Project Management & Community Engagement Intern at MAL Consultancy

JOB SUMMARY 

• Our Client – an Association of Conservancies with offices in Nairobi has a department whose main objective is to operate as a catalytic financier. This department was established to provide appropriate and sustainable financing to conservancies, while strengthening their financial resilience and supporting conservation and community outcomes. The department is seeking to onboard a Project Management & Community Engagement Intern. 
• The Project Management & Community Engagement Intern will provide technical and coordination support in the planning, implementation, monitoring and documentation of fund-supported initiatives. S/he will support in project coordination, MEL, community and conservancy engagements and work collaboratively with all team members and other partners and stakeholders. 
• The Project Management & Community Engagement Intern will have project management experience gained through academic projects, internships, volunteer work or community-based initiatives. Experience gained working with conservancies, communities, NGOs, development organizations or conservation programmes will be an added advantage. Knowledge of tools such as Power BI, Kobo, Toolbox, Google Workspace, GIS or other monitoring/data-management platforms will also be an added advantage. Community engagement will be a core component of the position. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

Reporting to the Senior Programme Officer while working closely with other internal teams, the duties and responsibilities of the Project Management & Community Engagement Intern will be;

Project Management & Coordination

• Maintain project work plans, implementation schedules and activity trackers
• Follow up with conservancies and implementing partners on agreed activities, deliverables and timelines
• Track project milestones and flag delays, implementation challenges and emerging risks to the department team
• Support preparation of project updates, meeting briefs and implementation reports
• Support coordination of meetings, field visits, workshops and other departmental activities
• Document project decisions, action points and follow-up actions.

Monitoring Evaluation & Learning

• Monitor the progress and performance of fund-supported initiatives
• Update project monitoring tools and templates
• Collect and consolidate project performance data
• Track agreed outputs, outcomes, milestones and indicators
• Support field-based monitoring visits to conservancies and project sites
• Identify project implementation challenges and escalate issues requiring management attention
• Support verification of information provided by funded conservancies.

Community & Conservancy Engagement

• Support engagements with conservancies, community representatives, local stakeholders and implementing partners
• Participate in field visits and community consultations
• Collect feedback from communities and conservancies on Fund-supported interventions.

EDUCATION SKILLS & COMPETENCIES DESIRED 

• Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Project Management, Environmental/Conservation Management, Natural Resource Management, Community Development or any other related fields
• Project management experience gained through academic projects, internships, volunteer work or community-based initiatives
• Experience gained working with conservancies, communities, NGOs, development organizations or conservation programmes will be an added advantage
• Good project management and coordination skills
• Basic monitoring and evaluation skills
• Strong data collection and documentation skills
• Good report-writing ability
• Competence in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of tools such as Power BI, Kobo, Toolbox, Google Workspace, GIS or other monitoring/data-management platforms will be an advantage
• Ability to organize activities, manage timelines, follow up on deliverables and keep projects on track
• Ability to collect accurate information, identify gaps and track progress against agreed targets
• Ability to communicate respectfully and effectively with communities, conservancies and other stakeholders
• Ability to work collaboratively with the KCF team and external stakeholders
• Ability to identify tasks that need attention and take appropriate action with limited supervision
• Ability to demonstrate professionalism, confidentiality, accountability and respect when handling project and community information.