Carbon Specialist Job Vacancy in Kenya

Global EverGreening Alliance

Position Title: Carbon Specialist

THE ORGANISATION

Please note: To apply for this role, you must be willing to work in Kenya, with some travel likely across the East and Southern Africa region.

The Global EverGreening Alliance (The Alliance/GEA) is an international NGO which coordinates the development and implementation of large-scale land restoration programs.

Its members include World Vision, CARE International, Oxfam, Catholic Relief Services, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the World Resources Institute and World Agroforestry.

The Alliance was established to create and apply long-term solutions to the global problems of land degradation and climate change. This is done through a collaborative approach with an emphasis on evergreening practices: regenerative farming that integrates trees into crop and livestock production systems of smallholder farms. In May 2022, the Alliance launched Restore Africa, the largest community-based land restoration program in Africa.

More than 1.8 million hectares of degraded land will be restored through sustainable land management practices in six countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, improving the livelihoods of more than 1.5 million households and sequestering 80M tons of CO2 in the process. The Restore Africa Program will be implemented by consortia of member organisations across the African region and will be coordinated by the Alliance’s Program Coordination Unit located in Nairobi, Kenya.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance is seeking an experienced, passionate and motivated individual to support the carbon component of its Restore Africa Program. The Carbon Specialist will support implementing partners in carbon program integration into the landscape restoration and livelihood interventions, while also acting as a primary liaison point between the in-country implementing partners, internal technical stakeholders and external carbon consultants on carbon project mechanisms and processes.

As part of the Alliance’s regional Program Coordination Unit (PCU) team, the role will be responsible for ensuring that: carbon Project Description (PD) documents are prepared on time as per contractual milestones; implementing partners are supported to implement carbon activities, including requisite government engagements; carbon quantification methodologies are identified, prepared and applied across projects as per the chosen standard; and that, support is provided for monitoring, reporting and verification of the carbon component for all projects in the Restore Africa Program working closely with the Alliance’s Melbourne-Based Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (RMEL) team and external carbon consultants.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

• Liaising with implementing partners to source information needed to support the carbon consultants to develop Project Descriptions on time while ensuring their work is integrated with livelihood programming processes with the least disruptions. This will include collating PD-related data from literature and project assessment exercises.
• Supporting implementing partners with carbon-related activities, including capacity needs assessments and development.
• Documenting lessons learned on integrating carbon components in holistic livelihood interventions and relaying the same to the Alliance’s teams for improved project development processes.
• Resolving issues related to carbon activities at the regional and country-level promptly.
• Researching the most appropriate carbon development methodology in specific contexts in liaison with the internal Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (RMEL) team and carbon consultants.
• Developing specific training manuals to ensure program-level understanding of the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) methodologies and adapting them for context in liaison with the agroforestry specialist and carbon consultants.
• Ensuring the integration of carbon MRV data in the program (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plans and associated assessments in close collaboration with the MEL and Knowledge Management Officer.
• Ensuring a repository for MRV-specific data is in place and kept updated in collaboration with the MEL and Knowledge Management Officer.
• Coordinating carbon-specific activities by external players, such as community engagements to ensure Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) for carbon contract signing as well as validations and verification missions by external auditors
• Studying, proposing and documenting options for establishing a mechanism for carbon permanence support beyond livelihood activities and agreeing with implementing partners in the context.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

• Master’s Degree in environmental sciences, ecology, biology, remote sensing, biogeochemistry, or related social sciences.
• A minimum of seven years of relevant work experience.
• Knowledge of standards, especially the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standards.
• Understanding of methodologies for quantifying the GHG emission reductions, especially those associated with Agriculture Forest and Other Land Uses (AFOLU)
• Experience in field data collection (e.g. biomass and soil carbon, carbon flux); bonus for experience collecting biodiversity or other biological/biophysical data.
• Experience in using and processing field data to estimate rates of carbon emissions and sequestration, including allometric models and inventory techniques
• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing monitoring plans for carbon projects
• Strong research and analytical skills
• Demonstrated experience in the areas of project planning, stakeholder analysis and engagement
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work on several projects simultaneously.

CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT

The Global EverGreening Alliance has zero tolerance for child abuse, discrimination, harassment and workplace bullying. All staff are required to sign an acknowledgement and adhere strictly to the organisation’s child protection, safeguarding and other policies. In addition, the successful applicant will need to provide a recent Police Record Check and either provide or successfully apply for a Working with Children Check card where relevant to the context.

To apply for this role, you must have the willingness to work in Kenya, with some travel across the Eastern and Southern Africa region.

How to apply

HOW TO APPLY

Please email your both your CV and a Cover Letter (in one file) clearly addressing the Selection Criteria to implementationhr@evergreening.org. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Applications will be reviewed as they come in, so please submit your application as soon.