Landscape Operational Assistant

Want to make a positive difference to the future of people and our one shared home, the Earth? Working with WWF could be your opportunity of a lifetime:

All around the world, people are waking up to the deepening crisis of nature loss. A growing realization that nature is our life-support system. And that nobody will be spared from the impacts of its loss. Here at WWF, we are helping to tackle this enormous global challenge.

Our people come from hugely diverse backgrounds and with a variety of expertise, ranging from HR and finance to advocacy and conservation science. We welcome applications from anyone who believes they can help us create a better future for people and wildlife.

What we do:

We are an independent conservation organization, striving to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife. From individuals and communities to business and government, we are part of a growing coalition calling on world leaders to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030. Together, we seek to protect and restore natural habitats, stop the mass extinction of wildlife, and make the way we produce and consume sustainable.

For the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project in Cameroon, we are looking for a committed Landscape Operational Assistant (LOA), for day-to-day coordination of certain project activities at the local level.

Reports to:

Project Manager (PM)
Location:

Mintom (TRIDOM Landscape)

Duration:

Two (02) years renewable

Mission of the Department:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved the 6-year Congo Basin Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program (CBSL IP) which encompasses a regional component, managed by UNEP (United Nations Evironment Programme), and several national child projects in the countries of Congo Basin.

Cameroon child project is managed by WWF-US as the GEF Agency, executed by the Ministry of Environment Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED) with WWF Cameroon as Financial Administrator. It addresses the drivers of forest loss and degradation through strategies aimed at strengthening the integrated management of Cameroon’s globally important forest landscapes in the Congo Basin, to secure its biological integrity and increase economic opportunities and livelihoods for forest dependent people.

Over the six-year project period, these strategies will be advanced through the implementation of five components:

• Mainstreaming integrated land use planning (LUP) and management;
• Improving management effectiveness and governance of high conservation value forests, and targeted interventions to protect their endangered species;
• Advancing sustainable forest management (SFM) through non-timber forest product (NTFP) and hardwood value chains;
• Increasing benefit generation from biodiversity through sustainable tourism development;
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E), knowledge management (KM), and regional coordination.

The project targets key Cameroon trans-frontier forest landscape, which stretches from the Rio Campo seascape on the coast, across the Cameroon segments of the Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) and Sangha Tri-National (TNS) landscapes towards the east. The target areas for project interventions under each strategy are dependent on site-specific considerations, including the potential to achieve meaningful results in the six-year project period, baselines and available co-financing, and the ability to manage all environmental and social safeguard considerations. Several partners and sub-contractors will be involved or hired for the implementation of different project tasks. Their contribution will need to be coordinated and constantly monitored.

Given the complexity of the project, with the high number of partners and sub-contractors to be involved in the implementation of different activities at landscape level, we are looking for a Landscape Operational Assistant, based within the landscapes and responsible for day-to-day coordination of certain project activities at the local level.

Major Functions:

The Landscape Operational Assistant will work in close collaboration with the projects executing partners, sub-contractors, local administrative bodies, Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), and other stakeholders to support project implementation. He/She will also play a significant role in project communications and monitoring by organizing regular meetings with key stakeholders to evaluate project progress.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

He/she will be responsible, among others, for:

• Coordinating and facilitating the implementation of project activities at the local level (landscape, councils, and localities) in close collaboration with Programme Management Unit staff, the projects executing partners, sub-contractors, local administrative bodies, IPLCs, and other stakeholders;
• Working with the Environmental and Social Safeguards & the Gender and Social Inclusion Specialists and Project Manager, ensuring compliance with WWF Environment and Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures, including the implementation of safeguards procedures and the implementation of the project’s Gender Action Plan;
• Working with Communications, Knowledge Management and M&E Specialist and Project Manager on project communications and monitoring, including by organizing regular meetings with key stakeholders to evaluate project progress;
• Supporting capacity-building activities on the application of project strategies;
• Ensuring coordination with other relevant ongoing initiatives at the local level; and
• Providing inputs to the project’s annual workplan development and progress reports.

Profile:

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum of Bachelor’s Degree in one or more of following domains: geography, forestry and wildlife, natural resource management, or any related specialization;
• At least 3 years of professional experience in the area of protected area management and sustainable management of natural resources, with experience in community development.
• Expertise in engaging with various stakeholders at different levels, including with local communities and Indigenous Peoples, women and youth;
• Experience working with the government and donors;
• Proficiency in the use of MS Office and GIS applications, particularly advanced level in MS excel is required.

Required Skills and Competencies:

• Technical skills in land use planning and natural resource management;
• Strong technical skills in designing and implementing community projects;
• Knowledge of the application of social sciences in the field of conservation is an asset;
• Good knowledge on wildlife and protected areas management;
• Good knowledge of legal and institutional framework in the area of forest and wildlife resources management, and land use planning in Cameroon;
• Strong technical, communication and organizational skills;
• Ability to work and interact with people of different backgrounds;
• Good team spirit and familiarity with the functioning of local and international organizations;
• Fluency in French, familiarity with English and local knowledge of the area will be an advantage.

Values & Behaviors:

• Aligns and identifies with the core values of the Government of Cameroon and the WWF organization: Courage, Integrity, Respect and Collaboration;
• Demonstrating behaviors: Strive for impact, listen deeply, collaborate openly and innovate fearlessly;
• Acts with highest integrity, accountability, and transparency.

Working Relationships:

Internal

Collaborates and works closely and on a regular basis with partner’s project managers and key technical staffs at landscape level, and Programme Management Unit staff (Environmental and Social Safeguards officer, landscape operational assistants, Monitoring, Evaluation and knowledge management specialist, Finance manager).

External

He will collaborate with Project National Director and Technical advisers, technical staff of project partners and other sub-contracting partners and consultants involved in the implementation of the projects at landscape level.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.