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24 May 2022

Technical Advisor I – Agro-forestry and Social Cohesion at Catholic Relief Services

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Job Description


About Catholic Relief Services: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) supporting relief and development work in over 100 countries around the world. CRS carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. CRS’ Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations, serving people on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs.
CRS has worked in Uganda since 1965, initially providing emergency assistance to Sudanese refugees living in the north. Over the years, CRS has expanded its programming to also address development needs in western, central, and eastern Uganda. CRS’ projects in Uganda currently include agriculture, health, microfinance, peacebuilding, and youth. CRS Uganda implements its programs through partnerships with local organizations, including the Catholic Church, other faith-based organizations and community entities for maximum impact and sustainability. CRS Uganda employs around 180 staff and has its main office in Kampala, with sub-offices in Moroto, Yumbe, and Kikuube. With our more than 30 partners, we served over 1.2m Ugandans in 2020.

Background Deforestation and environmental degradation are accelerating in Uganda. The rapidly increasing population in Uganda, combined with high numbers of refugees along border areas is adding to the existing pressure on the environment. The locations with both rising host and refugee numbers are causing hot spots of land degradation as these communities increase their use of wood as cooking fuel and construction materials and also increase their sales of wood to support their livelihoods. Though private resources, CRS will strengthen governance for sustainable natural resource management to reduce degradation and pressure on forested areas and to improve social cohesion among refugees and host communities of the Kyangwali refugee settlement. In addition, this project will develop a proof of concept to develop future projects. Job Summary: You will provide technical advice and support to all field activities related to the training and monitoring of project agro-forestry activities in the project and ensure the project addresses social cohesion concerns amongst refugees and between refugees and the host community. He/she will pay attention to agricultural practices by refugees and the host community and where appropriate/needed support the adoption of good agronomic practices, adapt to climate change to increase ground water retention. The staff will implement capacity building of the refugees and host community in key areas such as soil and water management. Your technical, training, and collaborative skills, as well as knowledge of the tensions between refugee and host communities in terms of access to natural resources will ensure that the CRS delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of this project.

Job Roles and Responsibilities:
• Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in agro-forestry and social cohesion that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities, and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in agro-forestry and social cohesion programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture, and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the agro-forestry and social cohesion learning agenda.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of agro-forestry and social cohesion to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:
Education and Experience:

• Master’s Degree in forestry, or relevant natural resource management degree required.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in agro-forestry.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in agro-forestry (i.e. woodlots, bamboo value-chain, etc.), in additional to familiarity with principles of social cohesion and/or conflict management and mitigation. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles

Preferred Qualifications:
• Relevant technical experience in the context of refugee settlements and their host communities in Uganda.
• Experience working with stakeholders at various levels and strengthening community partnerships.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Good technical writing skills
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful, and results-oriented
Required/Desired Foreign Language: English fluency, including excellent oral and written skills, required
Travel Required: Must be willing and able to travel up to 70%.

Key Working Relationships: Supervisory: None Internal: Climate Change Adaptation and Livelihoods Technical Advisor II, Kyangwali Head of Office, Senior Program Manager for Emergencies, Head of Programming as well as regional and HQ technical advisors. External: CARITAS/Hoima, UNCHR, OPM, and relevant government structures Agency-Wide Competencies (for all CRS staff) These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

DISCLAIMER CLAUSE: This job description is not an exhaustive list of skills, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with the position. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation By applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I understand that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and my personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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Method of Application

NOTE: To apply, please follow these instructions exactly otherwise your application will NOT be considered:

• Email a cover letter and CV only to [email protected] by June 3rd, 2022 at 5:00pm.
• Large files and/or scans of documents will lead to rejection of your application, in the subject line of the email, copy and paste – TECHNICALADVISORIAGROFORESTRYANDSOCIALCOHESION only
• All applications that do not contain this exact subject line will be rejected and not read ONLY SELECTED CANDIDATES THAT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE NOTIFIED. EOE/M/F/D/V




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