WeForest

WeForest is a fast-growing international non-profit association headquartered in Belgium and with current projects in Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Malawi, Senegal and Zambia. The mission of the organisation is to advance innovative, scalable and lasting solutions to restore forest and landscapes for climate, people and planet. We promote scientific evidence for the ways in which forests contribute to climate change mitigation, beyond their impacts as stocks of carbon, by increasing water availability, enhancing local biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood and resilience.

Job Summary

The Project Manager will work in a dynamic team on our objective towards increasing forest cover in Katanino Forest Reserve and Miombo woodlots in the 5km buffer zone around the Reserve as well as implementing agroforestry on smallholder farms in the buffer zone as a scalable solution for climate mitigation and adaptation, livelihood improvement and gender equitable development. The Project Manager will work under the direct supervision of the Zambia Country Director and will mainly be active in the field in Katanino Forest Reserve, Masaiti district.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Project management, coordination and monitoring & evaluation

1. Deliver on-time, and on-budget, the Katanino Forest Reserve restoration project

2. Oversee planning, budgeting and project implementation

3. Liaise with local, district and national authorities on forest restoration and conservation as required

4. Engage with forest-dependent communities and implement forest friendly livelihoods

5. Efficient and effective communication with WeForest HQ, workforce, local communities, Forestry Department and other relevant stakeholders

6. Efficient and transparent weekly and quarterly reporting to Zambia Country Director

Technical leadership

1. Lead socio-economic and ecological resource assessments and monitoring in the project area.

2. Coordinate with the District Forestry Office, forest restoration activities in Katanino Forest Reserve.

3. Together with the Forestry Department, Chiefs and the local community, support the establishment of community forests in Masaiti District.

4. Coordinate with the JFMC, the activities of registered Cooperatives under the Katanino Forest Trust

5. Advise and supervise nursery performance and tree planting/ANR activities

6. Advise and supervise beekeeping, agroforestry and conservation farming activities in the buffer zone

7. In consultation with communities, Forestry Department and local/national/international businesses, oversee value-chain development for non-timber forest products (including beekeeping and mushroom production)

8. Facilitate the development, validation and adoption of a Forest Management Plan for Katanino

9. Lead the local team to excellent programme management, performance and M&E

10. In close collaboration with the HR Manager, recruit and develop capacity of local team

11. Organise training for farmers in crop and animal production in collaboration with Government Departments at the district level.

12. Oversee the development of income generation activities for Katanino Forest Trust to support the implementation of the Forest Management Plan.

13. Provide support for the development of a carbon project for Katanino and oversee the implementation of the carbon project for the benefit of the local communities in the 5km buffer zone.

Programme development

1. If and when required: assist in grant writing to boost the programme

Candidate Profile

Essential

• An M.Sc., or equivalent experience in, Forestry, Forest ecology and conservation, Economics, Rural development, Agro-ecology or equivalent
• Fluent in English (both speaking and writing)
• Minimum 3 years’ relevant experience in community-based forest restoration, management and conservation in a developing country, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa. Experience in Community Forest Management practices in Zambia is essential.
• Demonstrable experience of developing livelihood value chains in collaboration with small-scale farmers, communities and business
• Excellent management, coordination, training, reporting and communication skills
• Flexible in terms of traveling and living conditions
• Excellent team player
• Ability to develop and manage complex budgets
• Experience in developing log frames and work plans and delivering projects against milestones and targets
• Ability to use and understand GIS

Desirable:

• Knowledge of Lamba
• Track record with gender-sensitive participatory, governance and inclusion approaches
• Track record in grant applications
• Track record in writing scientific articles

TASKS

• Implement best practices in day to day management of the project activities
• Demonstrate leadership and show own initiative
• Coordinate and assist the staff under your responsibility
• Ensure Training and extensionist services towards farmers are up to standards and timely.
• Technical advisor ensuring a good partnership with all stakeholders to guarantee project outputs
• Ensure collection of quality quantitative & qualitative field data (socio-economic data, forest inventory/vegetation survey, GPS coordinates, etc.)
• Facilitate consultancies, project visits and other services on behalf of WeForest/ third parties for scientific studies & analysis.
• Appropriate and frequent reporting in full transparency and integrity, being coachable for improvement
• Ensure a safe working environment for WeForest Staff, local community and other stakeholders as well as the organisation’s assets.

Terms & Conditions

Position: Full-time employee, 5 or 6 days per week.

Base: Katanino Forest Reserve, Masaiti District, Zambia

Start date: As soon as possible, preferably by 01/04/2023

Package: Competitive package for a small organisation, level 4a salary package