National Senior Project Coordinator

GIZ-Internal/External Vacancy Announcement #073/2021

Responsible Governance of Investments in Land (RGIL) 

The livelihood of a large part of the world's population directly depends on access to land and its secure long-term use. Many landowners and land users have only informal or traditional tenure rights, which are often not sufficiently recognized. Representative household surveys conducted by the World Bank in six African countries have shown that less than 20 % of small farmers are able to present a document identifying them as owners of their land.

Commercial investments in agriculture and forestry are increasingly exerting pressure on land as a resource. Due to a lack of safeguarding measures, these investments can lead to loss of access to land, conflicts and forced evictions, thereby restricting and preventing inclusive and sustainable development pathways. Many countries have committed themselves to good land governance, but there are still considerable challenges for its implementation. The rural population is highly dependent on political decision-makers and formal and informal power structures. Corruption in land transactions remains very high.

Therefore, the RGIL project aims to contribute to increased agricultural productivity and development in Ethiopia. The specific objective of the project is that investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management, and respect the rights and needs of local populations, vulnerable groups and women. The strategic approach aims at strengthening the capacities of key stakeholders and improving the regulatory framework for investment in land. The participation of civil society organizations in the formulation and implementation of responsible land policies is promoted, and private enterprises investing in agriculture and forestry are sensitized to follow acknowledged principles for responsible investments.

GIZ Ethiopia is recruiting a National Senior Project Coordinator in Addis Ababa for the Responsible Governance of Investments in Land (RGIL) Project as specified below. The National Senior Project Coordinator will report to the GIZ-RGIL Project Manager.

Contract duration:  Until June 30, 2022  

Responsibilities

• Advising the political partner and other regional and local implementing partners on technical matters relevant to the project;
• Overseeing and steering project implementation and fulfillment of project indicators.
• Close cooperation and coordination with the responsible project manager in Ethiopia and the steering unit at headquarters in Germany
• Coordinating the cooperation with private sector entities;
• Coordinating the cooperation with civil society organizations (national organizations and international organizations);
• Responsible for communication and networking with all relevant stakeholders;
• Responsible for project closure activities.
• Leading and steering a project team with national and international staff. Line management of national staff. National staff comprises of employees in the project office in Addis Abeba and offices in the project regions.
• Guiding and managing external consultants working for the project and ensuring the fulfillment of contracts.

Tasks

Professional advisory services

• Advises the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and other implementing partners, identifying needs, developing concepts and strategies, and providing technical input;
• Coordinates the geographical roll-out and integration of the Commercial Agricultural Management Information System (CAMIS) into the Natural Resource Land Administration Information System (NRLAIS);
• Supports the development of measures to improve efficiency and transparency within the land management sector (e.g. land identification and land transfer processes, land rental and compensation payments, land valuation);
• Develops and publishes stakeholder-tailored relevant training materials and guidelines;
• Organizes trainings for local, regional and national experts based on demand
• Provides policy advise to national level, integrating international standards and good practice from other countries;
• Identifies corresponding capacity development measures and facilitates such measures for governmental authorities;
• Conducts assessments of national regulations/requirements for investments related to environmental and social minimum standards;
• Provides feedback on national level policy dialogue;
• Elaborates good practice on existing grievance mechanisms, compensation or valuation from other countries;
• Identifies training needs of local, regional and national authorities.
• Supports partner organization in documentation of good practices and learning experiences

Project coordination, cooperation and leadership

• Coordinates relevant project activities at local level in consultation with the manager and in cooperation with the partners and regional advisors, both regarding implementation and preparing organizational aspects;
• Ensures the preparation and conduction of joint planning workshops with representatives of partners and beneficiaries;
• Formulates job descriptions and terms of reference and selects and supervises third parties in the course of carrying out project/program activities, including performance evaluation;
• Represents GIZ vis-à-vis third parties on behalf of the superior and maintains a good and effective communication with partner organizations, the EU delegation in Ethiopia, FAO, relevant public institutions and (regional) NGOs;
• Ensures that partner organizations are fully up to date with regards to project activities and challenges through regular monitoring and reporting;
• Connects with other donors’ programs in the land sector and establishes efficient mechanisms for information and knowledge exchange including (non-) state and private sector actors;
• Communicates local interests and efforts, forwards these and encourages sharing ideas and information for the benefit of the project/program;
• Travels (abroad and) to the regions on a regular basis to oversee the implementation of project activities and to maintain close relation to staff in the regions and the local partners
• Formulates appropriate input for various project/program reports including annual reports, and contributes to other reports required by the project manager and GIZ Head Office;
• Monitors project progress and activities of components, reviews reports and documents on the progress of joint programs, identifies bottlenecks and recommends alternative management options to the program manager;
• Performs other duties and tasks at the request of the project/program management.
• Leads technical and administrative project staff.

Job Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in land management and administration, agricultural economics, geography or related fields;
• In-depth technical knowledge in the land sector and a high level of management competence;
• High leadership responsibility.

Professional experience

• Minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience on advisory services in an international or national organization that has allowed exposure to agricultural land management, land governance and information management;
• Minimum of 5 years leadership experience and high leadership responsibility;
• Basic understanding of geographic information systems/remote sensing technologies and their application;
• Work experience in land-related development projects is an asset.

Other knowledge, additional competencies

• Familiarity with administrative requirements of a government ministry as well as exposure to the coordination (and conceptualizing) of development programs;
• Very good knowledge of the institutional and administrative structures in Ethiopia, especially in the project regions.
• Excellent communication and moderation skills, both written and oral in English and Amharic;
• Willingness to work with rural communities and related government structures;
• High degree of creativity, initiative, integrity and accountability;
• High level of knowledge in the MS office package;
• Conceptual and creative thinking and independent initiative;
• Considerable degree of independence in choosing approaches and methods;
• Good interpersonal skills and team spirit.

How to Apply

Application procedure:

Interested and qualified candidates shall submit their motivation letter along with their non-returnable recent CV via Ethiojobs or Email: hreth@giz.de

Note: Please make sure you mention the Vacancy Number ‘National Senior Project Coordinator #073/2021’ in the subject line of your email application. Due to large number of applications we categorize applications with the vacancy numbers. Applications without vacancy numbers in subject lines might not be categorized in the appropriate folder and could be disqualified.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted

We encourage persons with disabilities to apply for the position. In case of equal qualification, persons with disabilities will be given preference. Applications from qualified women are encouraged.

“Please refer to our brochure to learn more about GIZ’s attractive benefit package.”