BIOPAMA Project Officer - Action Component, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office at International Union for Conservation of Nature

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

• Ensure effective and efficient implementation of the BIOPAMA Action Component in Eastern and Southern Africa through timely implementation of programme activities in accordance with the BIOPAMA workplan, project documents, supporting agreements (e.g. contracts, MoUs, etc.), annual work plans and the procedures and policies of IUCN.
• More specifically the Action Component Officer is expected to carry out the following duties;
• Develop a thorough understanding of the BIOPAMA Action Component mechanism;
• Take responsibility for implementing all processes required at regional and national levels for grants management and ensuring that they are delivered in a timely, effective and accurate manner;
• Plan and undertake regular communication with other members of the Action Component team - reviewers, finance and contract personnel and provide relevant updates periodically;
• Provide guidance to the global team on regionally tailored approaches for an effective communication programme to promote and explain the grant mechanism opportunity to stakeholders across the ACP region;
• Work effectively with the BIOPAMA global team to deliver regional BIOPAMA communication products and communicate results;
• Support the communication of the launch of the calls for proposals in the region (as relevant);
• Provide regular technical advice to the Regional BIOPAMA Coordinator and assist in work planning and the preparation of reports related to the implementation of the Action Component in Eastern and Southern Africa;
• Work, together with the Regional BIOPAMA Coordinator, to ensure integration and compliance with the IUCN Environmental and Social Management System and the BIOPAMA AC Operational Manual;
• Identify key regional and national networks and organizations and develop and maintain contact lists and liaison;
• Work, together with the Regional BIOPAMA Coordinator, to oversee a Regional Advisory Committee which acts as a review team. Ensure the secretariat of the RAC et elaborate report for the BIOPAMA AC validating Committee;
• Coordinate the ESMS clearance of the project proposals as relevant;
• Contribute regional support to the processes for solicitation, review and evaluation of proposals in consultation with other members of the Action Component global team;
• Provide advice on due diligence assessments and screening of applicants in consultation with the regional BIOPAMA AC Finance Officer and the global team;
• Prepare letter to applicants on the outcomes of their proposal submissions and liaise with them when needed;
• As necessary, provide direct technical support for capacity building, particularly of local-level civil society organizations and mentor applicants and grantees through aspects of grant management, from the initial proposal design and submission process, to assisting with project monitoring and evaluation;
• Manage the submission of technical and financial reports from grantees, and verify completion of products, deliverables, and short-term impacts by grantees in order to review the efficiency and efficacy of project implementation;
• Monitor performance through communication with grantees and through site visits where appropriate;
• Ensure close synergies between the grants programme and RCMRD's roles in BIOPAMA particularly in regard to management effectiveness assessments and activities that will improve the quality of baseline protected and conserved area information and ensure that relevant information derived from grant projects is accessible to the Regional Resource Hub at RCMRD;
• Contribute to information sharing, lessons learning and documentation of Action Component project and programme experiences;
• Work effectively with the BIOPAMA global team to promote BIOPAMA AC funded projects' results and success stories;
• Work effectively with the BIOPAMA Technical Officer (TO) for supporting the capitalization process of BIOPAMA AC funded projects, supporting good project logical framework and indicators, project monitoring and enabling information sharing from the projects to the RRIS.
• Stakeholder Engagement and representation;
• Assist in building and maintaining strong relationships with IUCN partners, donors, project participants and wider stakeholders and develop the Action Component network. More specifically: Where relevant, convene meetings and workshops to enable information sharing, capacity building and exchange between grantees and other stakeholders;
• Ensure that the relevant EU delegations, the regional ACP secretariat and IUCN commissions and membership are kept suitably engaged and informed;
• Contribute to project publicity, promotion, updates and knowledge products suitably branded and attributed;
• Support the Regional BIOPAMA Coordinator as required through engagement on regional network groups, task forces and committees; representing IUCN and BIOPAMA at assigned relevant regional fora, meetings and workshops at national and regional levels; contribution to IUCN ESARO programme planning forums, advisory committees and, project reviews.
• Monitoring, evaluation and learning;
• Support the development and implementation of Monitoring and Evaluation systems and support accountability and programme learning processes. More specifically: Support the development and effective implementation of M&E frameworks and systems for the BIOPAMA Action Component in the Eastern and Southern African region. These should capture agreed upon, integrated impacts, in line with IUCN guidelines and procedures;
• Support the definition of a BIOPAMA AC indicator framework from the project scale to the global targets;
• Contribute to the development of a project wide M&E framework which captures the objectives of BIOPAMA in line with global objectives;
• Contribute to developing capacity for M&E within projects, as relevant;
• Work closely with IUCN ESARO Financial Team to manage the regional level project budget and expenditure authorizations in accordance with IUCN's financial management systems and procedures;
• Ensure that all the information related to the implementation of projects is adequately filed, organized and updated for easy access;
• Identify and use lessons to inform practice;
• Document and share lessons and experiences, as appropriate, including taking the responsibility for specific knowledge products.
• Work effectively with the RRH Policy Officer for supporting the capitalisation process of BIOPAMA AC funded projects, supporting good project logical framework and indicators, project monitoring and enabling information sharing from the projects to the RRIS.
• Programme growth;
• Contributing to processes that guide the growth of the ESARO Programme and development of the Thematic Programmatic portfolios. More specifically: Promote the integrated collaboration between IUCN's thematic portfolios;
• Identify opportunities for new projects, building on the work of the Resource Hub and Action Component, and work with the SPO to design and develop the concepts for these;
• Work closely with IUCN members, commissions and/or partners, and the SPO to support the development of innovative proposals that address members' and/or partners' needs;
• Support the investigation of additional fund-raising possibilities to ensure the sustainability of project activities and the portfolio.
• Support the communication and dissemination (internally and externally) of portfolio achievements;

Other responsibilities;

• Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

REQUIREMENTS

 POSITION REQUIREMENTS: Education;

• A postgraduate qualification in a relevant field such as environmental management, natural resource management, conservation biology, or an ecology or natural science related discipline.
• A certificate or diploma in an ecology related discipline accompanied by 7 years' relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the University Degree requirement.

Work Experience;

• At least 7 years of experience in biodiversity conservation and/or protected areas management, ideally involving terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, at national and/or regional levels, in Eastern and/or Southern Africa;
• Experience with grant management systems including contracts management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation methodologies;
• Experience in communicating and collaborating with management agencies, local communities, academic institutions and local, national and regional stakeholders to achieve agreed collective outcomes;
• Experience in interacting confidently with diverse stakeholders including with government officials and local communities;
• Hands-on experience with report writing;
• Proven experience in project administration;
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building and working as a facilitator or trainer in a multi-cultural setting
• Language Proficiency;
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal;
• A working knowledge of French and / or Portuguese and / or Swahili is an advantage