Chief of Party at IUCN

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 – in 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:

• Protection of Marine Resources Biodiversity,
• Strengthen Community-led Management of Coastal Forests,
• Combat plastic litter in marine and estuary water bodies,
• 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.

Its goal is to dramatically accelerate and upscale ocean conservation actions while enhancing socio-ecological resilience and the development of a regenerative blue economy by catalyzing political leadership and financial support.

This will be achieved by spearheading the establishment of a connected network of nature-people positive seascapes (or regenerative seascapes). This network of seascapes will be connected by a living blue wall that will act as a regional ecological corridor formed by conserved and restored critical blue ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and corals.

While the Great Blue Wall will act as a wall against climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, it will also shelter coastal communities and create the enabling conditions and necessary mechanisms to empower local stakeholders to become stewards of the ocean while accelerating the development of a regenerative blue economy.

The Great Blue Wall is an action-focused and action-driven regional response to 3 interconnected crises, i.e. Biodiversity – Climate – Socioeconomic with three clear objectives to be achieved by 2030:

• Effectively and equitably conserve at least 30% of the ocean by 2030
• Conserve and restore critical blue ecosystems to achieve net-gain by 2030
• Unlock the development of a regenerative blue economy that directly benefits coastal communities while also delivering conservation outcomes.

The Chief of Party, Bahari Yetu will have executive responsibility for the project, including resource allocation, supervision of technical and administration staff and delivery of results. He/she will serve as a member of the Tanzania Country COR team that helps set strategic directions and define priorities for IUCN’s broader engagement on Marine and Coastal 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 other country programmes on request basis.

The Chief of Party, Bahari Yetu will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent travel to the project sites in Rufiji, Kilwa, Mtwara, Mafia and Unguja Island.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under direct supervision of the Country Representative, Tanzania (and advisory support from the regional heads of Coastal and Ocean Resilience and Land Systems), the Chief of Party, Bahari Yetu works closely with designated focal points from relevant Ministries, Government Institutions, Academic and Research Institutions, partner NGOs and donor. The Chief of Party, Bahari Yetu is responsible for the overall planning, budgeting, technical management and monitoring of the Bahari Yetu project in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania, Service providers and within the scope laid down by the Project Steering Committee (PSC) and seascape and landscape level actors in Dar es Salaam, Coastal and Mtwara regions and Zanzibar.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

The specific duties and responsibilities for the Chief of Party, Bahari Yetu;

Project management;

• Lead the development of annual activity and procurement work plan, as well as budget based on expected outputs
• Work closely with the finance and procurement team on matters including financial planning, expenditure tracking, sub-contracting to implementing partners and procurement of goods and services to ensure IUCN policies are applied and EUD requirements are followed
• Supervise agreed project management procedures to facilitate project implementation and ensure delivery of high-quality outcomes;
• Supervise the project team, service providers and consultants that work for the project;
• Prepare any required updates / summaries on the projects and participate in project-related meetings with the EUD, project steering committee, service providers, private sector, development partners working group etc.
• Policy and partnership management;
• Build, maintain and manage effective working relationships with partners and donor.
• Ensure that service providers deliver to the highest standards, support project objectives and targets.
• Ensure seascapes team and related stakeholder platforms work coherently.
• Facilitate communications and linkages at sub-regional and national levels, as well as within the Bahari Yetu executing partners, service providers and EUD.
• Ensure continuous liaison with the relevant Government agencies, NGOs and private sector.
• Technical direction and capacity building;
• Provide technical inputs to the implementation of the different project activities and outputs – by providing technical inputs to workshop presentations, to studies, to advisory services and to other activities and outputs of the project.
• Provide economic, scientific, technical and administrative leadership to the project team and act as the main representative of the project.
• Oversee all cross-cutting activities and ensure their strong support of and synergy with technical implementation objectives and vision, including, but not limited to: communications and outreach; gender and youth mainstreaming, knowledge management.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Safeguards oversight;
• Monitor and report the implementation of environmental and social risk management measures through the project cycle.
• Coordinate and contribute to the preparation and publication of national scientific and technical outputs from the Project
• Ensure project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework is developed and operationalized to track progress and measure impact;
• Contribute to the development of Tanzania’s and COR Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Framework;
• Follow up on 1) the compliance of project implementation with EUD policies, IUCN policies and safeguards 2) the performance of the projects with the target indicators, logical framework, workplan and budget through regular reporting and on-site supervision missions
• Programme development and Communication leverage for IUCN Tanzania;
• Scope out opportunities for policy and technical engagement with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries – Zanzibar, Vice President’s Office, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, Natural Resources, and Livestock – Zanzibar;
• Lead in the development and submission of concepts and funding proposals for expansion of the ocean resilience opportunities in Tanzania;
• Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time;

REQUIREMENTS

Education;

• A post graduate degree preferably in Natural Resources Management, Marine Sciences, Environmental Science, Ecology, Project Management, Forest Management, or related fields;
• Computer literacy in relation to office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint) use of internet and online communication tools.

Work Experience;

We’re looking for an outstanding, hands-on, highly motivated, autonomous, innovative, solution oriented, results driven and resourceful individual with at least twelve (12) years of proven experience in:

• Sound expertise in the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of environmental projects;
• Experience in engaging with donors, partners, central and local government authorities;
• Skills and experience of advocating and influencing policies that support conservation and address the social dimensions of conservation, including community engagement, indigenous rights, and social equity;
• Experienced in network development and alliance building for synergistic action;
• Must be a proactive individual committed to continuous learning and attitude towards self-development;

Language requirement;

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Swahili.

Core Competencies;

Transparency: Able to build trust and contribute to informed and responsible decision-making by carrying out the work of IUCN in a transparent manner; provides clear guidance to ensure that objectives and desired measurable results are understood by members of the team.

Inclusiveness: Understands and accepts cultural diversity, and provide a tolerant, positive and supportive working environment that fosters respect for diversity, demonstrates ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

Professionalism: Promote the organization’s interests, objectives and values in a diligent and professional manner.

Accountability: Takes responsibility of individual and collective actions, promotes the IUCN One Programme approach.

Functional competencies;

• Adheres to IUCN core values of Transparency, Inclusiveness, Professionalism and Accountability.
• Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite applications.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Good organizational, administrative, reporting and communication skills.
• A motivated self-starter with ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of outputs.
• A team player with a strong interest to work in an international environment.
• Be willing to undertake frequent travel and interact with different stakeholders at national/sub-national levels.

APPLICATIONS

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.