Community Liaison Officer at Fortescue

About the role

The Community Liaison Officer (CLO) is responsible for the day-to-day liaison and engagement between Fortescue and local communities in the project area. The CLO shall perform, inter alia, the following tasks & responsibilities:

• Liaise local stakeholder relationships through regular contact with local community representatives.
• Undertake active community engagement in order to develop trust and broad community support to enable smooth implementation of project operations.
• Facilitate liaison between Fortescue staff, communities, contractors and other key stakeholders. Develop and sustain an effective two-way communication between Fortescue and relevant stakeholder coordination committees.
• Develop and maintain close contacts with local and county leadership and authorities to ensure good stakeholder relationships.
• Organize meetings with key stakeholders and any other organisations if so requested, including organizing meeting spaces.
• Maintain a detailed & accurate record of stakeholder meetings including agendas, minutes of meeting, follow up / action points. All such stakeholder and meeting information will be documented in Fortescue’s stakeholder relationship management system (SRM).
• Ensure that communities are adequately informed about project developments and ensure that communication channels remain open at all times.
• Actively seek feedback from local communities and advise the project team on their views about various issues as well as report on any changing sentiments within the community that may affect project operations.
• Assist in the identification and resolution of potential project implementation challenges at community level.
• Document and follow up on community and other stakeholder concerns, requests and grievances by ensuring that they are brought to the attention of the Communities Lead within Fortescue.
• Monitor interactions between subcontractors, locally employed persons and local communities and report any impropriety or concern to the Communities Lead within Fortescue.
• Gather information on potential social impacts of Fortescue operations and consult internally and with community leadership and representatives on impact avoidance and mitigation measures.
• Carry out sensitisation campaigns to educate the local communities on Fortescue activities.
• Consult with local stakeholders regarding community investment projects and their implementation.
• Attend project team meetings as required.
• Support permitting, approvals and study activities in the project area of operation, where required.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline.
• Five years previous experience working within a community relations / development role; management of grievances at community level.
• Prior experience working in the Naivasha region is critical & strong knowledge of local customs and traditions is essential.
• Experience working with national & international organizations that are contributing to the development of local communities is desirable.
• Experience in the management of grievances and grievance management systems.
• Ability to develop and implement strategies (including key stakeholder engagement) to secure desired outcomes and support objectives
• Ability to build and maintain a network of local stakeholders and informed parties.
• Ability to translate complex information into strong, easily understandable messages, including the ability to influence, inspire confidence and build trust at all levels.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili is essential.
• Knowledge of languages spoken locally is essential.
• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision & direction. Yet able to work in a team to achieve project goals.
• Self-motivated, versatile, adaptable to different cultures & people.
• Strong community liaison, mobilization, negotiation and consensus building skills required.
• Working knowledge of MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) required.
• Good analytical skills, resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgement.
• Effective reporting & writing skills essential.