The Restore Africa Project Summary

Restore Africa is a collaborative program of the Global Evergreening Alliance in six countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. The project is a 5-year undertaking planned to cover 35 districts in Western, Southwestern, Central, and Eastern Uganda. It targets 352,500 households for engagement, and tree planting to cover 560,000 hectares, with the aim of achieving approximately 25M tCO2eq from 25 million surviving trees in the degraded landscapes in the West Afromontane, Mt. Elgon and part of Karamoja, through multifunctional and profitable agroforestry systems.

In Uganda, the program will be implemented by a consortium of six organizations namely; CARE, Catholic Relief Services (lead implementing organization), World Vision, ICRAF, ECOTRUST and Uganda Landcare Network. The program  sets out to support the mitigation and adaptation activities required to build community resilience while sequestering large quantities of carbon for the generation of carbon credits as co-benefits. When successfully implemented, the project will restore ecosystem services, and improve equitable and inclusive cultural heritage, food production, biodiversity conservation, forest cover, and other ecosystem services and landscape values.

Job summary  

The Senior Initiative Manager provides the project leadership on the delivery of the CARE component of the Restore Africa project. This means, the Senior Initiative Manager provides strategic direction, project management oversight, as well as technical guidance and leadership on program quality and learning (PQL).

The Senior Initiative Manager will therefore be responsible for partnership management, strategic engagement of stakeholders including the Restore Africa Consortium, capacity building of implementing partners and beneficiaries, technical guidance during the design and delivery of agroforestry packages, networking, and advocacy in relation to climate change, as well as linkage with staff working on related projects within the Climate Justice portfolio.  This being a performance-based project, the Senior Initiative Manager’s performance will be measured in terms of how well S/He will coordinate all the relevant teams (both internal to CARE and external) to deliver CARE’s project targets, as set by the Restore Africa consortium. The Senior Initiative Manager will ensure that the Restore Africa project is gender transformative and that it achieves the best value for money. S/He will directly supervise the Project Coordinator, manage the tree-growing partners/service providers and also indirectly supervise the MEAL coordinator. 

Specific Responsibilities

Responsibility #1: Project MANAGEMENT Oversight

This entails providing oversight, governance, and support to the projects within CARE. The primary focus is to ensure that projects are executed successfully, aligned with organizational goals, and meet the desired standards. Hence the Senior Initiative manager will;

·        Ensure timely and quality planning for the project using the approved Country Office tools, and also ensure that this planning culture is firmly established within the entire CARE Restore Africa team. 

·        Effectively steer the project team (including partners) to ensure meticulous and quality execution of plans, with a minimum carryover of activities from one month to the next, and zero carry overs from one quarter to the next.

·        Lead the project team in the mobilization of project participants and influencing of  relevant leadership structures to trigger wider uptake of the agroforestry, nutritional forestry, and livelihood packages.

·        Liaise with the respective grants manager and coordinator, to ensure budget monitoring, and a monthly utilization of 90% and above, and to inculcate a zero tolerance to overspends and underspends and ultimately, zero No-Cost Extensions (NCEs).

·        Coordinate the project team and partners to identify, assess and review project risks from time to time, devising timely mitigation measures, with the use of appropriate risk management tools.

·        Be responsible for the consolidation of donor reports, to required standards and verifiable evidence of results, as per the grant agreement.  

·        Be responsible for effectively managing all Implementing partners and vendors in liaison with the respective grants coordinator and field operation coordinator, to ensure value for money and firm accountability.

·        Ensure strict adherence to FY 22 audit recommendations under all project operations, including those of the Implementing partner.

Responsibility #2: Program QUALITY and LEARNING (PQL)

Part of the responsibility is to ensure the quality of programs and foster continuous learning within CARE, and PQL combines quality management principles with a learning culture to drive program improvements and enhance outcomes. The Senior Initiative Manager, there will:

·        Work closely with project partners and the grants team to ensure value for money, and the utmost impact for women and girls, in the delivery of agroforestry and livelihood packages.

·        Plan, organize and manage the Restore Africa team planning, as well as  reflection meetings, ensuring that the lessons are captured and inform ongoing improvement in project delivery.

·        Be required to provide technical backstopping to the CARE Restore Africa project team and partners, to ensure that tree growing/agroforestry standards as well as any other standards set on key aspects of the project are fully met.

·        Be responsible for gender integration in all project interventions, ensuring that the necessary gender actions for addressing identified gender issues at baseline (or during project implementation) are implemented and monitored throughout the project lifespan.

·        Lead measurement of project performance against quality markers and drivers as per guidance from the PQL team, and endeavor to attain the highest performance possible for the project, working closely with the MEAL advisor and the MEAL Coordinator. 

·        Be required to report on project progress using the established MEAL system and other reporting systems like PIIRS, while adhering to the reporting standards

·        Ensure quality engagement at PQL platforms including monthly Program Review Meetings (PRMs) and quarterly PQL workshops.

