Project Officers (2 Positions) - Tree Aid

Job Description

• Job Title:    Civil Society Organisations in Research and Innovation for Sustainable Development (CSO – RISE) Project Officers (2)
• Overall Aim:    To provide full-time support to TREE AID’s project in four (4) districts - Builsa south and Kassena Nankana Municipl in Upper East Region; and Zabzugu and Tatale districts in Northern Region of Ghana. The role will be to work with project coordinator as well as Co-applicants and stakeholders to implement field activities to time and budget, ensuring that the expected outputs for targeted communities are achieved through good field technical support, monitoring and reporting.
• Responsible To:    Project Coordanator with matrix manager - Ghana Country Programme Manager (GCPM)
• Job Duration:    One year and possible annual renewable for additional three years depending on availability of funds  and satisfactory performance
• Duty Station:    Based in Upper East and Northern Regions of Ghana and in all locations where it needs even out of Ghana.

The CSO – RISE project jointly being implemented by Tree Aid Ghana, Action Aid Ghana (lead applicant) and URBANET Ghana (Co-applicant) with funding from European Commission. Tree Aid Ghana component of the project intends to work directly with 3,600 marginalised women, small holder farmers, people with disabilities and the youth in 80 communities in 4 districts of Upper East and Northern Regions of Ghana hence contributing to the green economy, creating opportunities for income generation within the agricultural value chains, and enhancing access to social protection services. The specific objective is to strengthen the capacity of local CSOs to become drivers of innovation in research-based climate-resilient sustainable agriculture, related social enterprises and responsive social protection.
Working within the framework of TREE AID Programme Strategy and operational plan, the CSO – RISE  Project Officers will be responsible for the tasks as follows:

Main Tasks:

• Guide and Support partner for the project implementation
  • Lead in the delivering of field activities that TREE AID will implement and support co-applicants in the delivery of their mandate involving all stakeholders at all stages.
  • Ensure identification, community entry and sensitization of communities on the project objective
  • Facilitate mobilization of community people into formidable working groups with business approach.
  • Ensure that community producer groups are approproiate for delivering project activities, increased production and productivity.
  • Facilitate increase adoption of sustainable agroforestry practices with increase involvement of women, youth and disable people in an informed decent work approach.
  • Support strengthen agriculture and NTFPs value chains with quality produce aggregation, value addition, sustainable market linkages and supply.
  • Mainsttream social inclusion decent work into climate smart agriculture production and marketing approaches with emphasis on agroforestry.
  • Facilitate setting up of community tree nurseries, raising of tree seedlings and growing of trees using appropriate community approach for higher survival rates.
  • Provide step down training to producer groups especially on research recommendations
  • Be abreast with tree nutritional gardens, processing and packaging practices
  • Ensure that due processes are followed in financial transactions with value for money.

• Monitoring and evaluation and reporting
  • Facilitate review and planning meetings of producer groups and update your line manager.
  • Support the design and utilisation of Monitoring and Evaluation tools to help follow project progress.
  • Prepare and provide monthly, quarterly and annual reports timely to your line manager.
  • Where appropriate, prepare specific Terms of Reference tailored to carrying out field visits to partners, and support partners to improve their project implementation.
  • Provide support to develop and maintain Geographical Information System (GIS) supported platform for keeping a database of key project outcomes and producing suitable products for outreach.
  • Provide insightful feedback from communities, identify successes, challenges and the wayforward
• Support the development of TREE AID Ghana’s wider programme
  • Support the identification and tracking of opportunities for new projects in Ghana.
  • Contribute to the identification and formulation of activities to enhance community resilience to climate variability through improved local adaptation knowledge in Ghana.
  • Liaise with local partners/stakeholders on TREE AID’s natural resources management and enterprise development implementation in formulating and developing appropriate complementary initiatives in Ghana.
  • Support arrangements for and co-facilitating programme training workshops.
  • Carry out any other tasks related to programme work as agreed with your line manager
  • Contribute to provide fundraising and communications support/information to staff in the UK as appropriate.
• Other (3%)
  • Where appropriate, represent TREE AID Ghana at meetings and workshops relevant to TREE AID’s work as agreed with the GCPM and the Project Coordinator
  • Be prepared to undertake visits to all of TREE AID focus countries when required
  • Carry out other tasks as agreed with the Project Coordinator and the Ghana Country Programme Manager.

Key Success Factors For This Post

• Contribute to raising the profile of TREE AID’s CSO – RISE Project with external audiences and donors under Ghana Country Programme Manager
• Achieving agreed job targets.
• Timely provision of projects technical and financial reports and other information required
• Apply project M&E system and plan activities, monitor results and contribute for the evaluation.

Required Skills or Experience

• HND or Graduate in relevant subject (natural resource management, Agronomy, Integrated development Studies)..
• Must have at least three (2) years working experience in a similar position implementing projects.
• Must have demonstrated leadership skills/ability to work in a team and influence change with high community facilitation.
• Must share the vision and the values of TREE AID.
• Ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders and communicate and instal a shared vision.
• Excellent verbal communication and written skills.
• Ability to balance a number of conflicting demands.
• Must be computer literate  
• Must be confident, hard working, able to work under pressure, and time conscious.
• Ability to work independently, self initiative and with good team work and rapport
• Ability to meet deadlines and achieve targets including extensive travel in the field.
• Must be bold, ambitious, professional, transparent and accountable
• Must have working knowledge in one of the languages spoken in northern Ghana (Kasem, Dagbani/Likpakpa and Buli, ). Ability to speak French is an added advantage.