Head of Environment – Angola

Start Date: November 2024

Location: Angola, split between managing projects in southeast Angola, and Luanda, for liaison with government, NGO partners and donors.

Accommodation: Shared accommodation with other international staff.

Visa: Job offers for this position are dependent upon the successful application for an Angolan work visa

Reporting To: HALO Angola – Country Director

About HALO:

The HALO Trust’s mission is to save lives and restore livelihoods for those affected by conflict. HALO is known for its work to clear landmines and disposal of other explosive hazards such as bombs, rockets, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and HALO’s work in Angola supports community resilience post conflict with a focus on women’s empowerment and environmental conservation.

HALO has been working in Angola since 1994 and currently employs over 1,400 staff working in demining, explosive ordnance risk education, weapons and ammunition management, women’s empowerment, and conservation. As a consequence of the civil war (1975-2002), dense minefields were laid across Angola, having a lasting impact on not just human populations, but also the country’s flora and fauna. HALO’s environment work in Angola is essential to prevent, mitigate and respond to the long-term environmental impacts of the civil war as well as supporting the sustainable livelihoods of people affected by conflict and climate change. The programme currently has 20 ongoing contracts from a diverse set of donors, including institutional, private, and corporate for projects across HALO’s three Strategic Goals. As a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty, HALO supports the Government of Angola in reaching its treaty obligations. To date, HALO has cleared over 100,000 mines and made over 31km2 of land safe for use across the country. This is a great opportunity to work alongside a dynamic and expanding team, some of whom have worked for HALO since the mid-1990s and have a wealth of experience to learn from.

About the role

HALO Angola is seeking to recruit a Head of Environment to manage the programme’s environmental activities in the southeast of Angola. This role will report directly to the programme’s Country Director, while working closely with the programme’s senior management to ensure the integration of project activities and compliance with standards and best practice.

The Head of Environment will be the in-country lead for all of HALO’s environmental projects and partnerships. The Head of Environment will develop relationships with current partners such as The Nature Conservancy, US Forest Service, Wild Bird Trust (part of National Geographic’s Okavango Wilderness Project) and the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation. The Head of Environment will work with our partners to support the delivery of ecological baselines in the Cubango Okavango River Basin, such as the national forest inventory project and the surveying of peatlands. As these projects evolve, there will be an opportunity to incorporate innovative approaches, building on the programme’s existing use of remote sensing assets (i.e. drones and LiDAR, thermal, RGB and multispectral cameras). There will also be the requirement to implement the findings of two assessments that are reviewing the long-term environmental impacts of conflict and landmines in Angola, in addition to the environmental impact of HALO’s landmine clearance operations.

The successful ideal candidate will have experience with project and operations management, with a keen interest in conservation and/or environmental matters, in addition to possessing excellent initiative, relationship building skills and discipline.

 Key Responsibilities

• Overseeing the successful delivery of environmental projects and contracts. Creating implementation plans and strategies.
• Ensuring environmental projects and contracts fit seamlessly into the operational plans of the programme.
• Ensuring sufficient capacity is established to implement projects. Also executing recruitment and training of project staff in alignment with established objectives.
• Establishing mechanisms to monitor and measure the impact of proposed interventions
• Writing concept notes, proposals, and budgets to present to prospective donors.
• Developing and maintaining stakeholder and donor relationships by developing high quality reports, providing coordination and engagement, hosting visits etc.
• Coordinating with partners on the implementation of project interventions.
• Representing HALO at high-level meetings and maintaining an effective and positive relationship with local stakeholders and national authority representatives.
• Proactively engaging in advocacy efforts, promoting HALO’s work and highlighting the intersection of humanitarian mine action and conservation.
• Working closely with Heads of Departments on programme to guarantee effective support to environmental operations

Essential

• Proven experience leading and managing teams, building capacity and an inclusive workplace
• Experience establishing and building partnerships
• Experience with field data collection and working with communities
• Excellent writing skills to present project reports and assessments in English
• Flexible and adaptable, with the ability to plan, take initiative and work independently under pressure
• Ability and motivation to work in a challenging environment and to live and work in close proximity to others
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Fluent written and spoken English

Desirable

• An undergraduate degree in a relevant field such as environmental management, geography, ecology etc.
• Background in environmental work, particularly conservation of wildlife and protected areas

·         Demonstrable project management experience, including budget planning and financial management

• Experience with monitoring and evaluation systems and analysing remote data collection methods
• Finance and budgetary management skills, including software such as Adaptive Insights
• Experience managing and building donor relationships
• Portuguese language skills or a strong willingness to learn
• Experience working in Southern Africa

HALO requires its applicants to work in line with our values, which are:

• Courage
• Discipline
• Integrity
• Respect for Others
• Loyalty
• Selfless Commitment

• Salary in line with HALO pay scales.
• Living Overseas Allowance
• Accommodation provided free of charge
• Annual Leave: 49 days (rising to 56 after 2 years’ service)
• Non-contributory life assurance
• Private medical Insurance

Please submit a CV (no more than 2 pages) and a cover letter (no more than 1 page) in English, outlining how your experience matches the key skills and competencies required by midnight 7th October 2024 (UK time). We reserve the right to amend the closing date depending on the calibre of applications received. Interviews will be scheduled for the third week of October, 2024.

The HALO Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. The HALO Trust is committed to a culture that is both diverse and inclusive and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

The HALO Trust is committed to ensuring that it provides a safe and trusted environment which safeguards and promotes the welfare and wellbeing of anyone who comes into contact with, or is part of, the Charity, with a zero-tolerance approach to behaviours which challenge this.