·        Design and implement a robust monitoring system for key project indicators especially on tree planting and survival among others with support from the MEAL advisor, and also ensure CARE’s contribution to the CRS-led evaluations of the project, using the lessons and emerging issues therefrom to inform project delivery and/or future project designs.

·        Ensure robust communications and visibility of the project across different platforms like CARE shares, social media, and any other relevant platforms that may present themselves, using quality content.

·        Promote learning and knowledge sharing within CARE, the Restore Africa consortium, and beyond.  

Responsibility #3: Strategic ENGAGEMENT and NETWORKING (SEN)

This will require the Senior Initiative Manager to purposefully build connections, collaborate with key partners, and leverage networks to achieve CARE’s strategic outcomes and those of the Restore Africa program. Therefore, the Senior Initiative Manager will be:

·        The main link between CARE and the project partners, the Restore Africa Program Management Unit (PMU), and key leadership structures and/or technical working groups in targeted districts. S/He will endeavor to maintain cordial working relationships will all these stakeholders in keeping with CARE’s core values.

·       Responsible for external engagement, representation, and influencing of systemic change in relation to the Restore Africa program at all levels, using available platforms, networks, alliances, and coalitions in coordination with the Restore Africa PMU.

·        Responsible for articulating project progress and outcomes to the relevant stakeholders including CARE member partners, relevant Embassies, communities of practice, and CARE Uganda country office among others when called upon.

Responsibility #4: Program Design

The Senior Initiative Manager will leverage his own experience and expertise, as well as the experience from existing CARE projects, to build and grow the climate resilience programs. In this;

·        The Senior Initiative Manager will be responsible for documenting and/or design of agroforestry and livelihood models using the experience of the Restore Africa Program, and other related projects.

·        The Senior Initiative Manager will work closely with the Climate Justice Program Manager to identify and pursue viable multi-year funding opportunities and to establish critical partnerships for building a climate resilience portfolio at CARE.

·        The Senior Initiative Manager will contribute to the preparation of winning proposals in response to identified funding opportunities when called upon.

Responsibility #5: Team management

This will require knowledge and skills in leading and guiding a group of individuals (a team) to work together towards achieving common goals and objectives, and to ensure the team's success, productivity, and cohesion. The Senior Initiative Manager therefore will;

·        Be directly responsible for the management of the performance of supervised staff, based on the provisions of CARE’s performance management guidelines.

·        Do whatever is necessary and within CARE policies, to build a cohesive and effective team for delivery on the Restore Africa program as well as the other Country Office deliverables.

·        Ensure visibility of the Restore Africa team tasks to the rest of the Climate Justice team and other relevant CARE platforms.

·        Work closely with the Program Manager and the HR function of CARE to promote staff growth, including recommending and/or delivering mentorship, coaching, and training to the project team as may be deemed necessary.

·        Coordinate the project team to ensure timely and quality contribution to Program and Country level tasks and processes.

Responsibility #6: Promote Gender Equity and Diversity and Safeguarding Practices

This responsibility is about promoting gender equity and diversity, as well as implementing safeguarding practices, which are crucial aspects of creating inclusive and safe environments within CARE. The Senior Initiative Manager will:

·         Practice a behavior consistent with CARE core values, and promote gender equity and diversity goals;

·         Play a leadership role in identifying and implementing initiatives that enhance CARE’s commitment to gender and diversity.

·         Ensure that CARE Safeguarding policies and procedures are adhered to by all and the staff and that S/he supervisors both directly or indirectly

·         Ensure that He / She and consortium personnel under the project are familiar with the following organizational policies and procedures and can identify when needed how these may have been breached; The CI Safeguarding policy, Protection from Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse and Child Abuse, The anti-discrimination and harassment policy, The code of conduct and the organization's Values.

Responsibility #6: Any other duties assigned from time to time

·        Any other duties incidental to the role or assigned by the supervisor.

Education, Experience, Skills and Knowledge

Competencies:

·        Meticulously execution of projects under complex organizational processes and systems.

· Problem-solving ability, for project and team-related challenges. 

·        Demonstrated self-drive and delivery with minimum supervision.

·        High level of integrity and ability to influence others to adhere to organizational standards of integrity.

·        An analytical mindset that thinks outside the box, with excellent writing skills. 

·        Ability to communicate, present and tailor content to different levels of stakeholders from farmers to high-level executive audiences.

·         Good interpersonal skills especially in an environment that embraces diversity.

Experience:

·        Ten years of project management experience with substantial exposure to carbon financing. 

·        Demonstrated experience in delivering performance-based projects/programs

·        A good grasp of partnerships management, and coordination within big consortia. 

·        Demonstrated experience in project design, proposal writing, and resource mobilization. 

Education:

     i.          A Master’s degree in the fields of Agriculture, Agroforestry, Forestry, Environment Management, and Climate Change, from a reputable institution.

   ii.           Professional training in project management, Monitoring and Evaluation is a MUST.

  iii.           Professional training in budget and people management, as well as communications, is desired.

  iv.           Professional training and experience in gender equality, women and girls’ empowerment is an added advantage.