Job Title: Western Uganda Project Officer
Organisation: International Tree Foundation
Duty Station: Kasese, Uganda
About US:
International Tree Foundation is an international, non-profit, non-political, conservation organisation. It is involved in planting, maintenance and protection of trees. It was founded in Kenya on 22 July 1922 by Richard St. Barbe Baker as Men of the Trees.
Job Summary: The Western Uganda Project Officer will be responsible for the development, growth and effective implementation of ITF’s programmes in Kasese district of Western Region. The focal Counties entail Bukonzo and Busongora with 5 Constituencies Vis Busongora County North, Busongora County South, Kasese Municipality, Bukonzo County East, and Bukounzo County West. S/he is expected to oversee other ITF projects within the following geographical locations: Mbarara, Masaka, Bwinti (Kanungu district), Fort portal, and Karambi. S/he is expected to provide visionary and strategic leadership to ITF’s work in the area in order to maximize the effectiveness and impact of ITF’s contribution to the communities. S/he is expected to provide direction, technical support and motivation to the tree planting programme staff to enable innovation and high achievement of ITF’s key objectives of education, capacity building, environmental management and livelihood empowerment. S/he will be expected to support fundraising, gender mainstreaming, reporting and monitoring and evaluation of all projects under Western Region.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
The Western Uganda Project Officer will work closely with the Africa Programme Manager, Africa GIS Officer and in liaison with ITF’s CEO for core duties as identified below. S/he will operationalize ITF’s thematic projects on the ground by ensuring that all programmes are professionally managed within the budgets, donor requirements, work plans and proposals.
ITF programme planning, management and delivery (60%)
- Oversee the successful implementation and strategic expansion of the current Sustainable Community Forests (SCF) and unique projects on women empowerment (Mbunga sub-county), food- forest (Fort portal area), WASH project (Masaka District) and gender integration for climate action (Masaka, Mbale).
- Design, develop and provide necessary training for target communities to develop skills and capacities in tree nursery establishment, management and income generation enterprises with special focus on grafting of high value fruits, vanilla and bulking of conservation materials
- Deliver community participatory empowerment workshops anchored on radical listening principles
- Ensure that ITF projects reflect the priorities and needs of communities, foster local leadership and embed gender equity in natural resource management and decision-making
- Identify, prioritize and support communities to implement the project activities
- Train and assist partners in the use of digital tools for mapping the tree planting sites
- Identify potential tree planting sites
- Corroborate tree survival rates and coordinate in situ surveying and project evaluation
- Ensure projects database integrity: review tree planting reports and documentation and ensure that ITF’s quality standards are maintained.
Delivery:
- Ensure all tree planting projects are implemented within the contractual timelines and targets are met
- Ensure threatened tree species are mainstreamed in tree planting schemes
- Ensure expansion and scaling restoration sites are timely secured for ITF programmes
Community Led- Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning & Reporting – MEL (20%)
- Support ITF and its partners to integrate simple GIS and remote sensing monitoring, evaluation and learning technologies in line with ITF’s approach
- Track the overall progress on the programme and keep ITF and strategic partners informed
- Facilitate the sharing of learning and peer review between partners and with relevant external stakeholders on programme performance.
- Foster best practices such as ‘’Plant for the Planet’’ agroforestry and forest restoration standards, ‘’Tree Mapper monitoring tool’’ to demonstrate wider socio-economic and environmental outcomes in Kasese-District.
Expand the scale and impact of ITF programme – Western Region (5%)
- Support the Africa Programme Manager and Africa GIS-Officer towards the identification and mapping of viable and potential areas of expansion
- Identify and undertake due diligence for ITF new partners to scale programmes in the Kasese District of Uganda
Communicate and document the impact of ITF programme (5%)
- Support programme team and partners to collect impact stories, geo-referenced pictures and materials about ITF’s work in Uganda for different communications purposes
- Enhanced documentation of peer and experiential learning across ITF-projects in Western -Region of Uganda
Engage with key agencies and stakeholders (5%)
- Establish collaborations and foster relations with the following strategic partners: o Key government agencies including the County and Municipal Governments, Uganda National forest authority in Western region. o Ugandan NGOs and agencies interested in supporting ITF on GIS
Other duties (5%)
- Participate and contribute to ITF staff team meetings and activities
- Undertake other responsibilities not outlined above which are commensurate with a role of this nature and which have been discussed and agreed with the Africa Programme Manager.
- All ITF staff are expected to contribute towards developing a supportive working environment, and demonstrate a commitment to professionalism and respect, transparency and accountability and uphold quality standards as outlined in ITF’s policies and procedures.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal applicant must hold a degree in Environmental Studies, or its equivalent, preferably forestry, natural resource management, climate change.
- Experience in community based natural resource management (CBNRM);
- Project management skills especially in community development projects;
- Experience with results-based project cycle management including monitoring and evaluation methodologies and principles and project budget management;
- A good understanding of participatory and empowering development/conservation approaches, particularly with respect to women’s empowerment;
- A good understanding of current and emerging environmental issues in the region;
- Experience in building trust and positive working relationships with multiple stakeholders including with government officials and local communities;
- Experience in other thematic areas of gender inclusivity, climate resilience and GIS very desirable.
- Conduct community capacity building and empowerment trainings;
- Plan, manage, and implement projects; assessing progress and making appropriate corrections to keep projects on track;
- Effective reporting skills;
- A responsible and flexible team player;
- Use of IT including remote communications to increase productivity and perform job functions;
- Commitment to ITF’s ethos and mission including its community-led approach and commitment to gender justice.
- At least five years with demonstrated project management experience in community-based projects and natural resource management preferably in areas of forestry, ecology, wetland management and climate change;
- Working experience in the field preferably with Uganda Forest Service, local NGOs and CBOs in Uganda will be an added advantage.
Other details
- Reference checking, medical checks and other clearances will be conducted.
- If you have not heard from us 3 weeks after the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.
- Note: Any questions you may have about this position will only be answered during interview, should you be invited
ITF is an equal opportunities employer and values diversity
How to Apply:
To apply please send your CV and two page covering letter detailing your skills and experience to recruitment@internationaltreefoundation.org. Please write the job title in the email header.
Deadline: 3rd December 2022