Demonstrate gender equality awareness and gender sensitivity and an ability to integrate a gender equality perspective into tasks and activities.
MA/MSC, BA/BSc in NRM, Climate Change Development, Environmental Disaster Risk Management, Forestry or other related field of studies from recognized universities/colleges
A minimum of 5 years experience working on NRM, Environment, and very related themes, preferably in an international NGO and humanitarian setting.
Competencies: Knowledge of gender theories and concepts.
Knowledge of best practice in NRM programming, including mainstreaming tools and guidelines
Experience and skills in delivering trainings on NRM
Facilitation skills
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, especially oral communication
Dynamic and energetic
Technical understanding of NRM and Watershed concept
What we offer A competitive salary and benefit package
Excellent medical benefits (100% cover including dependents)
20 days annual leave
26 weeks (paid) maternity leave, 18 weeks (unpaid) parental leave