Job opportunity at World Resources Institute (Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin, restoration initiative): (Deadline 7 April 2023)

Job opportunity at World Resources Institute (Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin, restoration initiative): (Deadline 7 April 2023)

This position must be located in the Rwanda portion of the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin. Existing work authorization for Rwanda is required.

About the Program: 

WRI’s Restoration Initiative informs, enables, and invests in people that restore degraded land. The team’s flagship investment program for locally led African community-based non-profits and businesses, TerraFund for AFR100, currently provides finance and training for 100 growing organizations that create sustainable jobs across 27 member countries of the AFR100 Initiative. Through 2026, this program will expand to resource additional restoration champions in the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda and other priority landscapes for the Restoration Initiative’s work in Africa.

Job Highlight: 

As a Portfolio Specialist II in the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin region, you will support and manage a cohort of growing community-based organizations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are restoring degraded land across the landscape, where you will be based.

In this new position, you will understand, guide, resource, and manage the implementation of a new cohort of agriculture and forestry organizations that have received funding and capacity training to restore land. You will directly support leaders that are organizing communities to grow trees and restore land.

Specifically, you will work with sector experts to screen, score, and interview community organizations that have applied for funding through the TerraFund for AFR100 request for proposal process. You will ensure that funded projects align with the WRI vision and integrated program for the landscape. You will ensure that funded projects’ staff understand the program’s monitoring, reporting, and verification protocols, are adequately reporting on their progress through WRI’s online TerraMatch system, and have access to capacity-building opportunities. You will travel across Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin  regularly to directly understand the capacity needs of funded organizations and connect them with real-time support and training.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the Restoration Initiative’s commitment to  invest significant capital and capacity in the restoration of the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin’s farms, forests, and pastures, as a contribution to WRI’s Rusizi Basin Integrated Program.

You join a growing team of finance, public policy, project management, product development, and monitoring experts that are working to turn the goal of AFR100 – Africa’s ambitious commitment to restore 100 million hectares of land by 2030 – into a reality.

You will report to the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin Manager, the Restoration Initiative’s Land Restoration Projects Manager, and Rusizi Landscape Lead. This position is fully remote for candidates based in the landscape but could become hybrid depending on available office space as WRI’s presence in Rwanda grows.

What you will do:

Project Management (90%):

• Coordinate the selection process for local organizations that submit applications to TerraFund for AFR100 requests-for-proposals, ensuring that each applicant receives thorough vetting from experts at WRI and partner organizations
• Catalog the technical assistance needs of funded and aspiring organizations and connect them with a local and international coalition of subject matter experts to fulfil those requests
• Work closely with the Rusizi Landscape delivery team to approve and manage workplans of local organizations that receive funding from TerraFund for AFR100, explaining expectations to them and ensuring that they complete their work
• Work closely with WRI’s partners, including One Tree Planted, Realize Impact, and subnational and national governments, to ensure smooth management of funded projects
• Serve as the resident TerraMatch expert for funded projects in the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin and work with the TerraMatch product team to support the design of new platform features that address their needs and challenges
• Liaise with the project monitoring team to ensure that project developers understand the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements of TerraFund for AFR100 and can provide accurate geospatial shapefiles for satellite analysis
• Coordinate and conduct site visits to funded projects, ensuring that logistics run smoothly
• Contribute to donor reporting by collecting information from the field and stories from projects.

Research & Communications (10%):

• Liaise with the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin Coordinator, AFR100 Community Coordinator and Product Specialist, TerraMatch to ensure that guidance materials for requests for proposals and project MRV are tailored to the local context and are well communicated
• Update the wider WRI and AFR100 teams about project progress (and challenges) specific to the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin
• Conduct and contribute to high-level research into the pipeline of community organizations and enterprises in the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin for dissemination to donors, government officials, and the public.

What you will need:

• Education: You have a completed bachelor’s degree in forestry, agriculture, business administration, or other related field
• Experience: You have 3+ years of experience, including in project management
• Demonstrated capacity to use online project management tools and platforms, such as Airtable and Monday.com, and to help new users learn new platforms
• Professional experience working directly with agriculture, forestry, or restoration projects or businesses in Rwanda, Burundi, and/or DRC
• Languages: You will be proficient in written and spoken English and French, with additional preferred fluency in languages widespread in the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin, e.g., Swahili, Kirundi, and Kinyarwanda
• Requirements: You must have an existing right to work within the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin.

Potential Salary:

Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors. WRI offers a competitive remuneration and benefits package.

How to Apply: 

Please submit a resume with cover letter by the date of April 7, 2023. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary
• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
• The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission-driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities.
• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work.
• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI.
• Long-term commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours.
• Generous leave days that increase with tenure

About Us: 

Founded in 1982, World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. WRI has a global staff of over 1,800 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

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