POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance is seeking a passionate, motivated and experienced individual to join its newly established Program Coordination Unit (PCU) in Kenya to support the implementing partners with policy and institutional analysis, advocacy and government engagement. The role will contribute to increasing the political visibility of the Global Evergreening Alliance and Restore Africa Program by supporting the engagement with government and regional governmental bodies on ecosystem restoration and carbon benefits. This will involve connecting with relevant global fora and policy processes. The role will also enhance compliance with Environmental, Social and Governance Impact protocols and policies by lead implementing organisations and country consortium partners.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

• Leading the analysis of and advice on government policies, action plans/strategies related to climate action, carbon benefits, carbon rights, and ecosystem restoration
• Enhancing institutional strengthening at various stakeholder groups for scaling up restoration practices
• Liaising with legal service providers where necessary to enhance program outcomes
• Spearheading relationships with governments and regional mechanisms in conjunction with lead implementing organisations
• Undertaking research on the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) landscape, including analysis of policy and institutional barriers to carbon and livelihood benefits across stakeholder groups, and synthesis of related advice for project stakeholders
• Facilitating research to highlight the experience of smallholders for evidence, policy positions, advocacy campaigns and news articles
• Identifying key advocacy points pertaining to VCM and landscape restoration and developing and implementing advocacy plans
• Facilitating identification of legal barriers to land restoration, carbon benefits and support for contextually appropriate incentives and benefit-sharing mechanisms
• Leading the development of cooperation mechanisms in carbon offsetting with in-country legal experts as advised by the program governance structures
• Engaging with country and regional government and non-governmental agencies to stay up to date with the latest development, policy, and advocacy matters
• Jointly with Media and Communication team, organising events/activities to enhance relationships among Alliance members and with government bodies at the country and regional level
• Working to support the Media and Communication team to enhance advocacy and bring Restore Africa Program to global fora
• Supporting PCU staff and implementing partners to meet the ESG and Funders’ and industry requirements per the Program Implementation Agreements and the Collaboration Agreement between GEA and implementing partners and investors, including capacity building of implementing partners’ compliance officers.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

• Advanced degree in a relevant discipline such as international affairs or public policy, Climate Science, international/rural development, agricultural or environmental science, public administration or similar
• Minimum 7 years experience in related work, especially in policy research and development and advocacy
• Demonstrated experience in compliance with international development best practices, and policy analysis and preparation of policy briefs
• Relevant experience with building relationships with national and international partners and knowledge of international policy dialogues
• Practical experience in rural development, stakeholder analysis and institutional strengthening, especially related to community-based natural resources management
• Strong independent thinking skills with the ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation and networking skills.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance is seeking a passionate, motivated and experienced Agroforestry and Landscape Restoration Specialist to support its Restore Africa Program. As part of the Alliance’s Regional Program Coordination Unit (PCU) team, the role will be responsible for technical guidance and advice to in-country consortia on the selection of tree species of high environmental and carbon sequestration potential and management protocols for carbon removal; identification and consensus building on landscape restoration practices in all program countries; the development of guidelines on the sourcing and supply of quality planting materials for all countries in a timely manner; capacity development of consortium members on agroforestry and landscape restoration approaches and scaling up. Furthermore, the role will oversee the development and population of related databases on tree seed suppliers, nursery operators and other relevant data for program scaling.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

• Identifying and leading consensus on contextually appropriate land restoration practices for all projects and with implementing partners in all program countries, building on current best practices of the implementing partners.
• Developing frameworks and guidelines to support implementing partners in selecting and implementing agroforestry and restoration approaches suitable to the context and conducting requisite capacity development of implementing partners.
• Preparing agroforestry-based value creation protocols for relevant value chains in liaison with value chain development officers of implementing partners.
• Offering technical guidance on tree species selection and management protocols for high carbon removal.
• Developing protocols for propagation and management (including approaches such as Assisted Natural Regeneration, Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration) for all tree species in collaboration with technical partner organisations, the internal and external carbon experts.
• Supporting the development of biomass measurement protocols for all program sites and species to feed into selected carbon assessment methodologies.
• Supporting integration of carbon measurement protocols in the field data collection tools in liaison with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) and the carbon experts.
• Developing guidelines on sourcing and supplying tree planting materials for implementing partners, including tree germplasm needs assessments.
• Developing a tree nursery capacity development plan and supporting the implementation of the same for implementing partners.
• Preparing a database of suppliers of tree seeds in liaison with technical partner organisations and other relevant Alliance partners.
• Supporting implementation partners in the development and implementation of scaling strategies for agroforestry and landscape restoration in liaison with the Restore Africa Technical Advisory Group.
• Leading and contributing to cross-project, cross-country learning events to promote the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices on regreening practices.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (agroforestry, environmental science, agriculture, natural resource management)
• At least ten years’ experience in implementing diverse natural resource management approaches.
• Awareness of landscape restoration best practices, current trends, research and policies in climate action especially relating to agriculture, forestry, and land uses.
• Demonstrated experience in project planning, stakeholder analysis & engagement, and organising & facilitating meetings and workshops
• Experience in data collection and management, including analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining replicable frameworks and databases.
• Demonstrated experience in working with smallholder communities in different agroecological contexts
• Knowledge of soil and biomass carbon pool management, crediting, and securitisation experience is an added advantage.
• Strong independent thinking skills with the ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work on several projects simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation and networking skills.
• Ability to build relationships within and external to the organisation