Required No: 1

Duration of Employment: One year and probability of extension based on availability of budget and performance.

Salary: As per the scale of the organization and benefit package

The NRM, Governance, and Participation Officer will be responsible for leading the implementation of natural resource management, governance, and participatory processes across the Bridging Borders Project in Ethiopia and Kenya, and for providing technical advice and support to consortium partners in Ethiopia and Kenya. The role will ensure that women, youth, and marginalized groups actively shape NRM, governance, and peacebuilding interventions and that local institutions are strengthened. 

1. Natural Resource Management and Livelihoods 

• Lead the planning, implementation, and monitoring of rangeland rehabilitation (soil and water conservation, reseeding, bush control) and watershed activities. 
• Support the rehabilitation of cross-border water schemes and strengthen WASHCOs with bylaws, records, and sustainable management practices. 
• Facilitate inclusive rangeland and water governance meetings, ensuring meaningful participation of women, youth, and PWD. 
• Produce and maintain digitized cross-border resource maps in collaboration with communities and government offices. 
• Ensure biodiversity mainstreaming and environmental safeguards are applied to all rehabilitation activities. 

2. Governance and Institutional Strengthening 

• Facilitate trainings on inclusive governance, DRM, and peaceful coexistence for customary institutions, committees, and local government representatives. 
• Support integration of community-developed DRM plans into local and regional contingency planning processes. 
• Work with customary structures (gada, siinqee, busa gonofa) and hybrid committees to promote inclusive governance and conflict-sensitive NRM. 
• Strengthen community-based NRM committees, WASHCOs, and peace structures to ensure functionality and accountability. 
• Advocate for the institutional uptake of DRM plans, rangeland bylaws, and resource maps by government authorities and IGAD platforms. 

 3.Participation and Community Engagement 

• Act as lead steward for the Participatory Action Prioritization (PAP) process, ensuring inclusive representation of women, youth, and marginalized groups. 
• Oversee community micro-grants (for livelihoods, NRM, and peacebuilding), supporting groups with proposal development, bookkeeping, and reporting. 
• Provide mentoring and coaching to women and youth-led groups to strengthen local ownership and sustainability. 
• Facilitate awareness-raising events and cultural campaigns addressing gender equality, harmful norms, and inclusive governance. 
• Document lessons learned, success stories, and best practices for visibility, advocacy, and replication. 

 4.Cross-cutting Responsibilities 

• Ensure gender-transformative and disability-inclusive approaches are integrated across all activities. 
• Provide inputs to advocacy and sustainability efforts, including preparation of factsheets, policy briefs, and cases for institutionalization. 
• Contribute to MEAL processes, including digital tracking of PAP and micro-grants and reporting against indicators. 
• Support collaboration with the Communications Officer to highlight results and community voices. 
• Ensure accountability, safeguarding, and adherence to HEKS/EPER and donor policies in all NRM and governance activities. 
• Undertake timely submission of regular reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and final) as deemed necessary by the project management team 
• Develop and maintain relationships with relevant stakeholders and represent HEKS/EPER at project target locations in consultation with field project teams and consortium. 
• Experience working in a consortium or multi-stakeholder environment is desirable. 

 5.Final Provisions 

The employee may be asked to perform duties and tasks not covered in this job description within the remit of their expertise as well as to provide support to other areas when necessary. 

Minimum Qualifications and Experience, Skills and Capabilities: 

Qualification and Experience 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Rangeland Management, Dryland Agriculture, Environmental Governance, or related fields. 
• Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in NRM and governance, preferably in pastoralist and cross-border settings. 
• Demonstrated expertise in community-based NRM, watershed management, rangeland rehabilitation, and governance structures. 
• Strong understanding of pastoralist livelihoods, Borana culture and customary institutions (gada, siinqee, busa gonofa), and experience working in Borana Zone and/or Marsabit County, Kenya. 
• Proven knowledge of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) planning, conflict-sensitive programming, and participatory methodologies. 
• Experience in leading participatory processes (e.g. Participatory Action Prioritization, PCVA, ABCD) and managing micro-grant schemes. 
• Good track record of working with local communities, grassroots institutions, and local government authorities in fragile or conflict-affected settings. 
• Excellent command of English, and fluency in Afan Oromo required. Knowledge of Swahili or local languages in Marsabit is an asset. 

 Skills and Capabilities 

• Strong facilitation, training, and community mobilization skills. 
• Ability to document lessons learned, produce high-quality reports, and translate technical content into accessible formats. 
• Competence in GIS mapping (Q-GIS), digital data management, and basic IT tools (MS Office, Kobo Toolbox). 
• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills, with the ability to engage customary leaders, elders, and diverse community groups. 
• Capacity to work independently in remote and cross-border areas with minimal supervision. 
• High level of integrity, accountability, and commitment to HEKS/EPER’s core values and safeguarding principles. 
• Flexibility, proactiveness, and ability to respond adaptively to conflict or climate-related shocks. 
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently, including to remote and hard-to-reach areas. 

How To Apply

Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to apply through https://www.ethiojobs.net by submitting:

• A cover letter( Application letter)
• An updated CV (maximum three pages with contact details of three professional referees)

Note:

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Phone inquiries are not permitted.
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.