Job Description
Project: USAID Green Annamites
Office: ECODIT, 5th Green Plaza, Da Nang, Vietnam
Position: Payment for Forest Environmental Services Specialist (PFES Specialist)
Duty station: Da Nang, Vietnam
Work area: This position will be based in Danang, Vietnam
Starting date: As soon as possible
Probation: period 2 months
PROJECT OVERVIEW
ECODIT is implementing the USAID-funded Green Annamites activity (GA Project) in Quang Nam (QN) and Thua Thien Hue (TTH) provinces in central Vietnam. The purpose of the Green Annamites activity is to assist Vietnam’s transition to climate-smart, low emission, and resilient development that protects people, landscapes, and biodiversity in Vietnam’s priority forested provinces. The project’s overall period of performance is September 26, 2016 to December 16, 2020, subject to the availability of funding, and includes three main tasks:
- Increased application of low emission land use: conserve the existing carbon sink; stop emission from small scale deforestation and degradation, and unsustainable agricultural practices; and increase carbon sequestration from restoration of degraded landscapes. A key component of Green Annamites’ intervention strategy is the focus on livelihood improvement and value chains, aiming at generating sustainable revenue streams for communities living in forested areas and in or around protected areas.
- Strengthen biodiversity conservation: mitigate threats to the globally significant biodiversity in central Vietnam, including poaching and activities that destroy habitats for wildlife and cause habitat fragmentation (e.g., deforestation, forest degradation, and conversion of natural forest into plantation)
- Increase resilience for vulnerable communities: ensure that results of activities supported under the two other components are not affected by climate change impacts. In addition, under this task the Program conducts standalone activities to build resilience for vulnerable communities. Much of these activities reflect findings and recommendations from the climate vulnerability assessment findings.
Key program results include improving the livelihoods of 20,000 forest dependent people; improving biodiversity of over 400,000 hectares of natural forest, mobilizing at least $20 million in public and private resources for sustainable livelihoods and forest conservation; and avoiding and/or removing the equivalent of at least 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Decree No. 99/2010/ND-CP, defines forest environment service (FES) as “the provision of use values of the forest environment to meet the needs of the society and people's life” and also defines Payment for forest environment services (PFES) as the “provision and payment relationship in which users of forest environment services pay to providers of these services”.
The GA Project is supporting the Government of Vietnam on PFES, with special focus on “Forest carbon sequestration and retention, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by measures of preventing forest degeneration and forest area decrease and developing forests in a sustainable manner (C-PFES)” and PFES Monitoring and Evaluation (PFES M&E).
The GA Project is also providing support to the Quang Nam province on the preparation and implementation of the Provincial REDD+ Action Plan (PRAP).
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the overall direction of the GA Project’s Chief of Party (COP), S/he will serve as the project’s Payment for Environmental Services Specialist (PFES Specialist), supporting the development and implementation of activities under Task 1. As PFES specialist, S/he also will provide support on REDD-related activities in line with the Quang Nam PRAP. The PFES specialist will work closely with other Key Personnel in the GA Project to identify appropriate opportunities to scale up implementation of activities under Task 1, and S/he will perform and support other tasks, activities, and project reporting requirements as requested by the COP, ensuring timely, quality deliverables.
Under the direction of the COP, the PFES specialist will assist with the design and implementation of activities related to C-PFES, PFES M&E under Task 1 and provide inputs to the GA Project activities on low-emission land use, financing for sustainable landscapes, and resilient livelihoods, and facilitate the coordination of this work with related tasks and activities.
The PFES specialist key roles and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Support the preparation of desk reviews and studies as indicated by the COP
- Lead and support the implementation of Project activities on C-PFES, PFES M&E, E-Payments and REDD+
- Manage sub-contractors on PFES and REDD+
- Develop Statements of Work (SOWs) and/or Requests for Quotations (RFQs) prepared for consultants, subcontractors, and grantees to implement project activities, and review and participate in the assessment of quotations or applications received.
- Perform as Project Manager (PM) for grants and sub-contracts as required by the COP
- Provide technical inputs to support the preparation of the FY20 work plan for the GA Project.
- Proactively collaborate with the communications, gender equity and social inclusion, and M&E teams.
- Attend workshops, meetings and trainings upon request, to facilitate program implementation
- Assist with preparation of training materials and delivery of capacity building events on C-PFES, PFES M&E and REDD+.
- Under the direction of the project leadership (COP/DCOP), assist with the identification of financial opportunities to leverage private and public investment to attract additional funds for Project implementation
- Provide technical inputs to the GA team in support of the preparation of quarterly and annual reports USAID
- Other tasks as requested by the COP.
The PFES Specialist will be based in Danang, Vietnam and will be expected to travel to other locations in Vietnam, and, occasionally, internationally, to implement this Scope of Work.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Background education on forestry or agriculture, preferably with Master’s level degree in forestry, natural resources economics, environmental economics or other related fields.
- At least eight years of professional experience in the forestry and/or land use sector, working on carbon finance, REDD+, PFES, private sector cooperation and /or agricultural value chains.
- Good knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation with a minimum of four years of experience in M&E for development projects.
- Sound project management experience and experience working with smallholders, governmental institutions, NGOs, private sector and communities.
- Skilled in database management and data process.
- Skilled in IT (MS office with advanced use of MS Excel and SPSS).
- Experience in qualitative and quantitative research, surveys, data analysis, and reporting.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills in English and Vietnamese.
- Previous work experience on forestry plantations in Quang Nam and/or Thua Thien Hue provinces is desirable.
HOW TO APPLY
Interested candidates should submit:
- A cover letter
- An updated CV, and
- Three references.
By July 5th, 2019 to the following address: [email protected] [1]
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted; no phone calls please.