Institutional Capacity Development Officer, Bahari Yetu Job Vacancy at IUCN

THIS IS A LOCAL POSITION TO BE BASED IN MTWARA TANZANIA WITH FREQUENT TRAVEL TO THE PROJECT SITES IN RUFIJI, KILWA AND UNGUJA ISLAND.

BACKGROUND:

IUCN’s Tanzania Country Programme supports priorities defined under Tanzania’s National Development Plan, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Climate Change Strategy, Agriculture and Water Sector Development Strategies and Marine and Fisheries Action Plans, Blue Economy Policies and Strategies, IUCN Intersessional Plan 2021-2024 as well as relevant Multi-lateral environmental agreements. Our 2030 strategic goals include sustainable land and landscapes management, conservation of critical natural habitats, Integrated water resources management, capacity building for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and Coastal and ocean resilience (COR) building.

IUCN’s Tanzania Country Programme is currently implementing a project called “PAMOJA TUHIFADHI BAHARI YETU – with a short form Bahari Yetu”. This is a 4-year project (2024 – 2028) with the overall goal of improving environmental protection and biodiversity conservation of the coastal and marine ecosystems in Tanzania. This project is funded by the European Union through the ‘Blue Economy for job creation and climate change adaptation programme’: a 110 M EUR programme that aims to contribute to a climate resilient Blue Economy on the Tanzanian coastal cities and ecosystems. The project is implemented in parts of the Mtwara, Coastal and Dar es Salaam regions and Unguja Island in Zanzibar. The project consists of four components:
i. Protection of Marine Resources Biodiversity,
ii. Strengthen Community-led Management of Coastal Forests,
iii. Combat plastic litter in marine and estuary water bodies,
iv. Improve institutional capacities for research, monitoring, surveillance and management of coastal and marine resources.

The project is designed to feed into the Great Blue Wall Initiative. The Great Blue Wall is a Western Indian Ocean (WIO)-born, Africa-driven roadmap to achieve a nature positive world by 2030. It aims at unlocking unprecedented nature-based recovery efforts through the establishment of a transformational movement.

The Institutional Capacity Development (ICD) Officer will drive the implementation project component four and support institutional capacity strengthening of community institutions covered under new and emerging new legislation in the forestry, climate change, water sectors and selected Blue and Green Economy enterprises. He/she will serve as a member of the Country COR Team that helps set strategic directions and define priorities for IUCN’s broader engagement on Marine, Coastal and climate change issues at the country level and, accordingly, works with the other members of the team in strategic planning; monitoring and evaluation; and learning, innovation and knowledge generation at the overall Programme level. He/she will also support land system country team on need basis.

The ICD Officer will be based in Mtwara, Tanzania with frequent travel to the project sites in Rufiji, Kilwa and Unguja Island.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The ICD officer will be responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of the ‘Bahari Yetu’ project institutional development needs for target organizations including organization capacity/needs assessments, organizational development planning, enterprise development, training, coaching and reporting. He/she will ensure that the institutional development focus is gender and youth responsive and integrates gender considerations in all action areas and necessary inputs for implementing actions are delivered in a timely manner

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Organizational development planning and implementation;
Facilitate organizational capacity assessments for local CSOs development;
Conduct assessments for targeted national conservation/research/education institutions;
Improve CBOs governance with focus on reinforcing the skills and attitudes needed for leaders such as Board Members to envision and enact strategic and sustainability plans, embrace transparency, accountability, sound management;
Support the collaborative implementation of Gender Audits within CBOs;
Oversee delivery of interventions to build organizational capacity;
Develop tailored capacity-building plans based on the assessments to address specific needs and gaps;

Enterprise development and improvement;
Conduct participatory assessments to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of targeted blue and green economy enterprises in the project sites ;
Support the adoption of market-led approaches to improve conservation focused businesses;
Provide ongoing technical support and advisory services to BEIs and GEIs on best practices, new technologies, and innovative approaches in conservation;
Strengthen BEIs and GEIs governance structures and processes to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective decision-making;
Assist selected Institutions, BEIs and GEIs in developing and implementing strategic plans that align with their institutional and conservation goals and objectives;

Mentorship and coaching;
Design and deliver training programs on various topics such as project management, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, and advocacy especially for the BEIs and GEIs;
Organize workshops, seminars, and conferences to enhance knowledge sharing and skill development among stakeholders;
Offer mentorship and coaching to institutions key personnel to build their leadership and management skills;

Policy integration and networking;
Develop a community of practice for shared experience and skills exchange;
Facilitate local policy advocacy and awareness exchange sessions;
Develop technical capacity of CBOs to effectively manage the policy change process from inception through implementation;
Align CBOs with the broader GOT conservation priorities and policies and ensure that they are consistent with the sector-wide reforms at the national level;
Facilitate CBO working groups to improve by-laws governing various resources in community lands;

Programme Development and Resource Mobilization;
As appropriate contribute in the fundraising activities including development of concepts and projects documents. This will involve establishing, maintaining and nurturing good relationships with donors, funding agencies and other technical partners so as to ensure the financial viability of the COR programme;

Monitoring and Evaluation;
Contribute to the development of the project Monitoring and Evaluation Framework;
Monitor and report on project progress by regularly informing the results monitoring matrix;
In collaboration with the Project Technical Manager ensure IUCN work is accountable to donors and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes;
Provide leadership to use data for project decision making, for the implementation of management actions based on the findings of monitoring, and to ensure that feedback from stakeholders inform programme development;

Other responsibilities;
Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Applicants are requested to apply online through the HR Management System, by opening the vacancy announcement and pressing the “Apply” button.

Applicants will be asked to create an account and submit their profile information. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date. The vacancy closes at midnight, Swiss time (GMT+1 / GMT+2 during Daylight Saving Time, DST). Please note that only selected applicants will be personally contacted for interviews.

Other job opportunities are published in the IUCN website: https://www.iucn.org/involved/jobs/